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Recommendations based on SPQR: A History of Ancient Romeby Mary Beard
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Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic
by Tom Holland
An exploration of the events that led to the fall of the Roman Republic.
In 49 B.C., the seven hundred fifth year since the founding of Rome, Julius Caesar crossed a small border river called the Rubicon and plunged Rome into cataclysmic civil war. Tom Holland’s ... (Goodreads)
Women & Power: A Manifesto
by Mary Beard
A look at the history of female power and the cultural obstacles preventing women from achieving it.
At long last, Mary Beard addresses in one brave book the misogynists and trolls who mercilessly attack and demean women the world over, including, very often, Mary herself. In Women & Power , she ... (Goodreads)
Homo Deus: A History of Tomorrow
by Yuval Noah Harari
An exploration of humanity's future, and the potential paths of our species.
Yuval Noah Harari, author of the critically-acclaimed, New York Times, bestseller and international phenomenon, Sapiens, returns with an equally original, compelling, and provocative book, turning ... (Goodreads)
The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
by Peter Frankopan
An epic narrative of the discover of the world's trade routes, spanning more than 3,000 years.
The New Silk Roads takes a fresh look at the relationships being formed along the length and breadth of the ancient trade routes today. The world is changing dramatically and in an age of Brexit and ... (Goodreads)
Prisoners of Geography: Ten Maps That Tell You Everything You Need to Know About Global Politics
by Tim Marshall
Geopolitical exploration of global events and the impact of geography on politics.
In the bestselling tradition of Why Nations Fail and The Revenge of Geography , an award-winning journalist uses ten maps of crucial regions to explain the geo-political strategies of the world ... (Goodreads)
Napoleon: A Life
by Andrew Roberts
Biography of the French political and military leader and the age of revolution he embodied.
The definitive biography of the great soldier-statesman by the, New York Times, bestselling author of, The Storm of War,—winner of the, Los Angeles Times, Book Prize for Biography and the Grand Prix ... (Goodreads)
Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945
by Tony Judt
History of Europe since the end of World War II, examining the changes and challenges of the region.
Almost a decade in the making, this much-anticipated grand history of postwar Europe from one of the world's most esteemed historians and intellectuals is a singular achievement. Postwar is the first ... (Goodreads)
A Distant Mirror: The Calamitous 14th Century
by Barbara W. Tuchman
A captivating narrative of the 14th century and its tumultuous history.
The 14th century gives us back two contradictory images: a glittering time of crusades and castles, cathedrals and chivalry, and a dark time of ferocity and spiritual agony, a world plunged into a ... (Goodreads)
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege, 1942–1943
by Antony Beevor
The epic story of the Battle of Stalingrad and its devastating impact on WWII.
The Battle of Stalingrad was not only the psychological turning point of World War II: it also changed the face of modern warfare. From Antony Beevor, the internationally bestselling author of, ... (Barnes & Noble)
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 Path to Power
by Robert A. Caro
The first volume of a biography of Lyndon B. Johnson, tracing his early life and political career in Texas.
The Years of Lyndon Johnson is the political biography of our time. No president—no era of American politics—has been so intensively and sharply examined at a time when so many prime witnesses to ... (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)
The Romanovs: 1613-1918
by Simon Sebag Montefiore
An exploration of the 300-year rule of the Romanov dynasty, from its rise to its fall.
The Romanovs were the most successful dynasty of modern times, ruling a sixth of the world’s surface for three centuries. How did one family turn a war-ruined principality into the world’s greatest ... (Goodreads)
The God Delusion
by Richard Dawkins
Scientific exploration of the evidence for and against religious belief.
A preeminent scientist - and the world's most prominent atheist - asserts the irrationality of belief in God, and the grievous harm religion has inflicted on society, from the Crusades to 9/11. With ... (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)
Leonardo da Vinci
by Walter Isaacson
Biography of the world's greatest polymath, exploring his legacy of art and science.
The #1, New York Times, bestseller from Walter Isaacson brings Leonardo da Vinci to life in this exciting new biography that is “a study in creativity: how to define it, how to achieve it...Most ... (Barnes & Noble)
Master of the Senate
by Robert A. Caro
Detailed account of Lyndon Johnson's tenure as the leader of the US Senate, and his rise to power.
The most riveting political biography of our time, Robert A. Caro’s life of Lyndon B. Johnson, continues. Master of the Senate takes Johnson’s story through one of its most remarkable periods: his ... (Goodreads)
At the Existentialist Café: Freedom, Being, and Apricot Cocktails
by Sarah Bakewell
An exploration of the key ideas of existentialism and its impact on today's society.
Paris, near the turn of 1933. Three young friends meet over apricot cocktails at the Bec-de-Gaz bar on the rue Montparnasse. They are Jean-Paul Sartre, Simone de Beauvoir and their friend Raymond ... (Goodreads)
The Invention of Nature: Alexander von Humboldt's New World
by Andrea Wulf
Biography of the German scientist who changed our understanding of the natural world.
The acclaimed author of Founding Gardeners reveals the forgotten life of Alexander von Humboldt, the visionary German naturalist whose ideas changed the way we see the natural world—and in the ... (Goodreads)
Gulag: A History
by Anne Applebaum
A comprehensive account of the Soviet Union's notorious prison system, the history of its inhumane treatment of inmates.
The Gulag–a vast array of Soviet concentration camps that held millions of political and criminal prisoners--was a system of repression and punishment that terrorized the entire society, embodying ... (Goodreads)
Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
by Barbara Demick
Exploration of the lives of North Koreans during the famine and repression of the 1990s.
Nothing to Envy follows the lives of six North Koreans over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the unchallenged rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il, and the ... (Goodreads)
Alexander Hamilton
by Ron Chernow
Comprehensive biography of the Founding Father, delving into his contributions to the American Revolution.
An alternate cover edition can be found, here., Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow presents a landmark biography of Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father who galvanized, inspired, ... (Goodreads)
Mythos: The Greek Myths Retold
by Stephen Fry
Reimagining of classic Greek myths, with a modern twist.
Mythos is a modern collection of Greek myths, stylishly retold by legendary writer, actor, and comedian Stephen Fry. Fry transforms the adventures of Zeus and the Olympians into emotionally resonant ... (Goodreads)
Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis
by J.D. Vance
An exploration of the struggles of working-class Americans, and the power of family and culture to shape one's life.
Hillbilly Elegy is a passionate and personal analysis of a culture in crisis—that of white working-class Americans. The disintegration of this group, a process that has been slowly occurring now for ... (Goodreads)
Homage to Catalonia
by George Orwell
A first-hand account of the Spanish Civil War, and the political conflicts in the 1930s.
In 1936 George Orwell travelled to Spain to report on the Civil War and instead joined the fight against the Fascists. This famous account describes the war and Orwell’s own experiences. Introduction ... (Goodreads)
Thinking, Fast and Slow
by Daniel Kahneman
An exploration of the two systems of the mind, and how they influence decision-making.
In the highly anticipated Thinking, Fast and Slow , Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and ... (Goodreads)
We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
An exploration of the Obama years, and the racial injustices that still plague America.
"We were eight years in power" was the lament of Reconstruction-era black politicians as the American experiment in multiracial democracy ended with the return of white supremacist rule in the South. ... (Goodreads)
The Histories
by Herodotus
Exploration into the rise and fall of empires in the ancient world.
One of the masterpieces of classical literature, the "Histories" describes how a small and quarrelsome band of Greek city states united to repel the might of the Persian empire. But while this epic ... (Goodreads)
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
by Doris Kearns Goodwin
A comprehensive study of the presidency of Abraham Lincoln, and the unique cabinet he assembled.
Winner of the Lincoln Prize Acclaimed historian Doris Kearns Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius in this highly original work, as the one-term congressman and prairie lawyer rises from ... (Goodreads)
The Selfish Gene
by Richard Dawkins
A study of evolutionary biology, exploring how genes act and how they impact behavior.
Inheriting the mantle of revolutionary biologist from Darwin, Watson, and Crick, Richard Dawkins forced an enormous change in the way we see ourselves and the world with the publication of The ... (Goodreads)
