What are the best (factual) history books you’ve ever read?
I need some book ideas and I’d like to read non-fiction history. Any kind of history. Bonus if it includes or is about Jewish history. Thank you in advance!
Anything by Collins and Lapierre. But perhaps especially **O Jerusalem** for your specific request. It’s about the founding of the modern state of Israel.
teaandlurking on
I recently read *Irena’s Children* by Tilar J. Mazzeo about Irena Sendler who saved an estimated 2500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto. Very impactful.
*Midnight in Chernobyl* by Adam Higginbotham was absolutely fascinating if you’re at all interested in Chernobyl. From what I’ve read, there are a couple of mistakes but it’s generally accepted as one of the most accurate retellings of what happened. It’s one of the best historical non-fiction books I’ve read, though it is very recent history.
bobsatraveler on
Jerusalem Jerusalem by James Carroll. Not an easy read but glad I got through it prior to traveling there.
u-lala-lation on
Some of my favorites:
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese (exactly what’s on the tin)
How the Brain Lost Its Mind by Allan H. Ropper and Brian Burrell (history of neurosyphilis)
Tinderbox by Robert W Fieseler (story of gay club that was arsoned and played a role in lgbtq liberation)
Forbidden Signs by Douglas C Baynton (US deaf history, when deaf people were denied signed language)
A Phone of Our Own by Harry G Lang (the story of the teletypewriter and the people who invented it)
The Many Faces of Christ by Philip Jenkins (exploration of early gospels and sects, how they spread/extinguished/evolved)
Bolshoi Confidential by Simon Morrison (history of russian ballet)
About Time by David Rooney (how different civilizations understood and recorded time’s passage)
ZealousSideGap on
‘The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive’ by L. J. Adlington
Gator717375 on
***The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich*** by William Shirer
Many-Obligation-4350 on
***Nicholas and Alexandra*** by Robert Massey is my favorite in this genre. It is the classic account of modern Russian history and the fall of the Romanov empire. A gripping piece of work!
Savings-Stable-9212 on
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes is beyond good. It also features some very important Jewish people playing fascinating historical rolls.
jkrevette26 on
Rocket Men by Robert Kurson was a great read about the Apollo 8 mission. Honestly anything from Kurson is worth reading. Pirate Hunters is my all time favorite NF book.
Also I recently finished Empire of Ice and Stone by Buddy Levy about the ill-fated Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913. Absolutely thrilling!
Puzzled-Barnacle-200 on
{The Greatest Knight by Asbridge} is about William Marshall, a Knight who was almost executed at the age of 5 for his father’s treason, but then became a close, trusted advisor of 4 or 5 Kings, and is an ancestor of modern Monarchs.
{A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bryson} is primarily a non-fiction about science – the big bang, creation of the earth, geophysics, creation of life and evolution. But it’s told with a focus on the scientific discovery of those things.
teedeeguantru on
Hitler’s Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen.
Horrifying, but compelling look at the perpetrators of the Holocaust. Unfortunately relevant today.
cwn24 on
Slavery in Indian Country by Christina Snyder
A Land So Strange by Andre Resendez
Gay New York by George Chauncey
To Serve God and Walmart by Bethany Moreton
Bird_Commodore18 on
The Guns of August by Barbara W Tuchman helped spark my fascination with WWI.
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham was a great telling of how that reactor base was a tragedy waiting to happen.
boxer_dogs_dance on
The Anarchy by Dalyrimple, Facing the Mountain by Daniel Brown, Bury my Heart at Wounded knee
pnwbator on
*Jerusalem* by Simon Sebag Montefiore. A history of one of the world’s oldest cities.
16 Comments
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Anything by Collins and Lapierre. But perhaps especially **O Jerusalem** for your specific request. It’s about the founding of the modern state of Israel.
I recently read *Irena’s Children* by Tilar J. Mazzeo about Irena Sendler who saved an estimated 2500 children out of the Warsaw ghetto. Very impactful.
*Midnight in Chernobyl* by Adam Higginbotham was absolutely fascinating if you’re at all interested in Chernobyl. From what I’ve read, there are a couple of mistakes but it’s generally accepted as one of the most accurate retellings of what happened. It’s one of the best historical non-fiction books I’ve read, though it is very recent history.
Jerusalem Jerusalem by James Carroll. Not an easy read but glad I got through it prior to traveling there.
Some of my favorites:
Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese (exactly what’s on the tin)
How the Brain Lost Its Mind by Allan H. Ropper and Brian Burrell (history of neurosyphilis)
Tinderbox by Robert W Fieseler (story of gay club that was arsoned and played a role in lgbtq liberation)
Forbidden Signs by Douglas C Baynton (US deaf history, when deaf people were denied signed language)
A Phone of Our Own by Harry G Lang (the story of the teletypewriter and the people who invented it)
The Many Faces of Christ by Philip Jenkins (exploration of early gospels and sects, how they spread/extinguished/evolved)
Bolshoi Confidential by Simon Morrison (history of russian ballet)
About Time by David Rooney (how different civilizations understood and recorded time’s passage)
‘The Dressmakers of Auschwitz: The True Story of the Women Who Sewed to Survive’ by L. J. Adlington
***The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich*** by William Shirer
***Nicholas and Alexandra*** by Robert Massey is my favorite in this genre. It is the classic account of modern Russian history and the fall of the Romanov empire. A gripping piece of work!
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes is beyond good. It also features some very important Jewish people playing fascinating historical rolls.
Rocket Men by Robert Kurson was a great read about the Apollo 8 mission. Honestly anything from Kurson is worth reading. Pirate Hunters is my all time favorite NF book.
Also I recently finished Empire of Ice and Stone by Buddy Levy about the ill-fated Canadian Arctic Expedition of 1913. Absolutely thrilling!
{The Greatest Knight by Asbridge} is about William Marshall, a Knight who was almost executed at the age of 5 for his father’s treason, but then became a close, trusted advisor of 4 or 5 Kings, and is an ancestor of modern Monarchs.
{A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bryson} is primarily a non-fiction about science – the big bang, creation of the earth, geophysics, creation of life and evolution. But it’s told with a focus on the scientific discovery of those things.
Hitler’s Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen.
Horrifying, but compelling look at the perpetrators of the Holocaust. Unfortunately relevant today.
Slavery in Indian Country by Christina Snyder
A Land So Strange by Andre Resendez
Gay New York by George Chauncey
To Serve God and Walmart by Bethany Moreton
The Guns of August by Barbara W Tuchman helped spark my fascination with WWI.
Midnight in Chernobyl by Adam Higginbotham was a great telling of how that reactor base was a tragedy waiting to happen.
The Anarchy by Dalyrimple, Facing the Mountain by Daniel Brown, Bury my Heart at Wounded knee
*Jerusalem* by Simon Sebag Montefiore. A history of one of the world’s oldest cities.