# Need some new history books to read **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 3, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871 "2020-03-03T14:27:39Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/1 "2020-03-03T14:27:39Z")
I’m looking for some recommendations on history books. I’d prefer them to be on a narrow topic–in other words, not “World War II”, but some specific event or aspect I may not have read about before, not a general history. I also prefer not to read pure military histories…my eyes glaze over hearing about troop movements and battle tactics–I can read about war, but specifics of individual battles often bore me. I’d also prefer them not to be tremendously long, primarily because I only get to read a short time each day, maybe a half hour if I’m really lucky, so I don’t want to take six months to finish a book. Also, I have to carry it with me to work because I mostly read on the train, so I don’t want to lug a 7 pound book around in my backpack all day. (I prefer a paper book to an e-reader, but I do have one and will read an e-book if I can get it from my library) As an example of the sorts of books I typically read…I’ve read all of Candice Millard’s books (River of Doubt, Destiny of the Republic, and the Churchill one I can’t recall the name of), so if anyone has read her work and can recommend some books like hers I’d appreciate it. ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/2 "2020-03-03T14:36:54Z")
_The Library Book_ by Susan Orlean and _The Zookeepers’ War_ by J. W. Mohnhaupt are both fascinating. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/3 "2020-03-03T18:55:10Z")
Here are a couple “narrow focus” books you might enjoy: “Fire and Brimstone: The North Butte Mining Disaster of 1917” by Michael Punke. Along with lots of horrific stories of those who lost their lives, a good number of heroic stories of those who survived and helped others to survive. Good background to the boom of mining in Montana, and of the conditions the miners endured. “The Emerald Mile: The Epic Story of the Fastest Ride in History Through the Heart of the Grand Canyon” by Kevin Fedarko. The story of the actual ride is pretty amazing, but this book also gives a great history of the exploration of the Colorado river area and the establishments of the dams. One of the best all-around books I’ve read in a long time. ---
**Author:** ![batsto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b2d939/32.png) [@batsto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/batsto)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/4 "2020-03-03T18:58:57Z")
thanks. I’ll see if I can find those, they sound like exactly the sort of thing I’d be interested in. ---
**Author:** ![EinsteinsHund](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/einsteinshund/32/8400_2.png) [@EinsteinsHund](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EinsteinsHund)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/5 "2020-03-03T20:40:03Z")
I have become fascinated with the Spanish Conquest of America in the last few years and read three very interesting and captivating books about it: [Conquistador: Hernan Cortes, King Montezuma, and the Last Stand of the Aztecs](https://www.amazon.com/-/de/Conquistador-Hernan-Cortes-Montezuma-Aztecs/dp/0553384716/ref=tmm_pap_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=1583267054&sr=8-1) A tale that reads like a novel, or rather like a legend/fairy tale with all the twists and turns that story took. [The Conquest of the Incas](https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/0156028263/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=373GKC8EO4U60&keywords=the+conquest+of+the+incas+by+john+hemming&qid=1583267152&s=books&sprefix=the+conquest+of+the+in%2Cstripbooks-intl-ship%2C301&sr=1-1) A book with a wider scope than the one above. It describes the first conquest by Pizarro and his men, but also the following presence of Spain and the slow submission of the Inca culture in the next decades. Also a very good introduction to Inca culture and administration which in many ways had been superior to the ways and rules Spain installed. [Columbus: The Four Voyages, 1492-1504](https://www.amazon.com/-/de/dp/014312210X/ref=sr_1_1?__mk_de_DE=%C3%85M%C3%85%C5%BD%C3%95%C3%91&crid=2GBPJ0RZYSOCO&keywords=columbus+the+four+voyages%2C+1492-1504&qid=1583266985&sprefix=columbus+the+four+voyages%2Caps%2C268&sr=8-1) Detailing all the four voyages of Columbus, some of the later even more gripping and almost unbelievable than the first. Also a fascinating psychogram of Christopher Columbus, a man between genius and fool. ---
**Author:** ![SpoilerVirgin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/4491bb/32.png) [@SpoilerVirgin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SpoilerVirgin)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/6 "2020-03-03T21:07:23Z")
Here are three of my recent favorites: [Falling Upwards](https://www.amazon.com/Falling-Upwards-How-Took-Air-ebook/dp/B00CNQ2P16/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Falling+Upwards&qid=1583269040&sr=8-3): A history of hot air ballooning pioneers. This was the basis for the recent movie _The Aeronauts_. The movie focuses on one particular flight, but the book is much more of a historical overview. It’s full of fascinating information that I had never heard before. [Jungle of Stone](https://www.amazon.com/Jungle-Stone-Extraordinary-Catherwood-Civilization/dp/0062407406/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=Jungle+of+stone&qid=1583269283&sr=8-1): About the discovery of Mayan ruins in Mexico and Central America. A really extraordinary story of exploration. [The Secret Token](https://www.amazon.com/Secret-Token-Obsession-Search-Roanoke/dp/1101974605/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=The+Secret+Token&qid=1583269415&sr=8-1): The story of the lost colony of Roanoke. I thought I knew American history, but this book made me realize how little I knew about the earliest colonists. I’ll also second _The Library Book_. ---
**Author:** ![Banksiaman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/banksiaman/32/3334_2.png) [@Banksiaman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Banksiaman)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/7 "2020-03-03T21:42:49Z")
Topical and also reasonably commemorative - Laura Spinney’s _ **Pale Rider** _ is about the 1918 influenza epidemic. There was a slew of books coming out in the last few years to mark the centenary, so there are other threads and angles to pursue if you like it and the topic. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/8 "2020-03-03T21:50:29Z")
Longitude The History of Shit Zero Among the Thugs The Black Death Guns, Germs, and Steel The Beak of the Finch The Return of Martin Guerre ---
**Author:** ![Bijou\_Drains](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bijou_drains/32/2814_2.png) [@Bijou\_Drains](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bijou_Drains)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/9 "2020-03-03T21:51:02Z")
All of Erik Larson’s books are good , his latest came out last week. ---
**Author:** ![Sefton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/5daacb/32.png) [@Sefton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sefton)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/10 "2020-03-03T21:52:29Z")
[The Great Siege: Malta 1565](https://www.amazon.com/Great-Siege-Malta-1565-Civilization-ebook/dp/B00J48FFMM) is military, but it’s short and reads like a suspense novel. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/11 "2020-03-03T22:11:57Z")
[Zipper: An Exploration in Novelty](https://www.amazon.com/Zipper-Exploration-Robert-D-Friedel/dp/0393313654) is an excellent history of the zipper. [The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide](https://www.amazon.com/Blood-Telegram-Kissinger-Forgotten-Genocide/dp/0307744620/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=the+blood+bangladesh&qid=1583273042&s=books&sr=1-2) > [@](#): > > Archer Blood, the United States’ consul general in Dacca, was a gentlemanly diplomat raised in Virginia, a World War II navy veteran in the upswing of a promising Foreign Service career after several tours overseas. He was earnest and precise, known to some of his more unruly subordinates at the U.S. consulate as a good, conventional man. > > He had come to like his posting to this impoverished, green, and swampy land. But outside of the consulate’s grimy offices, in the steamy heat, the city was dying. Night after night, Blood heard the gunshots. On the night of March 25, 1971, the Pakistan army had begun a relentless crackdown on Bengalis, all across what was then East Pakistan and is today an independent Bangladesh. Untold thousands of people were shot, bombed, or burned to death in Dacca alone. Blood had spent that grim night on the roof of his official residence, watching as tracer bullets lit up the sky, listening to clattering machine guns and thumping tank guns. There were fires across the ramshackle city. He knew the people in the deathly darkness below. He liked them. Many of the civilians facing the bullets were professional colleagues; some were his friends. > > It was, Blood and his staffers thought, their job to relay as much of this as they possibly could back to Washington. Witnessing one of the worst atrocities of the Cold War, Blood’s consulate documented in horrific detail the slaughter of Bengali civilians: an area the size of two dozen city blocks that had been razed by gunfire; two newspaper office buildings in ruins; thatch-roofed villages in flames; specific targeting of the Bengalis’ Hindu minority. [The Story of Physics](https://www.amazon.com/Story-Physics-Anne-Rooney-ebook/dp/B00MURWKIG/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+story+of+physics&qid=1583273446&s=books&sr=1-1) is a pretty decent history of physics. ---
**Author:** ![cormac262](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f14d63/32.png) [@cormac262](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cormac262)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/12 "2020-03-03T22:13:19Z")
Thought of another one: “The Taking of K-129: How the CIA Used Howard Hughes to Steal a Russian Sub in the Most Daring Covert Operation in History” (Josh Dean). I had heard bits and pieces of this story, and seen a lot of TV mini-documentaries mentioning parts of the story as well. But I thought this book did a great job covering all the details from inception to execution. I also enjoyed Larson’s “The Devil in the White City”. So I would second that. “In the Garden of the Beasts” was good, but kind of covered just an “era”, and not so much about a specific event. ---
**Author:** ![lissener](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lissener/32/6139_2.png) [@lissener](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lissener)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 10:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/13 "2020-03-03T22:32:00Z")
Hitler’s Willing Executioners ---
**Author:** ![zimaane](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/a3d4f5/32.png) [@zimaane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zimaane)\ **Post date:** [March 3, 2020, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/14 "2020-03-03T23:23:08Z")
I read a lot of books like this myself Here are some of the top of my head: The Return of the King: The British in Afghanistan 1839 - 1842 William Dalrymple (Mr. Dalrymple has written quite a few books on the history of the subcontinent. All are good, but they do tend to be long) By Permission of Heaven - The Great Fire of London Midnight in Chernobyl - Adam Higginbottom Kinda long too, but absolutely gripping minute-by-minute and day-by-day account of the disaster. Krakatoa Simon Winchester ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/15 "2020-03-04T00:08:13Z")
I’m a big fan of H.W. Brands. But most of his books cover broader subjects, which is not what the OP wants. But Brands intentionally set out to write a short history on one narrow subject in _The Murder of Jim Fisk for the Love of Josie Mansfield_. ---
**Author:** ![enipla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/54ee81/32.png) [@enipla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/enipla)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/16 "2020-03-04T01:11:30Z")
OP - Loved the ‘River of Doubt’. And others that have been mentioned here. I go through phases of reading about adventurers single handing (or with a mate) around the world in sail boats. Fascinating stuff. The best of this type of book I have ever read is a helicopter pilots account of his time flying Slicks (Hueys) in the Vietnam War. ‘Chickenhawk’ by Robert Mason. I’ve read it three times. Absolutely gripping, and lots of first hand accounts of the crazy shit that comes with a crazy war. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/17 "2020-03-04T01:12:27Z")
[The Hot Zone](https://www.amazon.com/Hot-Zone-Terrifying-Story-Origins-ebook/dp/B007DCU4IQ/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=the+hot+zone&qid=1583283178&s=digital-text&sr=1-1) [The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the 16th and 17th Centuries](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00FYU2BA8/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?_encoding=UTF8&btkr=1) [Survival in Auschwitz](https://www.amazon.com/Survival-Auschwitz-Primo-Levi-ebook/dp/B00E6TWJUA/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1GDP1A02FECG9&keywords=survival+in+auschwitz+primo+levi&qid=1583283433&s=digital-text&sprefix=levi+aus%2Cdigital-text%2C257&sr=1-1) [Ordinary Men](https://www.amazon.com/Ordinary-Men-Reserve-Battalion-Solution-ebook/dp/B01G1F0F84/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=ordinary+men&qid=1583283963&s=books&sr=1-1) ---
**Author:** ![PastTense](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pasttense/32/14550_2.png) [@PastTense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PastTense)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/18 "2020-03-04T01:51:39Z")
Think about state and local history books about where you live and where you grew up. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/19 "2020-03-04T02:14:46Z")
[A Voyage Long and Strange: Rediscovering the New World](https://www.amazon.com/Voyage-Long-Strange-Rediscovering-World/dp/0805076034) the late Tony Horwitz follows in the footsteps of the early explorers, would-be conquerors and colonists. ---
**Author:** ![AZRob](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/azrob/32/3003_2.png) [@AZRob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AZRob)\ **Post date:** [March 4, 2020, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871/20 "2020-03-04T03:29:40Z")
> [@enipla](#): > > OP - Loved the ‘River of Doubt’. And others that have been mentioned here. > > I go through phases of reading about adventurers single handing (or with a mate) around the world in sail boats. Fascinating stuff. > > The best of this type of book I have ever read is a helicopter pilots account of his time flying Slicks (Hueys) in the Vietnam War. ‘Chickenhawk’ by Robert Mason. I’ve read it three times. Absolutely gripping, and lots of first hand accounts of the crazy shit that comes with a crazy war. I’ll second Chickenhawk. I was sorry when it ended. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/need-some-new-history-books-to-read/848871.md?page=2)