Looking for quality non-fiction history book recommendations, mostly one of the following:
1) broad histories of a specific country/region
2) in depth histories of a specific event
3) interview/compiled oral history books around a specific theme in 1 or 2.
4) left wing to neutral history books covering the French Revolution, or the time period between Waterloo and WWI.
by languageotaku
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For 2, Endurance by Lansing
I just finished Unruly about the history of British royalty (up to Queen Elizabeth).
Not only is it a wonderful survey of a fascinating history but it’s absolutely hilarious.
For a non academic level of depth it’s frankly a masterpiece of entertainment and history.
Wild Swans!
The Little Ice Age by Brian Fagan
The Killer Angels.
The Anarchy by Dalyrimple,
Bury my heart at Wounded knee,
King Leopold’s Ghost
Salt: a world history
Okay, here are some of my favorites, mostly in categories 2 and 3:
* *The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11* by Garrett M. Graff (Audiobook is excellent)
* *The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women* by Kate H. Moore
* *Endurance: Shackleton’s Incredible Voyage* by Alfred Lansing – I’ll echo others suggestions. (Audiobook is excellent)
* *The Making of the Atomic Bomb* by Richard Rhodes
Others that are blur the line between history and biography:
* *The Wright Brothers* by David McCullough – can’t really untangle their biographies from the history of the invention of flight. Truly excellent.
* *Muppets in Moscow: The Unexpected Crazy True Story of Making Sesame Street in Russia* – please note there is a slight memoir aspect to the book. But this was fascinating in part because of the setting in post-Cold War Russia. (Audiobook is excellent)
* *The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics* – lots of emphasis on biographical information, so may not be quite what you’re looking for. (Audiobook is very good – some slight pronunciation issues)
* *The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz* – this is centered around the bombing of London in WWII, which is more of a season than an event. Still, it was enjoyable. It relied heavily on a daily diary project that the UK had started just before so that aspect is anthropologically interesting.
Shake Hands with the Devil by Romeo Dallaire for 2, it’s an in depth view on the lead up to and events during the Rwandan Genocide. It’s from the point of view of the UN mission commander. Part of the book is his childhood and early military career but you get a real boots on the ground understanding of what happened and what might have been done to stop it.