Read to Learn! Nonfiction History Books for Adult Readers

Enjoy this list of Nonfiction History Books for Adult Readers that follows the theme for our SweetBean Reading Challenge in September!

Updated July 3, 2024
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Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I : the mother and daughter who forever changed British history
Borman, Tracy
Paper Book
Anne Boleyn may be best known for losing her head, but as Tudor expert Tracy Borman reveals in a book that recasts British history, her greatest legacy lies in the path-breaking reign of her daughter, Elizabeth Much of the...
Emperor of Rome : ruling the ancient Roman world
Beard, Mary
Paper Book
In her international bestseller SPQR, Mary Beard told the thousand-year story of ancient Rome, from its slightly shabby Iron Age origins to its reign as the undisputed hegemon of the Mediterranean. Now, drawing on more than thirty years of teaching and writing about Roman history, Beard turns to...
History : the definitive visual guide : from the dawn of civilization to the present
Fačy, Bernard
Paper Book
This lavishly illustrated visual encyclopedia tells the story of our world in depth and detail from the dawn of civilization to the present day. Charting human endeavor from every angle, SI History chronicles the significant events, ground-breaking ideas, political forces, and...
King : a life
Eig, Jonathan
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2024 PULITZER PRIZE FOR BIOGRAPHY A finalist for the 2023 National Book Critics Circle Award | Named one of the ten best books of 2023 by The Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, and Time A New York Times...
Madame Restell : the life, death, and resurrection of old New York's most fabulous, fearless, and infamous abortionist
Wright, Jennifer
Paper Book
Discover the true story of a self-taught surgeon and trailblazing figure in medical history--Madame Restell, a revolutionary surgeon who fought for women's rights and healthcare in Gilded Age New York.​ An industrious immigrant who built her business from the...
Master slave husband wife : an epic journey from slavery to freedom
Woo, Ilyon
Paper Book
Winner of the 2024 Pulitzer Prize in Biography "A rich narrative of the Crafts, an enslaved couple who escaped from Georgia in 1848, with light-skinned Ellen disguised as a disabled white gentleman and William as her manservant, exploiting assumptions about race, class, and...
On savage shores : how indigenous Americans discovered Europe
Dodds Pennock, Caroline
Paper Book
AN ECONOMIST AND SMITHSONIAN BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR * A landmark work of narrative history that shatters our previous Eurocentric understanding of the Age of Discovery by telling the story of the Indigenous Americans who journeyed across the Atlantic to Europe after...
Sapiens : a brief history of humankind
Harari, Yuval N.
Paper Book
Official U.S. edition with full color illustrations throughout. New York Times Bestseller A Summer Reading Pick for President Barack Obama, Bill Gates, and Mark Zuckerberg From a renowned historian comes a groundbreaking narrative of humanity's creation and evolution--a #1...
I saw death coming : a history of terror and survival in the war against Reconstruction
Williams, Kidada E.
Paper Book
Longlisted for the National Book Award in Nonfiction "Powerful and deeply moving."--Los Angeles Times * Shortlisted for the Museum of African American History's Stone Book Award * National Council on Public History Book Award Honorable Mention ...
The sisterhood : the secret history of women at the CIA
Mundy, Liza
Paper Book
A "rip-roaring" (Steve Coll), "staggeringly well-researched" (The New York Times) history of three generations at the CIA, "electric with revelations" (Booklist) about the women who fought to become operatives, transformed spycraft, and tracked down Osama bin Laden, from the...
The Wager : a tale of shipwreck, mutiny and murder
Grann, David
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the author of Killers of the Flower Moon, a page-turning story of shipwreck, survival, and savagery, culminating in a court martial that reveals a shocking truth. The powerful narrative reveals the deeper meaning of the events on The Wager...
The world : a family history
Sebag Montefiore, Simon
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A magisterial world history unlike any other that tells the story of humanity through the one thing we all have in common: families * From the author of The Romanovs A Best Book of the Year: The New Yorker, Smithsonian

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