Best Books on History

Empires, wars and the people caught up in them. The top-rated non-fiction to read alongside the history documentaries.

1. Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
2. Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
3. SPQR by Mary Beard (3.9/5) - View on Amazon
4. The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William L. Shirer (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
5. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
6. The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman (3.8/5) - View on Amazon
7. The Vikings by Ferguson, Robert - View on Amazon
8. River Kings by Cat Jarman - View on Amazon
9. The Vikings by Neil Price - View on Amazon
10. The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge - View on Amazon
11. The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge - View on Amazon
12. The Templars by Dan Jones - View on Amazon
13. God's War by Christopher Tyerman - View on Amazon
14. The Great Mortality by John Kelly - View on Amazon
15. The Black Death by Philip Ziegler - View on Amazon
16. A Distant Mirror by Barbara Tuchman (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
17. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford (4/5) - View on Amazon
18. The Book of Five Rings by Miyamoto Musashi - View on Amazon
19. Samurai by Stephen Turnbull - View on Amazon
20. The Last Samurai by Mark Ravina - View on Amazon
21. Osman's Dream by Caroline Finkel - View on Amazon
22. The House of Wisdom by Jim Al-Khalili - View on Amazon
23. Lords of the Horizons by Jason Goodwin - View on Amazon
24. Destiny Disrupted by Mir Tamim Ansary - View on Amazon

Best Books on Medieval & Vikings

1. The Vikings by Ferguson, Robert - View on Amazon
2. River Kings by Cat Jarman - View on Amazon
3. The Vikings by Neil Price - View on Amazon
4. The Crusades by Thomas Asbridge - View on Amazon
5. The Greatest Knight by Thomas Asbridge - View on Amazon
6. The Templars by Dan Jones - View on Amazon
7. God's War by Christopher Tyerman - View on Amazon
8. The Great Mortality by John Kelly - View on Amazon

Best Books on Kings, Queens & Tudors

1. The Six Wives of Henry VIII by Alison Weir (3.8/5) - View on Amazon
2. Elizabeth by David Starkey - View on Amazon
3. The Tudors by G. J. Meyer - View on Amazon
4. Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (4/5) - View on Amazon
5. The Plantagenets by Dan Jones - View on Amazon
6. The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones - View on Amazon
7. Victoria by Julia Baird - View on Amazon
8. Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser - View on Amazon

Best Books on Exploration & Empire

1. Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergreen - View on Amazon
2. 1493 by Charles C. Mann (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
3. The Discoverers by Daniel J. Boorstin (3.7/5) - View on Amazon
4. Longitude by Dava Sobel (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
5. Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon Northup (4.4/5) - View on Amazon
6. Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass by Frederick Douglass (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
7. The Half Has Never Been Told by Edward E. Baptist - View on Amazon
8. Bury the Chains by Adam Hochschild - View on Amazon

Best Books on American History

1. 1776 by David McCullough (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
2. John Adams by David McCullough (4.5/5) - View on Amazon
3. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow (4.6/5) - View on Amazon
4. Washington by Ron Chernow (4.6/5) - View on Amazon
5. Battle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPherson (4.6/5) - View on Amazon
6. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin (3.9/5) - View on Amazon
7. Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. Gwynne (4.1/5) - View on Amazon
8. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown - View on Amazon

Best Books on Asia, Africa & the Middle East

1. Wild Swans by Jung Chang (4.5/5) - View on Amazon
2. The Search for Modern China by Jonathan D. Spence (4.3/5) - View on Amazon
3. Mao by Jung Chang - View on Amazon
4. The Anarchy by William Dalrymple (4.2/5) - View on Amazon
5. India After Gandhi by Ramachandra Guha (4.4/5) - View on Amazon
6. Freedom at Midnight by Larry Collins (4/5) - View on Amazon
7. Inglorious Empire by Shashi Tharoor - View on Amazon
8. The Fate of Africa by Martin Meredith - View on Amazon