I am 20 and i've realised how little i actually know about world history in general. i want to educate myself and read some non-fiction history books, but the last history book i tried to read left me feeling more confused than educated as it kept changing its focus every paragraph and i didn't really follow along. i don't know anything about good historical authors, so please tell me about your favourite history books that aren't too difficult to read. I'm open to any era of history or ancient history, I just want to get learning, tia 🙂
by Striking-Community89
6 Comments
*The Penguin History of the World: Sixth Edition* by J. M. Roberts and Odd Arne Westad.
*Societies and Cultures in World History: Single Volumes Edition Chapter 1-35* (the history of Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, as well as early and modern Asia) by Mark A. Kishlansky, Patrick J. Geary, Patricia O’Brien, and R. Bin Won.
Nixonland by Rick Pearlstein would be a great place to start. Don’t be intimidated that it’s huge! It’s really a compelling narrative that reads fast despite being long. It’s a history of the US (and the places the US found themselves entangled with) better the liberal landslide of 1964 and the conservatives landslide of 1972.
SPQR by Mary Beard
Napoleon a Life by Andrew Roberts
A Little History of the World by Ernst Gombrich.
It’s easy to read and accessible, and will give you a broad sweep of history, allowing you to add the detail later with more focused books.
Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari
I really love **Origin Story: A Big History of Everything** by David Christiansen. Even though it covers, well, all of history since the beginning of time (ie the Big Bang), it’s separated into digestible parts that make a lot of sense, and his writing is always geared toward laymen.
The book is separated into four basic parts: the Big Bang and creation of the universe, the solar system and creation of earth, the evolution of life from the first microbes of 4+bn years ago to Homo sapiens (humans), and the evolution of humanity and human civilization.
I think it’s an excellent way to learn a little bit about everything, and then whatever interests you most within the book is a great starting point to find more books about that subject.