Explore our collection of history books. Discover key insights and summaries from the best titles in this genre.
Showing 24 of 511 books
by James Baldwin
4.5(57,842)
Baldwin's raw and revolutionary "letters" confront America with the urgent issue of racial injustice, demanding accountability for its past and a path toward a shared, fair future.
by Sarah Thornton
3.6(56,623)
Sarah Thornton explores the high-stakes, eccentric world of contemporary art, examining the drama of auctions, the draw of exclusive fairs, and the power struggles in studios and institutions that determine taste and fortune.
by Krishna-Dwaipayana Vyasa
4.1(55,183)
During a battle, a divine charioteer reveals cosmic truths about duty, devotion, and self-realization to a conflicted warrior, guiding him from despair to enlightened action.
by Hillary Rodham Clinton
3.9(53,165)
Hillary Rodham Clinton removes her public persona to offer a raw, personal account of her 2016 presidential campaign, her defeat, and her thoughts on sexism, Russian interference, and a new political era.
by James D. Bradley
4.2(50,996)
The son of a reluctant hero uncovers the harrowing truth behind the iconic Iwo Jima flag-raising, revealing the disconnect between myth and the devastating reality faced by soldiers and those who returned.
by Jack Weatherford
4.0(50,233)
Before 'globalization' was a buzzword, Genghis Khan created the largest contiguous empire in history, breaking old worlds and starting a new, interconnected one through brutal conquest and unexpected cultural growth.
by Primo Levi
4.3(48,449)
In the inferno of Auschwitz, a young chemist confronts systematic dehumanization, showing the resilience of the human spirit amidst cruelty.
by Joseph Campbell
4.3(44,260)
Explore the classic stories that shape human experience, from old rituals to modern love, as Joseph Campbell and Bill Moyers show how myths reveal life's deepest truths.
by Bill Clinton
3.7(43,964)
From his difficult Arkansas childhood to the White House and impeachment, Bill Clinton openly discusses his life, showing a charming but flawed man dealing with public successes, private struggles, and the constant effort of political maneuvering.
by Edmund Morris
4.2(43,546)
This book follows a privileged, asthmatic boy's journey to becoming the charismatic, trust-busting President who changed American power at the turn of the 20th century.
by Edmund Morris
4.2(43,076)
Edmund Morris's biography shows how Theodore Roosevelt's two-term presidency used 'big stick' diplomacy to handle corporate trusts, global conflicts, and conservation, shaping America as a rising world power.
by George Orwell
4.1(42,697)
Orwell's memoir details his experiences in the Spanish Civil War, exposing the brutal realities and political betrayals that shaped his lifelong commitment to democratic socialism.
by Plato
4.0(42,213)
At an Athenian drinking party, intellectuals discuss 'eros,' its social effects, gender roles, and how love might lead to spiritual growth.
by Herodotus
4.0(41,610)
Herodotus leads readers through the ancient world, chronicling the unlikely Greek victory over the Persian Empire and sharing tales of Egyptian wonders, European lake-dwellers, and even dog-headed men.
by Danny Sugerman
3.9(38,183)
Explore Jim Morrison's complex life, the Doors' frontman, through the eyes of those closest to him, showing the poet, rebel, and self-destructive figure who challenged reality until his early death.
by Erik Larson
3.7(38,093)
In an era of scientific marvels and Edwardian opulence, a meek doctor's desperate attempt at the perfect murder collides with Marconi's revolutionary wireless, igniting the first global manhunt across the vast, once-silent Atlantic.
by Gore Vidal
4.2(37,958)
Gore Vidal strips away the myth to reveal Abraham Lincoln as a shrewd, melancholic political animal, navigating personal tragedy and a deeply divided capital to reluctantly emancipate a nation teetering on the brink of collapse.
by Alan Weisman
3.8(37,575)
Explore a post-human Earth where New York's subways flood, cities become forests, and our most lasting legacies are plastic, bronze, and radio waves.
by Frank B. Gilbreth Jr.
4.0(37,451)
Meet the Gilbreths, a family of twelve children whose efficiency-expert parents apply their industrial principles to everything from chore charts to synchronized tonsillectomies, all with hilarious and heartwarming results.
by Joan Didion
4.2(37,039)
Joan Didion's 'Slouching Towards Bethlehem' examines the fractured American psyche of the 1960s, showing the unsettling truths beneath the counterculture's facade through personal disquiet and societal decay.
by George W. Bush
3.8(36,679)
George W. Bush recounts his presidency's defining choices, from 9/11's aftermath to the Iraq War and Hurricane Katrina, in the Situation Room and Oval Office.
by Jean-Jacques Rousseau
3.8(36,646)
Rousseau's work questions how governments are formed, arguing that people are truly free only when they agree to a 'social contract' that creates and is subject to sovereign power.
by Plato
4.2(36,381)
Before the Athenian court, Socrates, charged with impiety and corrupting youth, shows his commitment to truth and the examined life, a defense that seals his fate but makes his philosophy immortal.
by W.E.B. Du Bois
4.3(36,131)
W.E.B. Du Bois's important work examines post-Reconstruction America, asking for true equality and an end to the 'double consciousness' that limits Black people.