History bestsellers

Spare

“Surprisingly enjoyable, especially on audio. Prince Harry is a smart man, with some pointed insights, and is a delightful narrator.”

Melissa, Watermark Books

A Promised Land

“No one really needs my blurb to help sell this book, but I wanted to give it anyway, especially for the audiobook, narrated by Barack Obama himself. If you want to know his incredible knowledge and wisdom that guided him through major decisions, and also hear him drop a few F-bombs, you need to listen to this fantastically written book. ”

Amber, Quail Ridge Books

Talking to Strangers

“Talking To Strangers is perfect on audio. It reads (listens) like a podcast including audio clips from interviews, etc.”

Jessica, Main Street Books Davidson

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A dramatic expansion of a groundbreaking work of journalism, The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story offers a profoundly revealing vision of the American past and present.

NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • NPR • Marie Claire
 
In late August 1619, a ship arrived in the British colony of... Read more »

If you enjoyed The Warmth of Other Suns, then you’ll love Caste (Oprah's Book Club).

“This is an important and beautifully written book examining the links and common elements between the caste systems of America, India, and Nazi Germany. Highly recommended.”

Mike, A Great Good Place for Books

Sapiens

“I don't own many books. I read books and give them away. However, I will NOT be giving away my copy of Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. It's a keeper! Sapiens was an intense read for me. I found myself taking breaks every dozen pages or so. Not because I was bored - just the opposite. I needed time to let the author's perspective on the history of our species (you, me, us!) sink in. Yuval Noah Harari is irreverent at times and makes mind-blowing assertions in his book. You may not agree with all of his theories, but what he claims will make you see yourself as the animal you are in a refreshing new light. It's even possible that after you read Sapiens your view of the human condition will have shifted dramatically. Superbly translated from the original Hebrew into English by the author himself, Sapiens is accessible to readers of all types of non-fiction and fiction alike.”

Catherine, The Bookloft

If you enjoyed Guns, Germs, and Steel, then you’ll love The Dawn of Everything.

“In this brilliant and sometimes funny reexamination of human history, the authors argue that we are less free than our ancestors, and that it was not inevitable "progress" that brought us here. Using evidence from the last few decades of archeology, the authors contend that the centralization of power in the hands of a few was often avoided in prehistory. This analysis is a hopeful one of a world where we could again have three basic freedoms: the freedom to disobey, the freedom to go somewhere else, and the freedom to create new social arrangements.”

Michael, A Great Good Place for Books

“An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South—and thus of America—by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration.”

—Isabel Wilkerson, New York Times bestselling author of The Warmth of Other Suns and Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents

An essential, surprising journey...

If you enjoyed Long Time Coming, then you’ll love How the Word Is Passed.

“From plantation to Angola Prison. From Blandford Cemetery in Petersburg, VA to the African Burial Ground in New York City. From Île de Gorée to Whitney Plantation. From the Emancipation Proclamation to Juneteenth. Clint Smith takes us on an unforgettable journey through the history of slavery in the United States, revealing many truths we’ve never been told. Using lyrical prose, he creates a mesmerizing history lesson told through his personal lens. The facts are punctuated by his reactions to the spaces he visits and the stories he hears in each space. Hard truths told in beautiful language make this a book both highly informative and extremely accessible. Every American should listen to or read it; most of us have a great deal to learn and unlearn. And Smith’s poetic prose and personal voice keep it from feeling like the invaluable sociology and history lesson it is. Definitely one of the best books of the year.”

Nancy, Raven Book Store

Mythos

“I'm really enjoying listening to Stephen Fry's narration of his book Mythos. Told with a wink and a nod, he brings the classical mythologies alive with great zest. Weaving the many personalities and stories into a whole tapestry of delight. Wonderful fun for making that walk longer.”

Liesl, Boulder Book Store

Cobalt Red

“We cannot close our eyes to what is happening in our world even in 2023. Exposés like this force us to see and understand how our choices can affect people on the other side of the earth from us. Changes need to be made starting at the major corporations and then trickle down to the individual. Once we know what is happening we cannot un-know it.”

Ellen, Banter Bookshop

A humorous and rousing set of literal and figurative sojourns as well as a mission statement about comprehending, protecting, and truly experiencing the outdoors, fueled by three journeys undertaken by actor, humorist, and New York Times bestselling author Nick Offerman

Nick Offerman has always felt a particular affection for the Land of the... Read more »

Say Nothing

“Say Nothing is a chilling chronicle of The Troubles of Northern Ireland and its aftermath, with special focus on the orchestrated disappearance of civilian mother of ten Jean McConville. Per the author, Patrick Radden Keefe, the book is not a comprehensive history, but as someone who knew virtually nothing about The Troubles going in, I found Say Nothing to be a great place to start. I found the account of the Price sisters to be particularly fascinating. This is a compelling story about people standing up for what they believe in, filled with betrayal and deadly consequences. Matthew Blaney’s narration is exquisite.”

Mary, Raven Book Store

In We Don't Know Ourselves, Fintan O'Toole weaves his own experiences into Irish social, cultural, and economic change, showing how Ireland, in just one lifetime, has gone from a reactionary "backwater" to an almost totally open society—perhaps the most astonishing national transformation in modern history.

Born to a working-class family in the... Read more »

The remarkable true story of Ellen and William Craft, who escaped slavery through daring, determination, and disguise, with Ellen passing as a wealthy, disabled White man and William posing as “his” slave.

In 1848, a year of international democratic revolt, a young, enslaved couple, Ellen and William Craft, achieved one of the boldest feats of... Read more »

NATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER • NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A renowned historian traces the life of a single object handed down through three generations of Black women to craft a “deeply layered and insightful” (The Washington Post) testament to people who are left out of the archives.
 
WINNER: Frederick Douglass Book Prize, Harriet Tubman Prize,... Read more »

How to Hide an Empire

“A hilarious sparkler of historical quirks burns down to a dangerous fuse of tampering, territory, and transnational economics in this history of the USA not as the nation you just pictured, but as the complete global network of Americans, many without the rights the Lower 48 believe in, most segregated into cells of power that occasionally overheat. Explosive. Narrator Luis Moreno delivers both bitter reality and hilarious asides with a tone of candor and clarity: A+”

Nialle, The Haunted Bookshop

WINNER OF THE 2016 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER IN RACE AND CIVIL RIGHTS
FINALIST FOR THE 2016 NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FOR NONFICTION
THE MOST AMBITIOUS BOOK OF 2016 —The Washington Post
A BOSTON GLOBE BEST BOOK OF 2016
A WASHINGTON POST NOTABLE BOOK OF 2016
A CHICAGO REVIEW OF BOOKS BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF... Read more »

The Nineties

“Born in the mid-nineties but truly a child of the 2000’s, I have always romanticized the nineties. Klosterman uniquely provides a broad but also individual look at my favorite decade. Only having fleeting knowledge of various aspects of the decade- Y2K, OJ Simpson, landlines, watching Friends live- I loved Klosterman’s take and insights on the times!”

Miranda, Loganberry Books

The Palace Papers

“I highly recommend as an audio book--it's narrated by the author, who has insider knowledge and who was awarded the Commander of the British Empire by the Queen for her services to journalism. Which is to say: the writing is excellent, and even those who have followed the royal family for years will learn new things here. I loved this, and I have newfound respect for the often-misunderstood Prince Charles.”

Donna, A Great Good Place for Books

The Splendid and the Vile

“An excellent account of the darkest hour through the intimate details of the Churchill family, and accounts and diaries of staff and English, German and American leaders and soldiers. Larson expertly shows Churchill's highs and lows and how his oration skills, charisma and spirit buoyed society at the exact right time. Excellent for WWII buffs or if you are new to reading about defining moments of history. Great audiobook!”

Karin, Bookworm of Edwards

New York Times bestselling author and journalist Anderson Cooper teams with New York Times bestselling historian and novelist Katherine Howe to chronicle the rise and fall of a legendary American dynasty—his mother’s family, the Vanderbilts.

When eleven-year-old Cornelius Vanderbilt began to work on his father’s small boat ferrying supplies in...

Four Lost Cities

“Analee Newitz looks at the fate of four so-called 'lost' cities on three continents in this book. They describe the way modern day archeologists are turning their findings into stories about what life was like in these early urban centers. For a book about falling civilizations, I found it incredibly optimistic! Political and environmental factors may have led to their downfall, but Newitz discusses the way people found ways to resettle and thrive elsewhere (and as someone who sometimes worries about political and environmental issues, I found this very comforting!)”

Lisa, The Booksmith

So often, Africa has been depicted simplistically as a uniform land of famines and safaris, poverty and strife, stripped of all nuance. In this bold and insightful book, Dipo Faloyin offers a much-needed corrective, weaving a vibrant tapestry of stories that bring to life Africa's rich diversity, communities, and histories.

Starting with an... Read more »

Now in audio, the updated and expanded edition : David Graeber’s “fresh . . . fascinating . . . thought-provoking . . . and exceedingly timely” (Financial Times) history of debt Here anthropologist David Graeber presents a stunning reversal of conventional wisdom: he shows that before there was money, there was debt. For more than 5,000 years,... Read more »

Everyone needs to love and be loved—even men. But to know love, men must be able to look at the ways that patriarchal culture keeps them from knowing themselves, from being in touch with their feelings, from loving.

In The Will to Change, bell hooks gets to the heart of the matter and shows men how to express the emotions that are a fundamental... Read more »

Capitalist Realism

“A founding text of the modern online left. Written in 2009 by the late Mark Fisher in response to the Global Financial Crisis, it diagnoses the state and workings of capitalism in the post USSR world. An essential read to understand the current American political climate/situation.”

Andrew, Brilliant Books Audio

A deeply-reported examination of why "doing what you love" is a recipe for exploitation, creating a new tyranny of work in which we cheerily acquiesce to doing jobs that take over our lives.

You're told that if you "do what you love, you'll never work a day in your life." Whether it's working for "exposure" and "experience," or enduring poor... Read more »

A classic work of feminist scholarship, Ain't I a Woman has become a must–read for all those interested in the nature of black womanhood. Examining the impact of sexism on black women during slavery, the devaluation of black womanhood, black male sexism, racism among feminists, and the black woman's involvement with feminism, Hooks attempts to... Read more »

The final posthumous work by the coauthor of the major New York Times bestseller The Dawn of Everything.

Pirates have long lived in the realm of romance and fantasy, symbolizing risk, lawlessness, and radical visions of freedom. But at the root of this mythology is a rich history of pirate societies—vibrant, imaginative experiments in...

Named a New York Times Notable Book of 2022 and a Best Book of the Year by Oprah Daily, BookPage, Book Riot, the New York Public Library, and more!

From the author of The Emperor of All Maladies, winner of the Pulitzer Prize, and The Gene, a #1 New York Times bestseller, comes his most spectacular book yet, an exploration of medicine and our... Read more »

A Little Devil in America

“I loved Hanif Abdurraqib’s A Little Devil in America. This essential book explores a handful of Black performers—some world-famous, others everyday people—across a wide variety of disciplines, seamlessly woven into snippets and stories from Hanif’s own life about Black culture and the performance of Blackness. JD Jackson’s low and easy narration is the perfect complement. Hanif’s commentary on tenderness and rage is especially moving.”

Mary, Raven Book Store

Killers of the Flower Moon

“One of the most horrific chapters in American history is brought back to the national consciousness with alarming detail in Killers of the Flower Moon. After the Osage Indian Nation strikes oil, its members become rich beyond their wildest dreams, only to encounter a vast and murderous conspiracy that will leave more than 60 members of the nation dead. David Grann reconstructs those murders and the subsequent investigations with astonishing care and reveals the depths of a conspiracy that stretched from Oklahoma to Washington, D.C. This story will certainly be one of the most important books of 2017.”

Steven Shonder, Anderson's Bookshop

Did Ye Hear Mammy Died?

“I read a lot of memoirs, but this one was different. Séamas O'Reilly was 5 when his mother died leaving him, his 10 siblings, and his father to manage life on their own. In any other author's hands, this might have been a tragic tale. In O'Reilly's it is joyous, raucous, and gut-bustingly funny. In 1990s Derry, the Troubles are in the background, but not very real to a young boy who was more interested in attention, dinosaurs, and Star Wars than he was in politics. The author's father shines as the imperfect, grief-stricken, unstoppable hero in this book. This is a love story for crazy families everywhere. Share it with yours.”

Kelly, Fountain Bookstore

America’s top historians set the record straight on the most pernicious myths about our nation’s past 
 
The United States is in the grip of a crisis of bad history. Distortions of the past promoted in the conservative media have led large numbers of Americans to believe in fictions over facts, making constructive dialogue impossible... Read more »

Thomas Jefferson once asserted that "for depth of purpose, zeal, and sagacity, no man in Congress exceeded, if any equaled, Sam Adams." John Adams called him "the most elegant writer, the most sagacious politician, and celebrated patriot perhaps of all." But in spite of his celebrated status among America's founding fathers as a revolutionary... Read more »

Amoral, cunning, ruthless, and instructive, this multi-million-copy New York Times bestseller is the definitive manual for anyone interested in gaining, observing, or defending against ultimate control—from the author of The Laws of Human Nature.

In the book that People magazine proclaimed "beguiling" and "fascinating," Robert Greene and Joost... Read more »

From the author of the #1 New York Times bestseller So You Want to Talk About Race, an  “illuminating” (New York Times Book Review) history of white male identity.

What happens to a country that tells generation after generation of white men that they deserve power? What happens when success is defined by status over women and people of color,... Read more »

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Pulitzer Prize–winning biographer Jon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how—and why—he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America.

“In his captivating new book, Jon Meacham has given us the Lincoln for our time.”—Henry Louis... Read more »

In this sequel to the bestselling Mythos, legendary author and actor Stephen Fry moves from the exploits of the Olympian gods to the deeds of mortal heroes.

Perseus. Jason. Atalanta. Theseus. Heracles. Rediscover the thrills, grandeur, and unabashed fun of the Greek myths. Whether recounting a tender love affair or a heroic triumph, Fry deftly... Read more »

From the author of In the Hurricane's Eye and Valiant Ambition, the riveting and critically acclaimed bestseller and a major motion picture starring Chris Hemsworth, directed by Ron Howard.

Chris Hemsworth, Cillian Murphy, Ben Whishaw, and Brendan Gleeson star in a film based on this National Book Award–winning account of the true events behind... Read more »

Introduction read by the author.

An eye-opening new history of American political conflict, from Alexander Hamilton to Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez.

These days it seems that nobody is satisfied with American democracy. Critics across the ideological spectrum warn that the country is heading toward catastrophe but also complain that nothing seems to...

The Library Book

“A love letter to books, librarians, and libraries (and the often quirky communities that inhabit them), The Library Book sets out to uncover the truth behind the mystery of the Los Angeles Public Library Fire of 1986. As always, Orleans exhibits her talent for translating historic details into engrossing narratives, while thrilling the reader with all sorts of surprising twists and outlandish characters that you really couldn’t make up if you tried. Witty, poignant, riveting, Orlean’s performance is fabulous! A must-listen for every devotee of bookstores and libraries.”

Noelle, Oblong Books

An illuminating history of North America's eleven rival cultural regions that explodes the red state-blue state myth. North America was settled by people with distinct religious, political, and ethnographic characteristics, creating regional cultures that have been at odds with one another ever since. Subsequent immigrants didn't confront or... Read more »

One Hundred Saturdays

“It was such an honor to hear stories from the life of Stella Levi who is now almost one hundred years old. She has seen and lived through so much this past century! Having grown up in a secular Jewish community, La Judería, on the Island of Rhodes, and speaking a barely-known language, Judaeo-Spanish, her childhood home and culture was one that’s now almost entirely gone from living memory. This biography (partial memoir?) was emotionally moving, unique, and has stayed with me after finishing. It made me think about how we define what home is and our relationship with our memories, and how language has a big part in both of these aspects in our lives...I especially liked that the audio version had snippets of the author’s interviews with Stella so you get to hear her talk about some memories and songs that have stuck with her over the decades.”

Leah, Bright Side Bookshop

2018 Edgar Award Finalist—Best Fact Crime

“A thoroughly readable, thoroughly chilling account of a brilliant con man and his all-too vulnerable prey” (The Boston Globe)—the definitive story of preacher Jim Jones, who was responsible for the Jonestown Massacre, the largest murder-suicide in American history, by the New York Times bestselling... Read more »

1917. As a war raged across the world, young American women flocked to work, painting watches, clocks and military dials with a special luminous substance made from radium. It was a fun job, lucrative and glamorous—the girls themselves shone brightly in the dark, covered head to toe in the dust from the paint. They were the radium girls.

As the... Read more »

The invented history of the Western world is crumbling fast, Anishinaabe writer Patty Krawec says, but we can still honor the bonds between us. Settlers dominated and divided, but Indigenous peoples won't just send them all "home."

Weaving her own story with the story of her ancestors and with the broader themes of creation, replacement, and... Read more »

Empire of the Summer Moon

“An engrossing read tracing the historic rise and fall of the Comanches, the masters of war.”

James, Bookstore1Sarasota

Four Hundred Souls

“An absolutely stunning history of African America for people who do not normally read history. Compiled of short stories, essays, and poems, it is perfect for someone who is intimidated by lists of names and dates. Each individual voice stands on its own but together they truly make a 'choir' that flows together beautifully. This is a one-of-a-kind history that is essential reading for everyone.”

Tia, Quail Ridge Books