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Best History Books
Proper nonfiction history books, not historical fiction, about any period, event, area or topic you like. Just well-written, well-researched, informative and interesting books for historians, history students and history enthusiasts. I didn't mean this to be a list of pop history, but I think it's too late now, so you might as well go ahead.
See also:
Best History Books
Best Non fiction American History Books
Best Non fiction War Books
Best Popular History Books on Goodreads
History By Year:
2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
See also:
Best History Books
Best Non fiction American History Books
Best Non fiction War Books
Best Popular History Books on Goodreads
History By Year:
2026, 2025, 2024, 2023, 2022, 2021, 2020
2019, 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011
Score
A book’s total score is based on multiple factors, including the number of people who have voted for it and how highly those voters ranked the book.
| 701 |
|
The Pursuit of Glory: Europe 1648-1815
by
4.08 avg rating — 1,388 ratings
score: 239,
and
3 people voted
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| 701 |
|
Amsterdam: A History of the World's Most Liberal City
by
Russell Shorto (Goodreads Author)
4.11 avg rating — 5,696 ratings
score: 239,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 701 |
|
The Middle Ages
by
3.92 avg rating — 1,648 ratings
score: 239,
and
3 people voted
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| 701 |
|
Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II
by
Daniel James Brown (Goodreads Author)
4.49 avg rating — 12,014 ratings
score: 239,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 705 |
|
Sherman's March
by
4.18 avg rating — 1,232 ratings
score: 238,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 705 |
|
The Last Days of the Romanovs: Tragedy at Ekaterinburg
by
Helen Rappaport (Goodreads Author)
4.05 avg rating — 6,144 ratings
score: 238,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 705 |
|
Embers Of War: The Fall of an Empire and the Making of America's Vietnam
by
4.43 avg rating — 2,714 ratings
score: 238,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 705 |
|
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
by
Timothy Egan (Goodreads Author)
4.36 avg rating — 44,645 ratings
score: 238,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 709 |
|
Am I Not a Man?: The Dred Scott Story
by
Mark L. Shurtleff (Goodreads Author)
3.92 avg rating — 120 ratings
score: 237,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 709 |
|
Lost in Shangri-la: A True Story of Survival, Adventure, and the Most Incredible Rescue Mission of World War II
by
Mitchell Zuckoff (Goodreads Author)
3.87 avg rating — 46,633 ratings
score: 237,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 709 |
|
The Black Death
by
3.71 avg rating — 1,454 ratings
score: 237,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 712 |
|
Before Scotland: The Story of Scotland Before History
by
4.01 avg rating — 280 ratings
score: 235,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 713 |
|
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
by
4.59 avg rating — 7,402 ratings
score: 234,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 714 |
|
One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War
by
Michael Dobbs (Goodreads Author)
4.25 avg rating — 4,428 ratings
score: 233,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 714 |
|
Cuba: An American History
by
4.46 avg rating — 5,101 ratings
score: 233,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 716 |
|
The Kennedy conspiracy?
by
3.99 avg rating — 1,137 ratings
score: 232,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 717 |
|
The Balkans: Nationalism, War and the Great Powers 1804 - 1999
by
Misha Glenny (Goodreads Author)
4.14 avg rating — 2,264 ratings
score: 231,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 717 |
|
Temples, Tombs & Hieroglyphs: A Popular History of Ancient Egypt
by
4.04 avg rating — 1,877 ratings
score: 231,
and
3 people voted
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| 719 |
|
Roger Williams and the Creation of the American Soul: Church, State, and the Birth of Liberty
by
4.24 avg rating — 1,095 ratings
score: 229,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 719 |
|
Gettysburg
by
4.36 avg rating — 5,053 ratings
score: 229,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 721 |
|
The Somme: Heroism and Horror in the First World War
by
3.80 avg rating — 411 ratings
score: 228,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 721 |
|
She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth
by
4.04 avg rating — 8,448 ratings
score: 228,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 723 |
|
How Democracies Die: What History Reveals About Our Future
by
4.16 avg rating — 30,885 ratings
score: 227,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 723 |
|
How To Be a Tudor: A Dawn-to-Dusk Guide to Tudor Life
by
4.06 avg rating — 4,740 ratings
score: 227,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 723 |
|
Empress Dowager Cixi: The Concubine Who Launched Modern China
by
3.91 avg rating — 10,529 ratings
score: 227,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 726 |
|
The Birth of the Modern: World Society 1815-1830
by
4.16 avg rating — 781 ratings
score: 226,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 727 |
|
Chancellorsville
by
4.29 avg rating — 2,253 ratings
score: 225,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 727 |
|
Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southerner's Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause
by
4.41 avg rating — 5,563 ratings
score: 225,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 729 |
|
Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution
by
4.10 avg rating — 333 ratings
score: 224,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 729 |
|
Conspiracy in the Streets: The Extraordinary Trial of the Chicago Seven
by
4.09 avg rating — 278 ratings
score: 224,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 731 |
|
The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II, Volume II
by
4.46 avg rating — 588 ratings
score: 223,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 731 |
|
Man's Search for Meaning
by
4.37 avg rating — 843,329 ratings
score: 223,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 733 |
|
Robert the Bruce: King of Scots
by
3.93 avg rating — 752 ratings
score: 222,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 733 |
|
The Conquest of New Spain
by
4.14 avg rating — 3,564 ratings
score: 222,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 735 |
|
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
by
3.82 avg rating — 14,002 ratings
score: 221,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 736 |
|
The Enemy At the Gate: Habsburgs, Ottomans and the Battle for Europe
by
3.80 avg rating — 1,368 ratings
score: 219,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 737 |
|
City of Fortune: How Venice Won and Lost a Naval Empire
by
4.15 avg rating — 4,175 ratings
score: 218,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 737 |
|
The World of Laura Ingalls Wilder: The Frontier Landscapes that Inspired the Little House Books
by
Marta McDowell (Goodreads Author)
4.03 avg rating — 1,234 ratings
score: 218,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 739 |
|
The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science
by
3.86 avg rating — 5,288 ratings
score: 217,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 740 |
|
My Life: An Attempt at an Autobiography
by
4.21 avg rating — 1,022 ratings
score: 216,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 741 |
|
The Making of Europe: Conquest, Colonization and Cultural Change, 950 - 1350
by
3.96 avg rating — 701 ratings
score: 215,
and
3 people voted
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| 742 |
|
The Great Democracies (A History of the English-Speaking Peoples #4)
by
4.27 avg rating — 1,077 ratings
score: 214,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 743 |
|
The Lance and the Shield: The Life and Times of Sitting Bull
by
4.16 avg rating — 932 ratings
score: 213,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 743 |
|
The Life of Greece (The Story of Civilization, #2)
by
4.37 avg rating — 2,350 ratings
score: 213,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 743 |
|
Empire of Liberty: A History of the Early Republic, 1789-1815
by
4.15 avg rating — 5,451 ratings
score: 213,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 743 |
|
Charlie Wilson's War: The Extraordinary Story of How the Wildest Man in Congress and a Rogue CIA Agent Changed the History of our Times
by
4.01 avg rating — 9,658 ratings
score: 213,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 747 |
|
Freedom Train: The Story of Harriet Tubman
by
4.07 avg rating — 2,637 ratings
score: 212,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 748 |
|
Seven Events That Made America America: And Proved That the Founding Fathers Were Right All Along
by
3.36 avg rating — 574 ratings
score: 210,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 748 |
|
The Cold War: A New History
by
3.95 avg rating — 8,185 ratings
score: 210,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 750 |
|
Osler's Web: Inside the Labyrinth of the Chronic Fatigue Syndrome Epidemic
by
4.16 avg rating — 118 ratings
score: 209,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 751 |
|
Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times
by
4.31 avg rating — 2,766 ratings
score: 208,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 752 |
|
The Unredeemed Captive: A Family Story from Early America
by
3.64 avg rating — 1,660 ratings
score: 207,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 753 |
|
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
by
Erik Larson (Goodreads Author)
4.18 avg rating — 52,338 ratings
score: 206,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 754 |
|
History of the Conquest of Mexico
by
4.17 avg rating — 775 ratings
score: 204,
and
3 people voted
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| 755 |
|
Redcoats and Rebels: The American Revolution Through British Eyes
by
3.83 avg rating — 619 ratings
score: 203,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 756 |
|
A History of Western Philosophy
by
4.13 avg rating — 41,068 ratings
score: 202,
and
3 people voted
|
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| 756 |
|
My Lvov: Holocaust Memoir of a twelve-year-old Girl
by
4.22 avg rating — 246 ratings
score: 202,
and
3 people voted
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| 758 |
|
George, Nicholas and Wilhelm: Three Royal Cousins and the Road to World War I
by
M.J. Carter (Goodreads Author)
4.04 avg rating — 4,285 ratings
score: 201,
and
4 people voted
|
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| 759 |
|
The Path to Tyranny: A History of Free Society's Descent into Tyranny
by
Michael E. Newton (Goodreads Author)
3.98 avg rating — 187 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 759 |
|
Bastards & Boneheads: Canada’s Glorious Leaders, Past and Present
by
4.09 avg rating — 286 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon
by
4.02 avg rating — 2,657 ratings
score: 200,
and
3 people voted
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| 759 |
|
John Paul Jones: Finding the Forgotten Patriot
by
4.44 avg rating — 16 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 759 |
|
Milestones of Science and Technology: Making the Modern World
by
Peter Morris (Editor)
4.44 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
|
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| 759 |
|
A Short History of the World
by
Christopher Lascelles (Goodreads Author)
3.85 avg rating — 1,626 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
Saving Mona Lisa: The Battle to Protect the Louvre and Its Treasures During World War II
by
Gerri Chanel (Goodreads Author)
4.07 avg rating — 538 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
Dispatches from the Fort Apache Scout: White Mountain and Cibecue Apache History Through 1881
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 5 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
The Age of Sail in the Age of Aquarius: The South Street Seaport and the Crisis of the Sixties
by
Robin Foster (Goodreads Author)
4.33 avg rating — 3 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
History of the Second World War Volume 1
by
3.94 avg rating — 16 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
History's Greatest Deceptions and Confidence Scams
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3.64 avg rating — 58 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
Cork Wars: Intrigue and Industry in World War II
by
David A. Taylor (Goodreads Author)
3.98 avg rating — 61 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
The Leper Messiah
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4.62 avg rating — 50 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
Aldaraia
by
Clinchandhill (Goodreads Author)
4.60 avg rating — 58 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
Edison's Ghosts: The Untold Weirdness of History’s Greatest Geniuses
by
3.80 avg rating — 1,301 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 759 |
|
Trust No One: A World War 2 Espionage Thriller (A Conor Thorn Novel Book 4)
by
Glenn Dyer (Goodreads Author)
4.40 avg rating — 85 ratings
score: 200,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and Discovery Down the Amazon
by
Buddy Levy (Goodreads Author)
4.21 avg rating — 3,705 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
Historical and Theological Foundations of Law: Ancient Wisdom
by
3.92 avg rating — 13 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
Historical and Theological Foundations of Law: Classical and Medieval
by
4.31 avg rating — 13 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
Jerusalem: The Biography
by
Simon Sebag Montefiore (Goodreads Author)
4.09 avg rating — 13,106 ratings
score: 199,
and
3 people voted
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| 775 |
|
The Transformation of the World: A Global History of the Nineteenth Century
by
4.25 avg rating — 611 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
Destruction of Black Civilization: Great Issues of a Race From 4500 B.C. To 2000 A.D.
by
4.46 avg rating — 2,118 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
The Darker Nations: A People's History of the Third World
by
4.12 avg rating — 1,452 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
Nation Builder: John Quincy Adams and the Grand Strategy of the Republic
by
3.89 avg rating — 73 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom
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4.17 avg rating — 12,438 ratings
score: 199,
and
3 people voted
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| 775 |
|
The Conquest of Gaul
by
4.01 avg rating — 13,295 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 775 |
|
Perilous Passage: Mankind and the Global Ascendancy of Capital
by
4.28 avg rating — 18 ratings
score: 199,
and
2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
Encyclopedia of the Commemorative Coins of the United States: History, Art, Investment & Collection of America's Memorial Coinage
by
Anthony Swiatek (Editor)
4.33 avg rating — 9 ratings
score: 198,
and
2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
The Rewriting of America's History
by
4.05 avg rating — 37 ratings
score: 198,
and
2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
The Birth of the Modern World, 1780-1914
by
3.81 avg rating — 472 ratings
score: 198,
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2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
Midnight in Broad Daylight: A Japanese American Family Caught Between Two Worlds
by
Pamela Rotner Sakamoto (Goodreads Author)
4.29 avg rating — 2,553 ratings
score: 198,
and
2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
The Private Life of Chairman Mao
by
4.16 avg rating — 2,735 ratings
score: 198,
and
2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
A History of the Apocalypse
by
Catalin Negru (Goodreads Author)
4.30 avg rating — 81 ratings
score: 198,
and
2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates
by
Eric Jay Dolin (Goodreads Author)
3.76 avg rating — 4,592 ratings
score: 198,
and
3 people voted
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| 786 |
|
The Shortest History of Germany
by
3.71 avg rating — 8,696 ratings
score: 198,
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2 people voted
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| 786 |
|
A Realistic Path to Peace: From Genocide to Global War... And How We Can Change It
by
Dee Knight (Goodreads Author)
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The Thief at the End of the World: Rubber, Power, and the Seeds of Empire
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The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler
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Of Plymouth Plantation, 1620-1647
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Tags:
17th-century-history, 18th-century-history, 19th-century-history, 20th-century-history, 21st-century-history, aboriginal, aboriginal-history, academic, african-american, african-american-history, african-american-studies, afro-american-studies, america, american, american-history, american-politics, american-president, american-presidents, american-revolution, american-revolution-history, american-revolutionary-war, american-studies, american-war-of-independence, autobiographies, autobiography, biographies, biography, black-american, black-history, british-history, colonial-america, colonial-history, early-american-republic, european-history, first-nations, first-nations-history, founder, founders, founding-family, founding-father, founding-fathers, french-revolution, history, history-american, indigeneity, indigenous, indigenous-history, medieval, memoir, memoirs, middle-ages, native-american, native-american-history, non-fiction, political-history, political-science, politics, president, presidents, revolution, u-k-history, u-s-history, u-s-politics, uk-history, united-states, united-states-history, united-states-politics, united-states-president, united-states-presidents, us-history, us-politics, us-president, us-presidents, usa, war-of-independence, women, womens-history, womens-studies
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Comments Showing 1-50 of 75 (75 new)
message 1:
by
Abi
(last edited Apr 24, 2010 02:41AM)
(new)
Feb 13, 2009 03:40AM
I really wish I could disqualify anything that has the words 'epic story' in the title. Great history books make an argument based on an interpretation of the past; a history book that just tells you a story has a seriously limited value.
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I cant seem to add books to the list but could I suggest A Short History of Byzantium by John Julius Norwich.
I went ahead and did disqualify a couple of works of fiction. But really, I don't think the "epic story" label should eliminate a work from consideration. You could start with Herodotus and Thucydides whose work is undeniably epic, but also epochal, in that we would have no history without them. Serious history has scholarly obligations, but it has artistic ones as well. If the matter isn't interesting, then ultimately no one is going to care about the footnotes or the argument.
Water for Elephants is most emphatically not a work of history.
Removed for being fiction:Water for Elephants, by Sara Gruen
The Red Tent, by Anita Diamant
I am of two minds about The Devils of Loudun, so I left it.
The Devils of Loudun is really not a novel, despite Huxley's reputation as a novelist. It is as "literary" as Barbara Tuchman. If you are thinking of the dreadful Ken Russell film based on the book, all I can say is, please don't.
Adding "Benedict Arnold's Navy" by James Nelson.Had it not been for Horatio Gates, who stole Arnold's genius at Saratoga and threw him to the wolves causing Arnold to "turn coat", Benedict Arnold could quite possibly been a greater American Hero than George Washington.
This book is of Benedict Arnolds building of a small fleet in the harbor of Skenesborough (modern day Whitehall, NY) to sail north and interdict the British fleet arriving via the St. Lawrence Seaway and the Richelieu river.
The ensuing "Battle of Valcour Island" is considered to be the very first naval engagement by the American Navy.
All of the Edward Rutherfurd books on the list (Sarum, London, Russka, New York) are novels. If you include them, you have to open the field to Michener.
I was only able to find Russka. I have deleted it. Cheers.
I found the others, on page 3. I'll delete them.ETA: Also removed "The Great Indian Novel." Because it, too, is a novel.
Too much american history.You're not the world y'know ?
You could, of course, add works about non-American history to the list.
Removed: The Killer Angels - a Pulitzer Prize-winning novel.
Removed for being novels:Midwives, by Chris Bohjalian
Chesapeake, by James A. Michener
Removed for being poetry:
The Ballad of the White Horse, by G.K. Chesterton
You could add him. It's easy to add books to lists; at the top of the page, at the tab next to "all votes."
David & Russ - any clue as to what book "Unknown Book 9379560" is at No. 147 on this list? You were the ones who voted for it.
The list is a little ethnocentric. Just a thought...if you know of a good book that is also the history of women, or Native Americans, or any other underrepresented group, you may want to add it. I added a few, but it could still use some rounding out.
D. wrote: "The Guns of August is a great, great book...but it is HISTORICAL FICTION. It is strong, well-researched historical fiction, but it is fiction This list is supposed to be strictly nonfiction."It is most certainly not historical fiction. What is your evidence that it is?
It won the Pulitzer for "general nonfiction."
Removed, for being novels:Gates of Fire, by Steven Pressfield
The Pale Criminal, by Philip Carr
Queen Margot, by Alexandre Dumas
A Philosophical Investigation, by Philip Kerr
Oh, it's a great book. It really does "read like a novel."
Revisited Feb 10 and asked the system to find duplicates, because I spotted one (Sherman's memoirs). The system found and removed 5 duplicates.I sympathize with the person who pointed out there is too much American history here. I went back and found some good books I had read (primarily Russian Revolution and Cuba) and added those; I can't reasonably add anything I haven't read, but have added some "want to reads" from the wider world.
Removed, for being novels:One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich
Quo Vadis
The Death of Ivan Ilych
Prince of the Atlantic: An Epic Novel Based on the True Exploits of Captain Luke Ryan Irish Swashbuckler & American Patriot Benjamin Franklin's Most Dangerous Privateer
And this is one of the times when I wish I had more than 100 votes!
I admire your fantastic library of golden books. Thank you.
I only had a hundred books I could add!
Wow, so many great sounding books that I've missed. Might have to read John Adams now, since it's at the top of the list. How about a history book that was just "fun" to read? Like "One of a Kind" about Stu Ungar, or "Vegas and the Mob," about, well, Las Vegas? Or are those too low-brow to admit at guilty pleasures?
Ron wrote: "Wow, so many great sounding books that I've missed. Might have to read John Adams now, since it's at the top of the list. How about a history book that was just "fun" to read? Like "One of a Kind" ..."Not familiar with these, but in order to qualify as history books, they must refer to a period at least 50 years before the publication date...at least I think so. Susanna CBG would know for sure.
I'm having a terrible time whittling my choices down to 100!
I wish I could pull books OFF this list. How about anything by Joseph Ellis is on this list is beyond me.
Socraticgadfly wrote: "I wish I could pull books OFF this list. How about anything by Joseph Ellis is on this list is beyond me."Exactly how I feel when I see Gone With the Wind as "best" historical fiction, when it is myth, and not even benign myth. But on the other hand, the First Amendment right to say what books we like is even more critical.
You don't give any reason for writing that Joseph Ellis shouldn't be on the list. At least one historian places him among the five best historywriters today (http://practicallyhistorical.net/2011...)
A New Age Now Begins: A People's History of the American Revolution, Vol 1\This 8 volume set written as a popular history is essential to understand the continuity of the development of the United States. This history is readable, does not focus on politics, politicians or generals and warfare. Rather all the above are included as they apply to the social fabric, and cultural development that caused America to become what it has. Here you will understand why normal people did what they did and the events that impacted peoples lives for good or evil. This set can be collected for about $8 or less per volume in used book stores. If you have any interest in history find any volume in a library and read a chapter.
Cameron wrote: "Siddhartha, being a novel, should be removed."Open ended listopia such as this one rely largely upon volunteer librarians, such as myself. If a title is misplaced on this list and you want to see it removed, please indicate on what page of the list you found it. This is a very long list, and I can't see scrolling through 18+ pages searching for 1 book, but I will zap it if I know where it is. Thanks.
page 2 Neil Shubin Your Inner Fish is not a history book. The only way that it is historical is if broad-stroke paleontology can be classified as historical
Whats wrong with novels? My interest in history started from The Other Boleyn Girl that is pretty much fiction. I wanted to know how the real story went, and the rest is "history". Recently I went to Amsterdam. As usual, before I have read few books about history of Netherlands. Some were unnecessary long and boring. In between I read The Coffee Trader, a novel, intertaining and very close to reality.So, whatever gets you going. Besides, the author disclaims in the book what is fiction and whats not.
Irina wrote: "Whats wrong with novels? My interest in history started from The Other Boleyn Girl that is pretty much fiction. I wanted to know how the real story went, and the rest is "history". Recently I went ..."Nothing is wrong with novels, but a fictional story set during an historic period is classified as historical fiction. There are a number of listopias for that genre. There are also some mixed listopias that include both history and historical fiction; the first that comes to mind is the American Civil War listopia, where both genres are welcome.
The listmaker determines the parameters, and by definition a history book is nonfiction. The subscript below the title specifies no historical fiction, so it's as clear as a bell.
If you dislike the listmaker's parameters, you are also free to start a new list, but it's best to check and make sure (using the search bar for listopias) that the list you want to vote on doesn't already exist.
Jonas wrote: "page 2 Neil Shubin Your Inner Fish is not a history book. The only way that it is historical is if broad-stroke paleontology can be classified as historical"History is defined as beginning when there is written language, so no, it's not historical.
Removed for genre reasons from page 3:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
The system found and removed 14 duplicates.
Dear Donna, goodreads is not University History department recommended reading, it's for people who like reading. How about Herodotus Histories? It is a history book, however I quote from experts "is bedevilled with the questions that still haunt it today concerning the relationship between truth and storytelling, SUBJECTIVE witnessing and objective record."
Irina wrote: "Dear Donna, goodreads is not University History department recommended reading, it's for people who like reading. How about Herodotus Histories? It is a history book, however I quote from experts "..."Thanks for the education, yo. If you want the parameters of the list changed, talk to Goodreads employees. I'm a volunteer, and I'm done with this thread.
Same here - GR librarians are not GR staff; we are all volunteers. You want to change the parameters of this list, I suggest you either argue with its creator, or contact GR staff and make a persuasive argument.
Otherwise your choices are to follow the parameters of this list, or to start another one. There are a ton of lists here on Listopia, and more every day.
Removed for genre reasons:https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
and from page 8:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
And from page 4, the death of Bin Laden being too recent to qualify as history:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Was surprised this wasn't on the list: Jerusalem The Biography - by Simon Sebag Montefiore - a spectacular read, and listen.
Mark wrote: "Was surprised this wasn't on the list: Jerusalem The Biography - by Simon Sebag Montefiore - a spectacular read, and listen."Did you add it to the list? If not, you can do that using the tabs at the top of the list.
Historical fictionWinds of War, Herman Wouk, page 4
War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk, page 7
Sally wrote: "Historical fictionWinds of War, Herman Wouk, page 4
War and Remembrance, Herman Wouk, page 7"
Removed as fiction:
Winds of War, #374:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...
War and Remembrance, #651:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/4...
Removed as out of genre, When Breath Becomes Air, which is a groundbreaking memoir but not history. History is defined as factual and having taken place at least 50 years prior to the time in which it is written. From page 4:
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1...
Removed #1960 Follow the River---fiction
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