The 100 Best History Books of All Time


Alexander the Great mosaic
Alexander: image by Ruthven


The 100 Best History Books of All Time list contains a mixture of the most rewarding history books ever written. It includes texts on the most important topics in human history and has works of women's history, political history, diplomatic history, social history, cultural history, economic history, intellectual history, micro history, sexual history, military history, religious history, environmental history, world history, and historiography. Its written with an Anglo-American focus.

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World History Reading Lists

1. A Study of History

By Arnold J. Toynbee | Used Price: 80% Off

Arnold Toynbee's A Study of History is his magnum opus. In it he analyses the rise and fall of all 26 of the great world civilizations; whereas, previous historians had mainly concentrated on the West. Toynbee traces general themes focussing on the genesis, growth, and disintegration of civilisations. ... More »

A Study of History
The Making of the English Working Class

2. The Making of the English Working Class

By E. P. Thompson | Used Price: 60% Off

This book transformed our understanding of English social history. Thompson revealed how working class people were not merely victims of history, moved by powerful forces outside of themselves, but were also active in creating their own culture and future, during the degradation of the industrial revolution. More »

3. The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II

By Fernand Braudel | Used Price: 60% Off

The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II is the most influencial work of the great 20th century historian Fernand Braudel, a leader of the Annales School. This work perfectly demonstrates Braudel’s l'histoire totale, writing history from as many perspectives as possible, including ... More »

The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II
The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848 (4 Volume History of the Modern World)

4. The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848 (4 Volume History of the Modern World)

By Eric Hobsbawm | Used Price: 60% Off

The Age of Revolution is a book by Eric Hobsbawm. It's the first of 3 books about "the long 19th century", and The Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, is the sequel to the trilogy. More »

5. The Radicalism of the American Revolution

By Gordon S. Wood | Used Price: 80% Off

Awarded the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History, The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon Wood argues that the American Revolution by rights deserves a place among the French, Industrial and Russian Revolutions as one of the great events in history. Wood synthesizes all the pertinent issues ... More »

The Radicalism of the American Revolution
The Guns of August

6. The Guns of August

By Barbara Tuchman | Used Price: 70% Off

The Pulitzer Prize winning, The Guns of August, by Barbara W. Tuchman, is focussed on the first month of World War I. Tuchman explains in detail the events that led to the war. The book was featured in the Modern Library's Top 100 nonfiction books of the 20th Century. More »

7. Plagues and Peoples

By William H. McNeill | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

William McNeill's Plagues and Peoples theorises about the impact disease has had on human history. He examines the influence plagues may have had on various events, such as the development of Chinese civilisation, the renaissance and the downfall of the Roman Empire. More »

Plagues and Peoples
SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

8. SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome

By Mary Beard

Covering nearly 1,000 years of Roman history, Mary Beard brings the subject to life. SPQR is a broad modern history covering subjects neglected for centuries and with a detailed understanding of the democratic struggles of Rome. More »

9. What Is History?

By E. H. Carr | Under $1.00

What is History? is Edward Carr's brilliant work of historical theory. The text is based on The George Macaulay Trevelyan Lectures presented at University of Cambridge in 1961. More »

What Is History?
The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000

10. The Inheritance of Rome: Illuminating the Dark Ages 400-1000

By Chris Wickham | Used Price: 60% Off

In Chris Wickham's The Inheritance of Rome, he explains how the standard narrative has twisted our view of the world between the fall of Rome and the Renaissance. Civilisation did not end with Rome only to reappear a thousand years later. Instead it continued on in many ways ... More »

11. The Contours of American History

By William Appleman Williams | 70% Off

William Appleman Williams was one of the greatest opponents of US imperialism. The Modern Library chose The Contours of American History as one of the best 100 nonfiction books of the Twentieth Century. More »

The Contours of American History
The Origins of The Second World War

12. The Origins of The Second World War

By A.J.P. Taylor

The Origins of the Second World War is a history book by A.J.P. Taylor. In it he looks at the causes of World War II. It was controversial at the time for holding all sides to account for the outbreak of war, but has since been recognised as ... More »

13. Gender and the Politics of History

By Joan Scott | Used Price: 90% Off

Gender and the Politics of History marks a watershed in feminist history and gender equality. Joan Scott is a celebrated feminist historian and a professor at Princeton University. More »

Gender and the Politics of History
A People's History of the United States

14. A People's History of the United States

By Howard Zinn | Used Price: 70% Off

A People's History of the United States is an attempt by Howard Zinn to present an alternative history of America from below. It's a view of US history from the perspective of ordinary and oppressed people. It's extremely popular and - in addition to being on many high ... More »

15. The Black Jacobins

By C.L.R. James | Used Price: 70% Off

The Black Jacobins is the authoritative history of the Haitian Revolution of 1794, the first revolution in the Third World."The prospect of a Black Republic is equally disturbing to the Spanish, the English and the Americans. Jefferson has promised that on the instant the French army has arrived ... More »

The Black Jacobins
The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time

16. The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time

By Karl Polanyi | Used Price: 50% Off

In Polanyi's classic work of economic history and sociology, he examines societal changes since the Industrial Revolution and expertly explains the inadequacies of the free market. Published in 1944, it is as relevant as today as ever, with Harvard Professor Stephen Walt recommending it in his Top 10 ... More »

17. Liberty before Liberalism

By Quentin Skinner

Liberty before Liberalism is a classic essay examining what liberal thought was in Ancient - Greek and Roman - times. Skinner uses this exploration of classical republican thought to explain the significance of intellectual history and the history of ideas. More »

Liberty before Liberalism
Hidden From History: 300 Years of Women's Oppression and the Fight Against It

18. Hidden From History: 300 Years of Women's Oppression and the Fight Against It

By Sheila Rowbotham | Under $1.00

Hidden From History is a study of women in Britain from the 1600s to the 1930s. It demonstrates how class, gender, work, family life, personal life and social pressures have interacted in women's endeavours for equality. More »

19. The Search for Modern China

By Jonathan Spence | Used Price: 90% Off

Jonathan Spence offers a comprehensive history of modern China from the Ming dynasty onwards. A leading scholar of Chinese history Spences text The Search for Modern China was ground-breaking for a popular work as it did not take a Eurocentric approach: modern Chinese history was taken from the ... More »

The Search for Modern China
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

20. Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era

By James M. McPherson | Used Price: 70% Off

James McPherson's classic account of the Civil War era focusses not just on the war but the lead up too. Another fundamental theme is the many interpretations of liberty, as both sides believed they were fighting for the freedoms won in the Revolution. Battle Cry of Freedom won ... More »

21. The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy

By Kenneth Pomeranz | Used Price: 50% Off

Why did the Industrial Revolution take place in the West and not the East? Ken Pomeranz demonstrates that prior to the Industrial Revolution East and West were very similar in economic terms. The Great Divergence provides new insights into why the West developed so quickly. More »

The Great Divergence: China, Europe, and the Making of the Modern World Economy
Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West

22. Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West

By William Cronon | Used Price: 60% Off

William Cronin's Nature's Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West is a classic work of environmental history. In it he examines the environmental history of 19th-century America. More »

23. The Strange Death of Liberal England: 1910-1914

By George Dangerfield

The Strange Death of Liberal England, written by George Dangerfield, examines the causes of the fall of the British Liberal Party, from 1910 to 1914. The book was listed in the Modern Library's top 100 best nonfiction books. More »

The Strange Death of Liberal England: 1910-1914
Religion and the Decline of Magic

24. Religion and the Decline of Magic

By Keith Thomas | Used Price: 50% Off

Keith Thomas's text looks at the 16th and 17th centuries where magic was being challenged in religion with the Reformation and in general with the rise of scietific, rational thinking. More »

25. The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it

By Richard Hofstadter | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

The American Political Tradition and the Men Who Made It is a book by Richard Hofstadter, published in 1948. Hofstadter proposes that, while most historians have made political conflict central to political history, political consensus on a dominant free market ideology better defines the political history of America. ... More »

The American Political Tradition: And the Men Who Made it
Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture

26. Ancient Greece: Politics, Society, and Culture

By Sarah Pomeroy; Stanley M. Burstein; Jennifer Tolbert Roberts; Walter Donlan; David W. Tandy; Georgia Tsouvala

Crafted by six important classics scholars, Ancient Greece covers the entire history of that civilisation and examines the politics, society and culture. More »

27. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

By Edward Gibbon

Edward Gibbon's The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire is a magisterial history of Rome, from its beginnings through to the fall of the Byzantine Empire. It's considered to be one of the greatest works written during the enlightenment, and due to Gibbon's ... More »

The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Commoners: Common Right, Enclosure and Social Change in England

28. Commoners: Common Right, Enclosure and Social Change in England

By Jeanette M. Neeson

Did enclosure of the commons raise or lower living standards for the poor in England? This ground-breaking history enters that old debate, painting a rich picture of rural culture before enclosure and what was lost afterwards. Said to be the best book on the subject by EP Thompson. More »

29. The Century of Revolution: 1603-1714

By Christopher Hill | Used Price: 80% Off

The Century of Revolution: 1603-1714 is a political and social history of the English Revolution by the famous Marxist historian Christopher Hill. More »

The Century of Revolution: 1603-1714
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

30. Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945

By Tony Judt | Used Price: 70% Off

Tony Judt's Postwar is an inimitable history of Europe since 1045. Postwar ties together the histories of over 40 European nations, both Eastern and Western, in a grand narrative that also serves as a history of the development of the European Union. More »

31. A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War

By Melvyn Leffler | Used Price: 80% Off

In the 1970s an enormous declassification of US Government documents took place on the Cold War. Melvyn Leffler used these documents to compile the most comprehensive history of the Truman administrations Cold War policy. More »

A Preponderance of Power: National Security, the Truman Administration, and the Cold War
The Venture of Islam

32. The Venture of Islam

By Marshall G. S. Hodgson

Hodgson's The Venture of Islam has been considered an exemplar work of history since its publication in 1975. The study traces the development of Islamic civilisation from its beginnings to the 12th century. Volume one examines the world before Muhammad and then the beginnings of the Muslim state. More »

33. The Sinews of Power: War, Money and the English State, 1688-1783

By John Brewer | Used Price: 60% Off

John Brewer's superb study shows how war and taxation moulded the English economy and state in ways that are still with us. More »

The Sinews of Power: War, Money and the English State, 1688-1783
Coercion, Capital and European States: AD 990 - 1992

34. Coercion, Capital and European States: AD 990 - 1992

By Charles Tilly | Used Price: 60% Off

Coercion, Capital and European States: AD 990 - 1992 is Charles Tilly's magisterial account of European state formation. Looking at the varies systems of power that existed across Europe, Tilly explains how the nation state came to dominate and why it was by no-means inevitable. Towards the end of ... More »

35. Orientalism

By Edward W. Said | Used Price: 70% Off

Orientalism examines how the West has historically perceived the East and how Western imperialism has shaped these perceptions. Published in 1978, Said's work is a landmark in post-colonial studies. More »

Orientalism
A History of the Arab Peoples

36. A History of the Arab Peoples

By Albert Hourani | Used Price: 60% Off

A History of the Arab Peoples is the authoritative account of Arabic civilisation. A history with a grand scope, it covers the beginnings of the Islamic empire right up until the present day. More »

37. The Sources of Social Power

By Michael Mann

While Marx considered economics to be the driving force in the evolution of societies, and Weber believed religion played a role, with his protestant ethic theory, In the Sources of Social Power, Mann identifies 4 different forces - economic, military, ideological and political - and demonstrates their role ... More »

The Sources of Social Power
Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War

38. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men: The Ideology of the Republican Party before the Civil War

By Eric Foner | Used Price: 80% Off

Foner charts the rise of the Republican Party, its ideological origins, the origins of the civil war and how the beginnings shaped reconstruction afterwards. Free Soil, Free Labor, Free Men is a classic of American history, by one of the 20th century's leading historians. More »

39. Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944

By Robert O. Paxton | Used Price: 80% Off

Robert O. Paxton's classic study both revolutionised and reinvigorated the study of the Vichy period in French history. Paxton demonstrated that Petain's regime actions went beyond what they were pressured to do by the Nazis. More »

Vichy France: Old Guard and New Order, 1940-1944
Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People

40. Mass and Elite in Democratic Athens: Rhetoric, Ideology, and the Power of the People

By Josiah Ober | Used Price: 70% Off

The Roman Revolution argued that dictatorship in Rome was necessary; as a counterpoint, in Mass and Elite, Ober argues the case for democracy by examining the politics and sociology of Ancient Athens. More »

41. The Renaissance

By Alison Brown

Alison Brown, Emeritus Professor of Italian Renaissance History at Royal Holloway, University of London, wrote one of the most useful and popular books on the Renaissance. It covers all aspects of the time incorporating all the latest research. More »

The Renaissance
American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World

42. American Holocaust: The Conquest of the New World

By David E. Stannard | Used Price: 50% Off

European colonisation of the Americas meant the destruction of the native peoples and was the greatest genocide in human history. Stannard opens with an account of the Americas before their discovery by Europeans and then outlines the consequences of colonialism and genocide in South, Central and North America. More »

43. The Great Chain of Being

By Arthur O. Lovejoy | Used Price: 60% Off

Lovejoy's study explores the several thousand year history of the idea the great chain of being. The great chain of being is a religious hierarchical arrangement of all matter and life, with God at the top. More »

The Great Chain of Being
Guns, Germs, and Steel

44. Guns, Germs, and Steel

By Jared Diamond | Used Price: 80% Off

The Pulitzer Prize winning Guns, Germs and Steel looks over the entirety of human history and explains why geography and available resources are determining factors in the success of any given civilisation. As such Diamond shows that race is not a determining factor in the success or failure ... More »

45. The American Age: United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad 1750 to the Present

By Walter LaFeber | Under $1.00

This is the absolute leading text on US foreign policy. Beginning in the mid-eighteenth century, LaFeber gives a complete history to the present, examining all areas of foreign policy with great continuity and cohesiveness. More »

The American Age: United States Foreign Policy at Home and Abroad 1750 to the Present
Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya

46. Britain's Gulag: The Brutal End of Empire in Kenya

By Caroline Elkins | Used Price: 90% Off

Britain's Gulag examines the British response to the Mau Mau rebellion in Kenya post-World War Two. Elkins examines the brutal tactics adopted by the British to maintain their empire – including putting 1.5 million people into concentration camps. More »

47. Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis

By Raymond Garthoff | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

Raymond L. Garthoff – who was involved in US government discussions on the crisis – delivers a stunning history of the Cuban Missile Crisis, using both US sources and newly opened Soviet government sources too. This text widens the scope of our understanding of US - Soviet interactions ... More »

Reflections on the Cuban Missile Crisis
The Landscape of History

48. The Landscape of History

By John Lewis Gaddis | Used Price: 70% Off

The Landscape of History is John Lewis Gaddis' classic work of modern historiography. Gaddis is a noted historian of the Cold War and is a recipient of the Pulitzer Prize. More »

49. Imagined Communities

By Benedict Anderson | Used Price: 60% Off

Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism is the most read book on nationalism. It's a historical, political and sociological analysis of nations which are really imagined communities or socially constructed communities. More »

Imagined Communities
The Destruction of the European Jews

50. The Destruction of the European Jews

By Raul Hilberg

Hilberg's The Destruction of the European Jews was the first major scholarly work on the subject of the Jewish Holocaust. Until the book appeared little information about the holocaust had reached the wider public and the text largely began a whole field of study In that area. More »

51. Famine: A Short History

By Cormac O Grada | Used Price: 60% Off

O Grada gives a history of famine from the earliest days of known history right up until the present. The text compares the causes and severity of famines, for example from Ireland in the 1840s to Bengal in the 1940s. More »

Famine: A Short History
Imperial China 900-1800

52. Imperial China 900-1800

By F. W. Mote

F. W. Mote's book on Imperial China covers almost one thousand years of history. It is a political history of China but along the way it also describes how the Chinese economy and government institutions developed along a different path from those in Europe. Mote was a professor ... More »

53. The Historian's Craft

By Marc Bloch

Legendary historian Marc Bloch - co-founder of the Annales School of history, WW1 veteran, and member of the French resistance (ultimately captured and shot by the Gestapo) - wrote one of the most significant works of historiography of the 20th century, titled The Historian's Craft. More »

The Historian's Craft
How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

54. How Europe Underdeveloped Africa

By Walter Rodney

This is the classic account of how European colonial powers underdeveloped Africa. Rodney explores the history of European exploitation of the continent and what it meant then and now in economic terms. If you're interested in this you might also want to read Capitalism and Slavery. More »

55. African Perspectives on Colonialism

By Albert Adu Boahen | Used Price: 80% Off

In this history one of Africa's leading historians examines African perspectives on colonialism, during the period 1880 - 1900, when all of Africa was colonised by the European powers. More »

African Perspectives on Colonialism
A History of Russia

56. A History of Russia

By Nicholas Riasanovsky; Mark Steinberg

Now completely revised in this eighth edition, A History of Russia covers the entire span of the country's history, from ancient times to the post-communist present. Keeping with the hallmark of the text, Riasanovsky and Steinberg examine all aspects of Russia's history--political, international, military, economic, social, and cultural--with ... More »

57. The Discovery of India

By Jawaharlal Nehru | Used Price: 80% Off

The Discovery of India begins with chapters on the Intellectual and spiritual tradition of India. It then gives a complete account of the regions history with an excellent analysis of the tragic forced economic, moral and intellectual decline through British rule. Nehru and Gandhi both worked for liberation ... More »

The Discovery of India
A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962

58. A Savage War of Peace: Algeria 1954-1962

By Alistair Horne | Used Price: 80% Off

The brutal French colonial war in Algeria was fought from 1954 to 1962. A Savage War for Peace is the most authoritative book on this subject. More »

59. The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization

By Bryan Ward-Perkins | Used Price: 60% Off

In The Fall of Rome, Bryan Ward-Perkins argues that the new theory of a peaceful and stable “Dark Age” is deeply flawed. Using archaeological evidence Ward-Perkins explores the economic and political collapse and what it meant for the lives of ordinary people. Ward-Perkins sees the collapse of Roman ... More »

The Fall of Rome: And the End of Civilization
The City in History

60. The City in History

By Lewis Mumford | Used Price: 80% Off

The City in History: Its Origins, Its Transformations, and Its Prospects, by Lewis Mumford, charts the rise of various types of cities throughout human history. The text won the National Book Award in 1961 and was included on the Modern Library's 100 Best Nonfiction books list. More »

61. The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers

By Paul Kennedy | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers: Economic Change and Military Conflict from 1500 to 2000, by Paul Kennedy, is about national and international power in the modern period. It's about the rise of state power in Western Europe over a 500 year period. More »

The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers
The French Revolution: From its Origins to 1793

62. The French Revolution: From its Origins to 1793

By Georges Lefebvre

George Lefebvre is widely considered to be the greatest authority on the French Revolution and this is his magnum opus on the subject. This text is a classic and is still relevent to the field over 40 years after it was first published. More »

63. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250 - 1350

By Janet L. Abu-Lughod | Used Price: 80% Off

Abu-Lughod examines global economic evolution examining a system that existed before the European world system that was very different from it. More »

Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250 - 1350
The Great War and Modern Memory

64. The Great War and Modern Memory

By Paul Fussell | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

The Great War and Modern Memory is a book that describes the literary works by English participants in World War I to their experiences in trench warfare. Fussell describes how the futility and insanity of war defined the thinking of a generation and led England away from Romantacism. The book won the ... More »

65. The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller

By Carlo Ginzburg

The Cheese and the Worms is a microhistory looking at the life and thoughts of one man to illuminate popular culture in the 16th century. The book examines the life of a miller, Menocchio, who was accused of heresy during the Inquisition and sentenced to death. More »

The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century Miller
The Korean War: A History

66. The Korean War: A History

By Bruce Cumings | Used Price: 70% Off

Bruce Cumings in The Korean War explains a war that is largely forgotten or misunderstood. This is the definitive account of a war that had a major impact on Asia. More »

67. A Concise History of History: Global Historiography from Antiquity to the Present

By Daniel Woolf

This short history of history is an ideal introduction for those studying or teaching the subject as part of courses on the historian's craft, historical theory and method, and historiography. Spanning the earliest known forms of historical writing in the ancient Near East right through to the present ... More »

A Concise History of History: Global Historiography from Antiquity to the Present
Byzantine Matters

68. Byzantine Matters

By Averil Cameron

Why is Byzantium often ignored and passed over? What was the nature of the Byzantine empire and how is it relevant to today? These are just some of the questions posed by renowned scholar Averil Cameron in Byzantine Matters. More »

69. Age of the Democratic Revolution

By R. R. Palmer | Used Price: 80% Off

The Age of Democratic Revolution examines the beginning of the modern world, between 1760 and 1800, when political revolutions rocked the West. Palmer examines these great revolutions and also shows how many of the Western nations began to develop in a similar democratic direction. More »

Age of the Democratic Revolution
The Crowd in History

70. The Crowd in History

By George Rude | Used Price: 60% Off

The great man theory of history was debunked by Tolstoy, as great men often do not shape history but are shaped by it. There are powerful forces in society that come from below, in the form of the crowd. In The Crowd in History, Rude examines turning points ... More »

71. The Russian Revolution

By Sheila Fitzpatrick

Sheila Fitzpatrick practically created the field of social studies in Soviet history. Her pioneering works include the classic text The Russian Revolution, a succinct, must read work for anyone studying Russian history. The book explores the roots of the revolution that was meant to transform the world ... More »

The Russian Revolution
The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic

72. The Many-Headed Hydra: Sailors, Slaves, Commoners, and the Hidden History of the Revolutionary Atlantic

By Peter Linebaugh; Marcus Rediker

A history from below, The Many Headed Hydra tells the stories of sailors, slaves, pirates, laborers, market women, and indentured servant, explains their ideas of freedom and equality, and demonstrates their role in making the modern world. More »

73. Africa: A Modern History

By Guy Arnold | Used Price: 50% Off

This post-World War 2 history of Africa examines how independence - following the period of imperial domination by European powers – has shaped the continent. In 1945, four African countries had independence, by 1963 there were at least 30 states. This is their story. Arnold explains how ... More »

Africa: A Modern History
Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

74. Fifth Sun: A New History of the Aztecs

By Camilla Townsend

The story of the Aztecs has always been told using the Spanish narrative. Now Camilla Townsend has written a new history of the Aztecs based on native sources only. More »

75. The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb

By Gar Alperovitz | Used Price: 80% Off

Was the atomic bombing of Japan necessary? Gar Alperovitz argues, using evidence for the US Government archives, that it was not. Instead, Truman dropped the bomb as a warning to Soviets to help deal with them after the war. For more on this topic also see Racing ... More »

The Decision to Use the Atomic Bomb
American Slavery: 1619-1877

76. American Slavery: 1619-1877

By Peter Kolchin | Used Price: 70% Off

Peter Kolchin's American Slavery remains the best introductory book on the topic that is central to the American story. More »

77. The Battle For Homestead, 1880-1892: Politics, Culture, and Steel

By Paul Krause | Used Price: 90% Off

The Homestead Strike, or Homestead Massacre, was one of the most serious strikes in US labour history, finishing in a battle between workers and private security agents. Paul Krause has written a brilliant and insightful history of the strike. More »

The Battle For Homestead, 1880-1892: Politics, Culture, and Steel
Zapata and the Mexican Revolution

78. Zapata and the Mexican Revolution

By John Womack | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

This narrative history follows the exploits of Emiliano Zapata, a leader in the Mexican Revolution and inspiration to the Zapatistas. The book explores events preceding the Revolution and examines the political and agrarian reforms that took place. More »

79. Reformation

By Diarmaid MacCulloch | Used Price: 70% Off

Diarmaid MacCulloch's The Reformation: A History is the best text on one of the key events of European history. It won the Wolfson History Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award. More »

Reformation
Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the United States, and the Modern Historical Experience

80. Anatomy of a War: Vietnam, the United States, and the Modern Historical Experience

By Gabriel Kolko | Under $1.00

After the Second World War the USA inherited the mantle of imperialism. Kolko described the phases of the war within the context this modern historical experience, making the Vietnam war not accidental, but a logical conclusion of American ambition and power. More »

81. The Face of Battle

By John Keegan | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

John Keegan's The Face of Battle is a military history that examines the battlefield from the point of view of the soldier. What were the physical and emotional experiences and what motivated the soldiers? Keegan reassesses three historic battles – Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme - with these ... More »

The Face of Battle
The Great War: 1914-1918

82. The Great War: 1914-1918

By Marc Ferro | Used Price: 90% Off

Ferro's The Great War is a French classic (translated here into English). In it, he re-examines the war in the context of global imperialism, looks at the influence of socialist and labour movements in home countries and pay particular attention to the role of non-Europeans in the conflict. More »

83. Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750

By Jonathan I. Israel | Used Price: 50% Off

The Enlightenment marks the beginning of the modern age with great leaps forward in thinking: overturning all justification for monarchy, aristocracy, and ecclesiastical power. Israel's history looks at the radical edge of the Enlightenment and how it shaped history. More »

Radical Enlightenment: Philosophy and the Making of Modernity 1650-1750
Europe and the People Without History

84. Europe and the People Without History

By Eric R. Wolf

Wolff offers a historic look at globalisation from the 1400s onward. He shows how intertwined non-European cultures were before the advent of colonialism and explains how capitalism developed. More »

85. Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America

By Lillian Faderman | Used Price: 50% Off

This is Lillian Faderman's classic history of lesbianism in 20th century America. Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers was named one of the top ten radical history books in The Guardian by Sheila Rowbothan in 2016 and it was a New York Times Notable Book of 1992. More »

Odd Girls and Twilight Lovers: A History of Lesbian Life in Twentieth-Century America
Kingdoms and Communities in Western Europe 900-1300

86. Kingdoms and Communities in Western Europe 900-1300

By Susan Reynolds | Used Price: 80% Off

This work explores the values and activities of ordinary people in Medieval Western Europe. Rather than focus on hierarchical structures the author instead looks at horizontal bonds of collective association. More »

87. Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World

By J. R. McNeill | Used Price: 70% Off

John McNeill details the impact humans have had on the environment in the 20th century and the political and social factors involved. More »

Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the Twentieth-Century World
Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India

88. Elementary Aspects of Peasant Insurgency in Colonial India

By Ranajit Guha; James Scott

This classic work of Indian history explores the peasant viewpoint during the Indian colonial period from 1783-1900. More »

89. The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine

By Ilan Pappe

Here the famous Israeli historian Ilan Pappe offers Israeli archival evidence that Palestinians were ethnically cleansed between 1947 and 1949. More »

The Ethnic Cleansing of Palestine
The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker

90. The People's State: East German Society from Hitler to Honecker

By Mary Fulbrook

Mary Fulbrook explores what everyday life was really like for East Germans, going beyond simplistic stories of surveillance and repression to show the East German people as actors in their own history. More »

91. History of the Italian People

By Giuliano Procacci | Rock-bottom Price: $0.01

A history of Italy from the self-governing republics to the rise of modern fascism. This work charts the political, economic and social changes within the European context. More »

History of the Italian People
Bond Men Made Free: Medieval Peasant Movements and the English Rising of 1381

92. Bond Men Made Free: Medieval Peasant Movements and the English Rising of 1381

By Rodney Hilton | Used Price: 80% Off

Hilton puts the Peasant's Revolt on a broader European context and demonstrates that peasant movements throughout the Middle Ages all had their roots in similar political and economic conditions. More »

93. Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent

By Eduardo Galeano | Used Price: 60% Off

Eduardo Galeano's classic account of five centuries of exploitation that Latin America has suffered at the hands of the imperial powers. More »

Open Veins of Latin America: Five Centuries of the Pillage of a Continent
The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800

94. The Military Revolution: Military Innovation and the Rise of the West, 1500-1800

By Geoffrey Parker | Used Price: 80% Off

How did the Western nations, so comparatively small, come to conquer a third of the world by 1800? Parker argues that the West went through a military revolution, giving them an advantage. More »

95. Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation

By Barry J. Kemp | Used Price: 50% Off

Barry J. Kemp's book on Ancient Egyptian civilization is core text on Egyptology and many Ancient History courses. More »

Ancient Egypt: Anatomy of a Civilisation
Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991: A History

96. Revolutionary Russia, 1891-1991: A History

By Orlando Figes | Used Price: 70% Off

Revolutionary Russia, by renowned historian Orlando Figes, gives a complete history of the Soviet Union, from the roots of the revolution until its collapse. More »

97. The Talented Women of the Zhang Family

By Susan Mann

Susan Mann illuminates a history of China that's largely been hidden. By exploring the memoirs of three generations of educated women from one Chinese family, Mann transforms our understanding of everyday life for women during the late imperial period. More »

The Talented Women of the Zhang Family
Society and Culture in Early Modern France

98. Society and Culture in Early Modern France

By Natalie Zemon Davis | Under $1.00

This is a classic account of life in early modern France, with a focus on women and the poor. More »

99. The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition

By J. G. A. Pocock

J.G.A. Pocock explores how Machiavelli's revival of the republic caused a revival of Republican thought in Europe and led to the forming of a republic in revolutionary North America. More »

The Machiavellian Moment: Florentine Political Thought and the Atlantic Republican Tradition
Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830

100. Empires of the Atlantic World: Britain and Spain in America 1492-1830

By John H. Elliott | Used Price: 70% Off

This great work examines the differences in colonisation as practiced by the British and Spanish in the Americas. More »