Best History Books Recommended by Experts
The most-recommended history books, ranked by how many experts endorse each one — plus the people behind the picks.
31 experts · 24 most-recommended books · Updated on June 6, 2026
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Most-recommended history books
Napoleon: A LifeAndrew Roberts
The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made EnglandDan Jones
The Crimean War: A HistoryOrlando Figes
Kindred: Neanderthal Life, Love, Death and Art (Bloomsbury Sigma)Rebecca Wragg Sykes
Persians: The Age of the Great KingsLloyd Llewellyn-Jones
Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary AmericaKathleen Belew
To Catch A KingCharles SpencerRecommended by Marina Amaral
The Commonwealth of Cricket: A Lifelong Love Affair with the Most Subtle and Sophisticated Game Known to HumankindRamachandra GuhaRecommended by Ramachandra Guha
River Town: Two Years On The YangtzePeter HesslerRecommended by Michael Luo
Only Yesterday: An Informal History of the 1920'sFrederick Lewis AllenRecommended by Rudy Havenstein Smiling Politely
AnathemNeal StephensonRecommended by Alex Wellerstein
A People's History of the United StatesHoward ZinnRecommended by Annette Gordonreed
The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790Ritchie RobertsonRecommended by Tom Holland
What Becomes a Legend Most: A Biography of Richard AvedonPhilip GefterRecommended by Caroline Weber
Reboot: Leadership and the Art of Growing UpJerry ColonnaRecommended by Chris Fralic
The Education of an Idealist: A MemoirSamantha PowerRecommended by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Fight Like a Mother: How a Grassroots Movement Took on the Gun Lobby and Why Women Will Change the WorldShannon WattsRecommended by Chris Fralic
A Collective Bargain: Unions, Organizing, and the Fight for DemocracyJane McAleveyRecommended by Nancy MacLean
The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois: A Novel (Oprahs Book Club 2.0)Honoree Fanonne JeffersRecommended by Henry Louis Gates Jr
The Web of DeceitMark CurtisRecommended by Craig Murray
Mao: The Unknown StoryJung Chang, Jon HallidayRecommended by Max Hastings
Girl in a Green Gown: The History and Mystery of the Arnolfini PortraitCarola HicksRecommended by Robert Bohan
Imperial Spain 1469 1716J H ElliottRecommended by Annette Gordonreed
The Command of the Ocean: A Naval History of Britain, 1649-1815N. A. M. RodgerRecommended by Tom Holland
History experts
YN
Yuval Noah Harari
New York Times best-selling author of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
4 book recommendations
DK
Doris Kearns Goodwin
presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize–winning author
7 book recommendations
Naomi Wolf
"Outrages explores a history of violations of personal freedoms via the inspiring story of one man, John Addington Symonds, and his refusal to stay silenced."
3 book recommendations
Josh Marshall
Founder and reigning monarch at TPM. Lapsed historian. Polk Award winner.
2 book recommendations
MH
Max Hastings
New York Review of Books
9 book recommendations
JM
Jane Mayer
Author of Dark Money: The Hidden History of the Billionaires Behind the Rise of the Radical Right
3 book recommendations
Henry Louis Gates Jr
Dir. of @HutchinsCenter, African & African American Research & Alphonse Fletcher University Professor, @Harvard. #FindingYourRoots Season 6 - Tuesdays on @PBS.
2 book recommendations
LM
Leonard Maltin
Film Critic and Historian
9 book recommendations
Jason Crawford
Founder, @rootsofprogress. I write about the history of technology and the philosophy of progress. Part-time consultant to @OurWorldInData. Former tech founder
2 book recommendations
Judea Pearl
Student of causal inference, human reasoning, and history of ideas, all viewed through the sharp lens of artificial intelligence.
3 book recommendations
Michael Luo
editor of @newyorker dot com; writing a narrative history of Chinese exclusion for @doubledaybooks; previously investigations @nytimes
2 book recommendations
Alex Wellerstein
Historian of science, secrecy, and nuclear weapons. Professor of STS at @FollowStevens. UC Berkeley alum with a Harvard PhD. NUKEMAP creator. Coder and web dev.
2 book recommendations
More History
- Craig MurrayHistorian and human rights activist. Former British Ambassador.
- Kathleen BelewHistorian of the present, the white power movement, mass violence, & apocalypse, *Bring the War Home*, *A Field Guide to White Supremacy*, tenured! U Chicago
- Nancy MacLeanauthor of Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right's Stealth Plan for America
- Greg JennerPublic Historian ~ #DeadFamous ~ I host #YoureDeadToMe & #HomeschoolHistory on @BBCSounds~ Chief Nerd BBC #HorribleHistories ~ Hon. @RHULhistory ~ #COYS
- Andrew Bacevich
- Kai BirdPulitzer Prize–winning historian and director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography
- Ramachandra GuhaHistorian of Indian democracy, biographer of Gandhi. Retweets not necessarily endorsements.
- Chris FralicBoard Partner at First Round Capital
- Caroline WeberProfessor of French at Barnard College and author
- Thomas RicksThe New York Times Book Review
- Mary Dudziak@EmoryUniversity law prof & historian. Obsessed with archives. Writing about how American war lost its politics. she/her/hers.
- Kevin M. KruseProfessor of History at Princeton University
- Michael BurleighAuthor of Moral Combat: A History of World War II
- Maricel Presillachef, culinary historian, and author of Peppers of the Americas
- James DelgadoMaritime archaeologist, historian, explorer, and author
- Marina AmaralPassionate about history, digital colorist. I restore and colorize black and white photographs. || Founder of Faces of Auschwitz.
- Ruth BenghiatHistorian. Authoritarians, fascism, propaganda. Coming in Nov: Strongmen: From Mussolini to the Present. Pre-order: https: https://t.co/3izlQIilcg
- Steve FlinkLeading Tennis Historian and Member of the International Tennis Hall of Fame
- Tom HollandHistorian, Author, and Co-host of The Rest Is History podcast