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the best history books

The history books most often recommended by historians, journalists, founders, and political figures we track. Captures the canon that recurs across the reading lists of Bill Gates, Barack Obama, Stanford historians, and others — with sources where we have them.

60 books, ranked by how many of the 4,800 notable readers in our index have publicly recommended each one.

  1. Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind
    86 people

    Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind

    Yuval Noah Harari · 2015

    86 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  2. The Selfish Gene
    26 people

    The Selfish Gene

    Richard Dawkins · 2006

    26 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  3. Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow
    25 people

    Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow

    Yuval Noah Harari · 2017

    25 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  4. The Lessons of History
    24 people

    The Lessons of History

    Will & Ariel Durant · 1997

    24 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  5. Guns, Germs, and Steel
    24 people

    Guns, Germs, and Steel

    Jared Diamond · 2005

    24 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  6. The Art o f War
    20 people

    The Art o f War

    Sun Tzu · 2005

    20 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  7. 21 Lessons for the 21st Century
    18 people

    21 Lessons for the 21st Century

    Yuval Noah Harari · 2018

    18 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  8. Team of Rivals
    16 people

    Team of Rivals

    Doris Kearns Goodwin · 2006

    16 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  9. A Short History of Nearly Everything
    13 people

    A Short History of Nearly Everything

    Bill Bryson · 2004

    13 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  10. The Gene: An Intimate History
    13 people

    The Gene: An Intimate History

    Siddhartha Mukherjee · 2016

    13 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  11. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
    11 people

    The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration

    Isabel Wilkerson · 2010

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  12. Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging
    11 people

    Tribe: On Homecoming and Belonging

    Sebastian Junger · 2016

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  13. What We Owe the Future
    11 people

    What We Owe the Future

    William MacAskill · 2022

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  14. The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
    11 people

    The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

    Siddhartha Mukherjee · 2010

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  15. Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
    11 people

    Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

    Patrick Radden Keefe · 2019

    11 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  16. In Cold Blood
    10 people

    In Cold Blood

    Truman Capote · 1994

    10 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  17. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin
    10 people

    In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

    Erik Larson · 2011

    10 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  18. How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built
    10 people

    How Buildings Learn: What Happens After They're Built

    Stewart Brand · 1995

    10 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  19. The Guns Of August
    9 people

    The Guns Of August

    Barbara W. Tuchman · 2009

    9 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  20. Ways of Seeing
    9 people

    Ways of Seeing

    John Berger · 1990

    9 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  21. Three Women
    9 people

    Three Women

    Lisa Taddeo · 2019

    9 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  22. Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum
    9 people

    Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death and Hope in a Mumbai Slum

    Katherine Boo · 2012

    9 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  23. The Making of the Atomic Bomb
    9 people

    The Making of the Atomic Bomb

    Richard Rhodes · 1995

    9 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  24. The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition
    9 people

    The Origin of Species: 150th Anniversary Edition

    Charles Darwin · 2004

    9 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  25. The Right Stuff
    8 people

    The Right Stuff

    Tom Wolfe · 2004

    8 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  26. These Truths: A History of the United States
    8 people

    These Truths: A History of the United States

    Jill Lepore · 2019

    8 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  27. The Confessions
    8 people

    The Confessions

    Saint Augustine · 1998

    8 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  28. The History of the Peloponnesian War
    8 people

    The History of the Peloponnesian War

    Thucydides · 1954

    8 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  29. Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland
    8 people

    Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland

    Christopher R. Browning · 1993

    8 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  30. The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires
    8 people

    The Master Switch: The Rise and Fall of Information Empires

    Tim Wu · 2010

    8 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  31. The Devil in the White City
    7 people

    The Devil in the White City

    Erik Larson · 2003

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  32. Voices From Chernobyl
    7 people

    Voices From Chernobyl

    Svetlana Alexievich · 2006

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  33. Bloodlands
    7 people

    Bloodlands

    Timothy Snyder · 2010

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  34. If This Is a Man
    7 people

    If This Is a Man

    Primo Levi · 1960

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  35. The Ascent of Money
    7 people

    The Ascent of Money

    Niall Ferguson · 2008

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  36. The Histories
    7 people

    The Histories

    Herodotus · 2003

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  37. What It Takes
    7 people

    What It Takes

    Richard Ben Cramer · 1993

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  38. The Silk Roads: A New History of the World
    7 people

    The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

    Peter Frankopan · 2015

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  39. How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America
    7 people

    How the Word Is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America

    Clint Smith · 2021

    7 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  40. The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
    6 people

    The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics

    Daniel James Brown · 2013

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  41. The First Three Minutes
    6 people

    The First Three Minutes

    Steven Weinberg · 1993

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  42. Nonzero
    6 people

    Nonzero

    Robert Wright · 2001

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  43. Energy and Civilization: a History
    6 people

    Energy and Civilization: a History

    Vaclav Smil · 2017

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  44. The Sixth Extinction
    6 people

    The Sixth Extinction

    Elizabeth Kolbert · 2014

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  45. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
    6 people

    The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire

    Edward Gibbon · 1776

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  46. The Tiger
    6 people

    The Tiger

    John Vaillant · 2010

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  47. Plagues and Peoples
    6 people

    Plagues and Peoples

    William McNeill · 1976

    6 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  48. The Alchemy of Air
    5 people

    The Alchemy of Air

    Thomas Hager · 2008

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  49. The Victorian Internet
    5 people

    The Victorian Internet

    Tom Standage · 1999

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  50. The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics)
    5 people

    The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics)

    David P. Womersley · 1996

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  51. The Landmark Thucydides
    5 people

    The Landmark Thucydides

    Thucydides · 1972

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  52. Parting the Waters
    5 people

    Parting the Waters

    Taylor Branch · 1990

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  53. Race After Technology
    5 people

    Race After Technology

    Ruha Benjamin · 2019

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  54. Silent Spring
    5 people

    Silent Spring

    Rachel Carson · 2022

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  55. The Living Mountain
    5 people

    The Living Mountain

    Nan Shepherd · 2011

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  56. The Path Between the Seas
    5 people

    The Path Between the Seas

    David McCullough · 2004

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  57. The Art of War
    5 people

    The Art of War

    Sun Zi · 1900

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  58. The Song of the Dodo
    5 people

    The Song of the Dodo

    David Quammen · 1997

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  59. Stuff Matters
    5 people

    Stuff Matters

    Mark Miodownik · 2014

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop
  60. Killers of the Flower Moon
    5 people

    Killers of the Flower Moon

    David Grann · 2023

    5 recommenders

    AmazonBookshop

other topic hubs

Methodology: each book is ranked by the number of recommenders in our index who have publicly endorsed it. Curated topics use a hand-picked book list; year-stamped pages query our index by publication year. More on methodology →