Skip to main content

Five Great History Books for Beginners

If you are looking to read nonfiction history that is enlightening and entertaining the here are five great places to start that history reading journey! 

Republic of Pirates by Colin Woodard

The Republic of Pirates: Being the True and Surprising Story of the Caribbean Pirates and the Man Who Brought Them Down by Colin Woodard is a highly acclaimed historical book that explores the Golden Age of Piracy (roughly 1715–1725). Moving past Hollywood tropes, Woodard frames the historic Republic of Pirates as a deliberate, social-political uprising against the brutal colonial powers of the British and Spanish Empires.

I liked this one because it used the Pirates' base in the Bahamas as a focal point to framing a story, rather than just going through a list or a chronology of famous pirates.
 
republic of pirates, history, bahamas, narrative history, blackbeard,

Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4xhlCfd

Fall of Berlin by Antony Beevor

The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor is an authoritative, meticulously researched military history book that chronicles the final four months of the Third Reich. Relying heavily on declassified Soviet, German, and other European archives, Beevor provides a dual perspective. He balances macro-level geopolitical maneuvering with a harrowing, street-level view of civilian and soldier suffering.

This one is great because Beevor can transport you to the time, to the field of battle, like no other military historian that I know of!
 
fall of berlin, 1945, military history, antony beevor, narrative history,


Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/49P9yru

SPQR by Mary Beard


SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome by Mary Beard is a readable, thousand-year history that examines how an Italian village transformed into a global superpower. Rather than a purely chronological narrative, the book explores Roman identity, social history, and the transformation from a republic to an autocracy through the perspective of both elites and commoners.

I liked this one because Beard has a great writing style. It flows, it's anecdotal, and never dry. Yet she has opinions and histories of Rome should always be about ideas in the end!
 
SPQR, Roman empire, mary beard, narrative history

Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4uZVbZV

Endurance by Alfred Lansing

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage by Alfred Lansing is the definitive, pulse-pounding account of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s ill-fated 1914 Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. Widely considered a masterpiece of survival literature, Lansing reconstructed the harrowing 20-month ordeal by meticulously interviewing surviving crew members and analyzing their private diaries.

I liked this one because the history of exploration is fascinating and there is no better representative of the genre than this one.
 
 
endurance, shackleton, alfred lansing, narrative history,

Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4dZ8Yd5

Paris 1919 by Margaret MacMillan

Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World (published in the UK as Peacemakers) by Margaret MacMillan is a narrative history masterpiece detailing the 1919 Paris Peace Conference. The book focuses on the critical six-month window following World War I where the "Big Three" leaders—U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, and French Premier Georges Clemenceau—effectively acted as a world government to redraw the global map.

I like this one because it is character driven, it’s not just about a conference and some meetings. It’s a narrative work driven by and focused on the characters of Wilson, Lloyd Gerod and Clemenceau.

paris 1919 , margaret macmillan, history, narrative history

Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4oif8Zq

Great Source for Buying Books:

    I often buy new books at a very good price from Book Outlet. As I understand it, Book Outlet sells overstock books received directly from new bookstores.  You can find a broad range of genres, publication dates as well as soft covers and hardcover.

    If you are interested in checking out Book Outlet, please follow my link. I don't get paid for referrals, but I can earn credits that are applicable to my own book orders. Help me read and review books so that you can avoid things or find things that are up your alley!

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Book Review: Empire of the Summer Moon

I recently completed Empire of the Summer Moon: Quanah Parker and the Rise and Fall of the Comanches, the Most Powerful Indian Tribe in American History by S.C. Gwynne.   This isn't a new work, originally published back in 2011 by Scribner, but it was a new to me book. One of the great things about history is that if well done, they generally have a pretty good shelf life.      And this one is well done. Gwynne is known to be one of the best popular or narrative history writers, and I enjoyed his treatment of the Commanche's and their conflicts with the European powers and the encroaching settlers immensely.   This is a compelling read that is fast moving, and sucks you in as well as any novel. Buy it on Amazon:  https://amzn.to/4e7GVac      The work covers the historic rise of the Comanche's, their origins, their move into buffalo country and adoption of a militaristic horse culture, as well as their conflicts with the Spanish and Frenc...
Post a Comment
Read more

My Thoughts on The Road by Cormac McCarthy (Spoiler Free)

I finally read a Cormac McCarthy novel. I was at the library looking for books with my 14 year old daughter, primarily books for her.  The library is one of the main theatres of battle in my ongoing military campaign to keep her from spending all of her time on screens.  Alexander the Great, Napoleon, Patton?  They have no idea.  Buy it on Amazon: https://amzn.to/4vuHDVW Anyway, I have always seen book readers discuss and recommend Cormac McCarthy novels and The Road was on the shelf, which surprised me somewhat. Our small branch library usually has few good books, since most people generally rely on holds to get what they want. So, I grabbed the copy for myself.  Since this was my first (and so far only) McCarthy read, I was surprised how short the book was and how sparse was the writing style. I really had no expectations going into this, and I generally start with the assumption that I am getting into the next War and Peace.  But The Road is nothing like...
Post a Comment
Read more

Book Review: Endurance, Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

I recently read Endurance by Alfred Lansing. And to be honest, I was under the impression that I was the only one not to have read this famous account of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s 1914–1917 (disastrous) Imperial Trans‑Antarctic Expedition. But I have since learned there are many people who haven't picked this one up, and if you are one of those people who have not read Endurance then you definitely should.        A couple of things I would mention before getting into this review.  First, the book was originally published in 1959. And if you are worried that the language might be old timey or stuffy or whatever, don't be too concerned. This one is extremely well written and reads like it could be written this year. So definitely not old timey.       Second, Lansing was close enough to events to have had the chance to talk and discuss the events with at least some of the crew. I can't remember now if he talked to all of them or not. An...
Post a Comment
Read more