Nonfiction: I couldn’t put 1776 by David McCullough down.
For fiction- there are tons but Pillars of the Earth is a very easy read with some great history lessons
ThunderTatsu on
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
Overall-Bullfrog5433 on
“Destiny of the Republic” by Candice Millard about American President James Garfield who was shot in D.C. train station but lived for weeks after and would have survived these days but the docs at the time were not believers in infection and the idea of disinfectants and keeping wounds clean was only at its beginning, and generally dismissed by even the elite medical staff he had. He was an interesting politician who did not believe in campaigning and begging for votes. A very interesting read.
One_Maize1836 on
The Indifferent Stars Above – Daniel James Brown
Radium Girls – Kate Moore
Born Survivors – Wendy Holden
Hiroshima – John Hersey
Into Thin Air – John Krakauer (more “adventure” than historical, but nonfiction and extremely well-written)
Midnight in Chernobyl – Adam Higginbotham
Night – Elie Wiesel
A Night to Remember – Walter Lord
Alive – Piers Paul Read
The Children’s Blizzard – David Laskin
Bitrivia on
If you’re open to historical fiction, Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, Unbroken (based on a true story) by Laura Hillenbrand, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Orphan Train by Christina Kline, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien are all really good.
SyllabubFlat784 on
Any book by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Incredible author.
4252020-asdf on
Gore Vidal wrote some excellent historical fiction.
Bernard Cornwell books are entertaining historical fiction.
Adam Hochschild has written a lot of historical journalism including King Leopold’s Ghost about the Congo genocide which are very good.
OneWall9143 on
Here’s a variety:
Dan Jones is a good writer – his books mostly cover medieval British history – Wars of the Roses and Henry V etc.
Simon Winchester has written some fascinating books on a wide range of subjects – my favorite was Krakatoa about the volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1883 and it’s impact on the region and the world, including the Dutch East Indies Company and the spice trade.
The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols – Genevieve von Petzinger – the author examined cave paintings from around the world and found repeating signs which might be one of the earliest forms of written symbolic communication.
Bill Bryson – A History of Nearly Everything – mostly history of science – fun and fascinating, as are all his books
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety – Eric Schlosser – scary, hugely interesting and readable
Katy-Moon on
The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt by Lloyd Llewelyn -Jones. It’s the history of seven of the Cleopatras, all descendants of Ptolemy. It was a recommendation from this sub, I believe, and it’s one of my favorite historical non-fiction books.
Tamarenda on
The House of Niccolò and The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. I learned a ton.
cascadingtundra on
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a fictional book set during the Nigerian civil war in the 60s. Highly recommend!
Regular_State_3959 on
Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides, along with Ghost Soldiers and On Desperate Grounds.
Michener’s The Covenant is off the beaten path. The history of South Africa.
Existing-Crow-2437 on
When My Name Was Keiko by Linda Sue Park was one of my favourite books as a kid, and honestly I think it could work for adults as well. It’s really interesting, informative and short so I highly recommend it
Last_Inevitable8311 on
I really loved Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune. The history behind her dad and the Gilded Age was so fascinating. And the rest of it…hoo boy!
Mentalfloss1 on
*Guns of August*, by Tuchman. You will learn about the moment when the age of kings died and governments arose.
BreadfruitLife5195 on
The Worst Hard Times by Eagan
hmmwhatsoverhere on
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins
Miserable-Distance19 on
True History of the Kelly Gang is Australian and very interesting, though, despite the title, it is not 100% historically accurate. It is accurate, but not about what actually happened to Ned Kelly if you know what I mena
23 Comments
Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond
The Last Aloha by Gaellen Quinn
Nonfiction: I couldn’t put 1776 by David McCullough down.
For fiction- there are tons but Pillars of the Earth is a very easy read with some great history lessons
Pachinko by Min Jin Lee
“Destiny of the Republic” by Candice Millard about American President James Garfield who was shot in D.C. train station but lived for weeks after and would have survived these days but the docs at the time were not believers in infection and the idea of disinfectants and keeping wounds clean was only at its beginning, and generally dismissed by even the elite medical staff he had. He was an interesting politician who did not believe in campaigning and begging for votes. A very interesting read.
The Indifferent Stars Above – Daniel James Brown
Radium Girls – Kate Moore
Born Survivors – Wendy Holden
Hiroshima – John Hersey
Into Thin Air – John Krakauer (more “adventure” than historical, but nonfiction and extremely well-written)
Midnight in Chernobyl – Adam Higginbotham
Night – Elie Wiesel
A Night to Remember – Walter Lord
Alive – Piers Paul Read
The Children’s Blizzard – David Laskin
If you’re open to historical fiction, Fall of Giants by Ken Follett, Unbroken (based on a true story) by Laura Hillenbrand, All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, Orphan Train by Christina Kline, The Things They Carried by Tim O’Brien are all really good.
Any book by Doris Kearns Goodwin. Incredible author.
Gore Vidal wrote some excellent historical fiction.
Bernard Cornwell books are entertaining historical fiction.
Adam Hochschild has written a lot of historical journalism including King Leopold’s Ghost about the Congo genocide which are very good.
Here’s a variety:
Dan Jones is a good writer – his books mostly cover medieval British history – Wars of the Roses and Henry V etc.
Simon Winchester has written some fascinating books on a wide range of subjects – my favorite was Krakatoa about the volcanic eruption in Indonesia in 1883 and it’s impact on the region and the world, including the Dutch East Indies Company and the spice trade.
The First Signs: Unlocking the Mysteries of the World’s Oldest Symbols – Genevieve von Petzinger – the author examined cave paintings from around the world and found repeating signs which might be one of the earliest forms of written symbolic communication.
Bill Bryson – A History of Nearly Everything – mostly history of science – fun and fascinating, as are all his books
Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety – Eric Schlosser – scary, hugely interesting and readable
The Cleopatras: The Forgotten Queens of Egypt by Lloyd Llewelyn -Jones. It’s the history of seven of the Cleopatras, all descendants of Ptolemy. It was a recommendation from this sub, I believe, and it’s one of my favorite historical non-fiction books.
The House of Niccolò and The Lymond Chronicles by Dorothy Dunnett. I learned a ton.
Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie is a fictional book set during the Nigerian civil war in the 60s. Highly recommend!
Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides, along with Ghost Soldiers and On Desperate Grounds.
The Potato Factory
Novel by Bryce Courtenay
* [Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12520340-autumn-in-the-heavenly-kingdom) by Stephen Platt
* [The Art of Objects: The Birth of Italian Industrial Culture, 1878-1928](https://www.amazon.com/Art-Objects-Italian-Industrial-1878-1928/dp/1487502834) by Luca Cottini
* [This Vast Southern Empire](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/29940843-this-vast-southern-empire) by Matt Karp
* [Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10046142-dancing-in-the-glory-of-monsters?from_search=true&from_srp=true&qid=4IsmggdqHh&rank=1) by Jason K. Stearns
* [War and Revolution: Rethinking the Twentieth Century](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21855329-war-and-revolution?ref=nav_sb_ss_1_30) by Domenico Losurdo
Michener’s The Covenant is off the beaten path. The history of South Africa.
When My Name Was Keiko by Linda Sue Park was one of my favourite books as a kid, and honestly I think it could work for adults as well. It’s really interesting, informative and short so I highly recommend it
I really loved Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune. The history behind her dad and the Gilded Age was so fascinating. And the rest of it…hoo boy!
*Guns of August*, by Tuchman. You will learn about the moment when the age of kings died and governments arose.
The Worst Hard Times by Eagan
*The Jakarta method* by Vincent Bevins
True History of the Kelly Gang is Australian and very interesting, though, despite the title, it is not 100% historically accurate. It is accurate, but not about what actually happened to Ned Kelly if you know what I mena