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The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
by William L. Shirer
The definitive story of Nazi Germany, its rise and fall, and its lasting impacts.
Hitler boasted that The Third Reich would last a thousand years. It lasted only 12. But those 12 years contained some of the most catastrophic events Western civilization has ever known. No other ... (Goodreads)
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
by Stephen E. Ambrose
An epic narrative of the American soldiers of Easy Company during World War II.
As good a rifle company as any, Easy Company, 506th Airborne Division, US Army, kept getting tough assignments–responsible for everything from parachuting into France early DDay morning to the ... (Goodreads)
King Leopold's Ghost
by Adam Hochschild
A harrowing account of the colonization of the Congo and the exploitation of its people.
In the 1880s, as the European powers were carving up Africa, King Leopold II of Belgium seized for himself the vast and mostly unexplored territory surrounding the Congo River. Carrying out a ... (Goodreads)
The Guns of August
by Barbara W. Tuchman
A riveting account of the events leading up to World War I and its devastating consequences.
Selected by the Modern Library as one of the 100 best nonfiction books of all time The Proud Tower, the Pulitzer Prize–winning The Guns of August, and The Zimmerman Telegram comprise Barbara W. ... (Goodreads)
The Prince
by Niccolò Machiavelli
A timeless political treatise on the art of acquiring and maintaining power.
Machiavelli needs to be looked at as he really was. Hence: Can Machiavelli, who makes the following observations, be Machiavellian as we understand the disparaging term? 1. So it is that to know the ... (Goodreads)
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa
by Eugene B. Sledge
A soldier's harrowing account of his experiences in World War II.
In his own book, Wartime, Paul Fussell called With the Old Breed "one of the finest memoirs to emerge from any war." John Keegan referred to it in The Second World War as "one of the most arresting ... (Goodreads)
The Complete Maus
by Art Spiegelman
A graphic novel depicting a Jewish survivor of the Holocaust and his son's journey to understand the past.
On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of its first publication, here is the definitive edition of the book acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the ... (Goodreads)
Travels with Charley: In Search of America
by John Steinbeck
A road trip across America, exploring the culture and landscape of the country.
A quest across America, from the northernmost tip of Maine to California’s Monterey Peninsula To hear the speech of the real America, to smell the grass and the trees, to see the colors and the ... (Goodreads)
Maus I: A Survivor's Tale: My Father Bleeds History
by Art Spiegelman
A graphic novel depicting the traumatic experiences of a Holocaust survivor and his son.
The first installment of the Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel acclaimed as “the most affecting and successful narrative ever done about the Holocaust” (Wall Street Journal) and “the first ... (Goodreads)
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
by Dee Brown
An in-depth account of the displacement of Native American tribes by the US government.
Now a special 30th-anniversary edition in both hardcover and paperback, the classic bestselling history The New York Times called "Original, remarkable, and finally heartbreaking...Impossible to put ... (Goodreads)
Auschwitz
by Laurence Rees
An in-depth look into the horrors of the Auschwitz concentration camps during World War II.
This vivid and harrowing narrative history of the most notorious concentration camp of the Holocaust preserves the authentic voices of survivors and perpetrators The largest mass murder in human ... (Barnes & Noble)
A Walk in the Woods: Rediscovering America on the Appalachian Trail
by Bill Bryson
A humorous account of a man's attempt to hike the Appalachian Trail, reflecting on the beauty and history of the American wilderness.
The book starts with Bryson explaining his curiosity about the Appalachian Trail near his house. He and his old friend Stephen Katz start hiking the trail from Georgia in the South , and stumble in ... (Wikipedia)
John Adams
by David McCullough
Biography of the second President of the United States and his contributions to the founding of the nation.
The enthralling, often surprising story of John Adams, one of the most important and fascinating Americans who ever lived. In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous ... (Goodreads)
Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster
by Jon Krakauer
A gripping narrative of the 1996 expedition on Mount Everest that resulted in tragedy.
When Jon Krakauer reached the summit of Mt. Everest in the early afternoon of May 10, 1996, he hadn't slept in fifty-seven hours and was reeling from the brain-altering effects of oxygen depletion. ... (Goodreads)
The Elements of Style
by William Strunk Jr.
A practical guide to written English, providing guidance on grammar and style.
This style manual offers practical advice on improving writing skills. Throughout, the emphasis is on promoting a plain English style. This little book can help you communicate more effectively by ... (Goodreads)
Notes from a Small Island
by Bill Bryson
A humorous travelogue of Bryson's final tour of Britain before moving to the US. He reflects on the quirks and charms of British life.
"Suddenly, in the space of a moment, I realized what it was that I loved about Britain-which is to say, all of it." After nearly two decades spent on British soil, Bill Bryson - bestselling author of ... (Goodreads)
A Short History of Nearly Everything
by Bill Bryson
A captivating overview of the natural sciences, spanning the history of the universe.
In Bryson's biggest book, he confronts his greatest challenge: to understand—and, if possible, answer—the oldest, biggest questions we have posed about the universe and ourselves. Taking as territory ... (Goodreads)
The Rape of Nanking
by Iris Chang
A harrowing account of the atrocities committed by Japanese soldiers during the Nanking Massacre in 1937.
In December 1937, the Japanese army invaded the ancient city of Nanking, systematically raping, torturing, and murdering more than 300,000 Chinese civilians. This book tells the story from three ... (Goodreads)
1776
by David McCullough
A riveting account of the events leading up to and during the American Revolution.
In this masterful book, David McCullough tells the intensely human story of those who marched with General George Washington in the year of the Declaration of Independence - when the whole American ... (Goodreads)
Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies
by Jared Diamond
Tracing the origins of human civilizations through the lens of geography, technology, and biology.
"Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope ... one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years." Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: ... (Goodreads)
Dispatches
by Michael Herr
A journalist's account of the Vietnam War, depicting the brutality, confusion and chaos of the conflict.
Written on the front lines in Vietnam, Dispatches became an immediate classic of war reportage when it was published in 1977. From its terrifying opening pages to its final eloquent words, Dispatches ... (Goodreads)
A People's History of the United States
by Howard Zinn
An examination of American history from a perspective of marginalized people.
In the book, Zinn presented a different side of history from the more traditional "fundamental nationalist glorification of country". Zinn portrays a side of American history that can largely be seen ... (Goodreads)
Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage
by Alfred Lansing
True story of a remarkable Antarctic expedition, a testament to the power of courage and tenacity.
The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole, one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age. In August 1914, polar explorer Ernest ... (Goodreads)
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings
by Maya Angelou
Autobiographical account of a Black woman's journey to find her identity in a prejudiced society.
Maya Angelou’s debut memoir is a modern American classic beloved worldwide. Her life story is told in the documentary film And Still I Rise, as seen on PBS’s American Masters. Here is a book as ... (Goodreads)
Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game
by Michael Lewis
How an unconventional approach to baseball changed the competitive landscape.
Billy Beane, general manager of MLB's Oakland A's and protagonist of Michael Lewis's Moneyball , had a problem: how to win in the Major Leagues with a budget that's smaller than that of nearly every ... (Goodreads)
The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey
by Candice Millard
A daring expedition through the Amazon to uncover the secrets of an uncharted river.
At once an incredible adventure narrative and a penetrating biographical portrait, The River of Doubt is the true story of Theodore Roosevelt’s harrowing exploration of one of the most dangerous ... (Goodreads)
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Examines the lives of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt during WWII and their impact on the nation.
Winner of the Pulitzer for History, No Ordinary Time is a chronicle of one of the most vibrant & revolutionary periods in US history. With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin weaves ... (Goodreads)
A Brief History of Time
by Stephen Hawking
Exploring the depths of time and space and the emergence of the universe.
In the ten years since its publication in 1988, Stephen Hawking's classic work has become a landmark volume in scientific writing, with more than nine million copies in forty languages sold ... (Goodreads)
The Structure of Scientific Revolutions
by Thomas S. Kuhn
An analysis of how scientific progress is made, and the role of paradigms and paradigmatic shifts.
A good book may have the power to change the way we see the world, but a great book actually becomes part of our daily consciousness, pervading our thinking to the point that we take it for granted, ... (Goodreads)
Five Chimneys: A Woman Survivor's True Story of Auschwitz
by Olga Lengyel
A harrowing first-hand account of life and death in Auschwitz, detailing the horrors of the concentration camp and the resilience of the human spirit.
Olga Lengyel tells, frankly and without compromise, one of the most horrifying stories of all time. This true, documented chronicle is the intimate, day-to-day record of a beautiful woman who ... (Goodreads)
