“What are the best History books released in 2019?” We looked at 154 of the top History books, aggregating and ranking them so we could answer that very question!
The top 23 books, all appearing on 2 or more “Best History” book lists, are ranked below by how many times they appear. The remaining 125+ titles, as well as the sources we used, are in alphabetical order on the bottom of the page.
Our other Best Of 2019 Articles:
Our Other Years: 2018, 2017, 2016, 2015
Happy Scrolling!
Lists It Appears On:
A dynamic, timely history of nineteenth-century activists—free-lovers and socialists, abolitionists and vigilantes—and the social revolution they sparked in the turbulent Civil War era “In the tradition of Howard Zinn’s people’s histories, American Radical
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The intimate, inspiring, and authoritative biography of Sandra Day O’Connor, America’s first female Supreme Court justice, drawing on exclusive interviews and first-time access to Justice O’Connor’s archives—by the New York Time
Lists It Appears On:
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 2019 BAILLIE GIFFORD PRIZE FOR NON-FICTION ‘A triumph on every level. One of the losses to literature is that Harper Lee never found a way to tell a gothic true-crime story she’d spent years researching. Casey Cep has excavated this mes
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The first comprehensive history of the Lakota Indians and their profound role in shaping America’s history This first complete account of the Lakota Indians traces their rich and often surprising history from the early sixteenth to the early twenty†‘first
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The little-known true story of the woman who headed the largest spy network in Vichy France during World War II. In 1941, a thirty-one-year-old Frenchwoman, a young mother born to privilege and known for her beauty and glamour, became the leader of Allianc
Lists It Appears On:
“Portrays Holbrooke in all of his endearing and exasperating self-willed glory…Both a sweeping diplomatic history and a Shakespearean tragicomedy… If you could read one book to comprehend American’s foreign policy and its quixotic forays into quicksand
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The New York Times-bestselling final book by the beloved, Pulitzer-Prize winning historian Tony Horwitz. With Spying on the South, the best-selling author of Confederates in the Attic returns to the South and the Civil War era for an epic adventure on the
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The story of tobacco’s fortunes seems simple: science triumphed over addiction and profit. Yet the reality is more complicated—and more political. Historically it was not just bad habits but also the state that lifted the tobacco industry. What brought abo
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Miscast in the media for nearly 130 years, the victims of Jack the Ripper finally get their full stories told in this eye-opening and chilling reminder that life for middle-class women in Victorian London could be full of social pitfalls and peril.
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The epic true crime story of the most successful bootlegger in American history and the murder that shocked the nation, from the New York Times bestselling author of Sin in the Second City and Liar, Temptress, Soldier, Spy In the early days of Prohibition,
Lists It Appears On:
“When Lincoln was assassinated and Andrew Johnson became President, a fraught time in America became perilous. Congress was divided over how Reconstruction should be accomplished and the question of black suffrage. The South roiled with violence, lawlessne
Lists It Appears On:
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “This is history at its most immediate and moving…A marvelous and memorable book.” —Jon Meacham “Remarkable…A priceless civic gift…On page after page, a reader will encounter words that startle, or make him angry, or heartbroken.”
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Pulitzer Prize-winning historian David McCullough rediscovers an important and dramatic chapter in the American story–the settling of the Northwest Territory by dauntless pioneers who overcame incredible hardships to build a community based on ideals that
Lists It Appears On:
A bold and searing investigation into the role of white women in the American slave economy Bridging women’s history, the history of the South, and African American history, this book makes a bold argument about the role of white women in American slavery.
Lists It Appears On:
From New York Times bestselling author and Founding Fathers’ biographer Harlow Giles Unger comes the astonishing biography of the man whose pen set America ablaze, inspiring its revolution, and whose ideas about reason and religion continue to try men’s so
Lists It Appears On:
The never-before-told story of Virginia Hall, the American spy who changed the course of the World War II, from the author of Clementine In 1942, the Gestapo sent out an urgent transmission: “She is the most dangerous of all Allied spies. We must find and
Lists It Appears On:
–THE NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER– ‘An invaluable contribution to history.’ Serhii Plokhy, Evening Standard ‘Tells the story of the disaster and its gruesome aftermath with thriller-like flair. Midnight in Chernobyl is wonderful and chilling … written wit
Lists It Appears On:
One of the New York Times 10 Best Books of the Year BEST NONFICTION BOOK OF THE YEAR – TIME MAGAZINE ONE OF THE BEST 10 BOOKS OF THE YEAR – WASHINGTON POST NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER WINNER OF THE ORWELL PRIZE LONGLISTED FOR THE NATIONAL BOOK AWARD “Masked
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“Superb … A vivid and richly detailed story … worth reading by everyone.” -The New York Times Book Review From the bestselling author of Return of a King, the story of how the East India Company took over large swaths of Asia, and the devastating resul
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From the bestselling author of the Liberation Trilogy comes this extraordinary history of the American Revolution.
Lists It Appears On:
FINALIST FOR THE 2019 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD LONGLISTED FOR THE 2020 ANDREW CARNEGIE MEDAL FOR EXCELLENCE A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Chapter after chapter, it’s like one shattered myth after another.” – NPR “An informed, moving and kaleidoscopic portrait…
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In this enthralling history of the debutante ritual, Kristen Richardson sheds new light on contemporary ideas about women and marriage. Kristen Richardson, from a family of debutantes, chose not to debut. But as her curiosity drove her to research this end
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A pathbreaking history of the United States’ overseas possessions and the true meaning of its empire We are familiar with maps that outline all fifty states. And we are also familiar with the idea that the United States is an “empire,” exercising power aro
# | Books | Authors | Lists |
24 | 1919 | Eve L. Ewing | NPR |
25 | A Good American Family: The Red Scare And My Father | David Maraniss | NPR |
26 | A Wild And Precious Life: A Memoir | Edie Windsor and Joshua Lyon | NPR |
27 | Aloha Rodeo: Three Hawaiian Cowboys, The World’s Greatest Rodeo, And A Hidden History Of The American West | David Wolman and Julian Smith | NPR |
28 | American Pop: A Novel | Snowden Wright | NPR |
29 | An American Sunrise: Poems | Joy Harjo | NPR |
30 | Attlee and Churchill | Telegraph | |
31 | Before and After: The Incredible Real-Life Stories of Orphans Who Survived the Tennessee Children’s Home Society | Goodreads | |
32 | Big Wonderful Thing: A History Of Texas | Stephen Harrigan | NPR |
33 | Birds in the Ancient World: Winged Words | Jeremy Mynott | Five Books |
34 | Bringing Down The Duke | Evie Dunmore | NPR |
35 | Building Anglo-Saxon England | John Blair | Five Books |
36 | Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead | Amazon | |
37 | Cantoras: A Novel | Carolina De Robertis | NPR |
38 | Cherokee America: A Novel | Margaret Verble | The Pietist Schoolman |
39 | Code Name: Lise. The True Story of the Woman Who Became WWII’s Most Highly Decorated Spy | Goodreads | |
40 | Cold Warriors | Telegraph | |
41 | Court Number One: The Old Bailey Trials that Defined Modern Britain | Telegraph | |
42 | D-Day Girls: The Spies Who Armed the Resistance, Sabotaged the Nazis, and Helped Win World War II | Amazon | |
43 | Delayed Rays Of A Star: A Novel | Amanda Lee Koe | NPR |
44 | Desire Lines | Elizabeth Kingston | NPR |
45 | Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind | Telegraph | |
46 | Drive-Thru Dreams: A Journey Through The Heart Of America’s Fast-Food Kingdom | Adam Chandler | NPR |
47 | Dutch Girl: Audrey Hepburn and World War II | Goodreads | |
48 | Edison | Edmund Morris | The Pietist Schoolman |
49 | Eleanor of Aquitaine, Queen of France and England, Mother of Empires | Sara Cockerill | Dan Jones |
50 | Elizabethan Globalism: England, China And The Rainbow Portrait | Matthew Dimmock | NPR |
51 | Empress: Queen Victoria and India | Miles Taylor | Five Books |
52 | Epic Continent: Adventures In The Great Stories Of Europe | Nicholas Jubber | NPR |
53 | First to Fight: The Polish War 1939 | Telegraph | |
54 | Floating Coast: An Environmental History Of The Bering Strait | Bathsheba Demuth | NPR |
55 | Fry Bread: A Native American Family Story | Kevin Noble Malliard, illustrated | NPR |
56 | Go Ahead In The Rain: Notes To A Tribe Called Quest | Hanif Abdurraqib | NPR |
57 | God Save The Queens: The Essential History Of Women In Hip-Hop | Kathy Iandoli | NPR |
58 | Goliath: The 100-Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy | Amazon | |
59 | Hitler | Telegraph | |
60 | Hitler: Only the World Was Enough | Telegraph | |
61 | Hollywood’s Eve: Eve Babitz And The Secret History Of L.A. | Lili Anolik | NPR |
62 | How Was It For You? Women, Sex, Love and Power in the 1960s | Telegraph | |
63 | Hymns of the Republic: The Story of the Final Year of the American Civil War | Amazon | |
64 | In Waves | A.J. Dungo | NPR |
65 | Inventing Victoria | Tonya Bolden | NPR |
66 | Jerome Robbins, By Himself: Selections From His Letters, Journals, Drawings, Photographs, And An Unfinished Memoir | Jerome Robbins, edited | NPR |
67 | Jubilee: Recipes From Two Centuries Of African-American Cooking | Toni Tipton-Martin | NPR |
68 | Just Like Beverly: A Biography Of Beverly Cleary | Vicki Conrad, illustrated | NPR |
69 | King and Emperor | Telegraph | |
70 | King of the World | Telegraph | |
71 | Lady In The Lake: A Novel | Laura Lippman | NPR |
72 | Last Boat Out Of Shanghai: The Epic Story Of The Chinese Who Fled Mao’s Revolution | Helen Zia | NPR |
73 | Legacy | Telegraph | |
74 | Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography — Herself Alone | Charles Moore | The Pietist Schoolman |
75 | Mitz: The Marmoset Of Bloomsbury | Sigrid Nunez | NPR |
76 | Mrs. Everything: A Novel | Jennifer Weiner | NPR |
77 | Nightingale | Paisley Rekdal | NPR |
78 | Nobody’s Looking At You: Essays | Janet Malcolm | NPR |
79 | Norco ’80: The True Story Of The Most Spectacular Bank Robbery In American History | Peter Houlahan | NPR |
80 | Oblivion or Glory | Telegraph | |
81 | One Day: The Extraordinary Story Of An Ordinary 24 Hours In America | Gene Weingarten | NPR |
82 | Opium: How An Ancient Flower Shaped And Poisoned Our World | John H. Halpern and David Blistein | NPR |
83 | Oscar: A Life | Matthew Sturgis | Five Books |
84 | Out Of Darkness, Shining Light: A Novel | Petina Gappah | NPR |
85 | Permanent Record | Edward Snowden | NPR |
86 | Places And Names: On War, Revolution, And Returning | Elliot Ackerman | NPR |
87 | Policing the Open Road: How Cars Transformed American Freedom | Smithsonian Magazine | |
88 | Promise Me You’ll Shoot Yourself | Telegraph | |
89 | Queen Of The Sea | Dylan Meconis | NPR |
90 | Rebel | Beverly Jenkins | NPR |
91 | Reckonings: Legacies of Nazi Persecution and the Quest for Justice | Mary Fulbrook | Five Books |
92 | Republic Of Shame: Stories From Ireland’s Institutions For ‘Fallen Women’ | Caelainn Hogan | NPR |
93 | Sea Stories: My Life in Special Operations | Amazon | |
94 | Separate: The Story of Plessy v. Ferguson, and America’s Journey from Slavery to Segregation | Steve Luxenberg | The Pietist Schoolman |
95 | Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI | Telegraph | |
96 | Shoot for the Moon: The Space Race and the Extraordinary Voyage of Apollo 11 | James Donovan | The Pietist Schoolman |
97 | Spearhead: An American Tank Gunner, His Enemy, and a Collision of Lives In World War II | Goodreads | |
98 | Spy Runner | Eugene Yelchin | NPR |
99 | Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow | Henry Louis Gates | The Pietist Schoolman |
100 | Supreme Glamour | Mary Wilson with Mark Bego | NPR |
101 | Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine | Amazon | |
102 | The Archive Of Alternate Endings | Lindsey Dragger | NPR |
103 | The Border: A Novel | Don Winslow | NPR |
104 | The Broken Road: George Wallace And A Daughter’s Journey To Reconciliation | Peggy Wallace Kennedy | NPR |
105 | The Brothers York: An English Tragedy | Telegraph | |
106 | The Castle On Sunset: Life, Death, Love, Art, And Scandal At Hollywood’s Chateau Marmont | Shawn Levy | NPR |
107 | The Club: Johnson, Boswell, and the Friends Who Shaped an Age | Leo Damrosch | The Pietist Schoolman |
108 | The Crowded Hour: Theodore Roosevelt, the Rough Riders, and the Dawn of the American Century | Clay Risen | The Pietist Schoolman |
109 | The Darksome Bounds of a Falling World | Telegraph | |
110 | The Dead Queens Club | Hannah Capin | NPR |
111 | The Death and Life of Aida Hernandez: A Border Story | Goodreads | |
112 | The Downstairs Girl | Stacey Lee | NPR |
113 | The Dreamt Land: Chasing Water and Dust Across California | Amazon | |
114 | The Education Of An Idealist: A Memoir | Samantha Power | NPR |
115 | The End Is Nigh | Telegraph | |
116 | The Europeans | Telegraph | |
117 | The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington | Goodreads | |
118 | The Future Of Another Timeline | Annalee Newitz | NPR |
119 | The Guarded Gate: Bigotry, Eugenics, and the Law That Kept Two Generations of Jews, Italians and Other European Immigrants Out of America | Daniel Okrent | The Pietist Schoolman |
120 | The Heartland: An American History | Kristin L. Hoganson | NPR |
121 | The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick | Goodreads | |
122 | The Man Who Was Saturday | Telegraph | |
123 | The Map of Knowledge: How Classical Ideas were Lost and Found: A History in Seven Cities | Telegraph | |
124 | The Mastermind: Drugs. Empire. Murder. Betrayal. | Evan Ratliff | NPR |
125 | The Mosquito: A Human History Of Our Deadliest Predator | Timothy C. Winegard | NPR |
126 | The Nickel Boys: A Novel | Colson Whitehead | NPR |
127 | The Old Drift: A Novel | Namwali Serpell | NPR |
128 | The Plaza: The Secret Life Of America’s Most Famous Hotel | Julie Satow | NPR |
129 | The Second Founding: How the Civil War and Reconstruction Remade the Constitution | Amazon | |
130 | The Secrets We Kept: A Novel | Lara Prescott | NPR |
131 | The Shadow King: A Novel | Maaza Mengiste | NPR |
132 | The Shadow King: The Life and Death of Henry VI | Lauren Johnson | Dan Jones |
133 | The Song of Simon de Montfort: England’s First Revolutionary | Sophie-Thérèse Ambler | Dan Jones |
134 | The Stationery Shop | Marjan Kamali | NPR |
135 | The Undefeated | Kwame Alexander, illustrated | NPR |
136 | The Voices of Nîmes: Women, Sex and Marriage in Reformation Languedoc | Suzannah Lipscomb | Dan Jones |
137 | The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul From the Revolution to the Civil War | Andrew Delbianco | The Pietist Schoolman |
138 | The War Nobody Wanted: 1939: A People’s History | Telegraph | |
139 | They Called Us Enemy | George Takei, Justin Eisinger and Steven | NPR |
140 | They Will Have To Die Now: Mosul And The Fall Of The Caliphate | James Verini | NPR |
141 | This Land Is Our Land: An Immigrant’s Manifesto | Suketu Mehta | NPR |
142 | Trading in War: London’s Maritime World in the Age of Cook and Nelson | Margarette Lincoln | Five Books |
143 | Underground: A Human History Of The Worlds Beneath Our Feet | Will Hunt | NPR |
144 | Unexampled Courage: The Blinding Of Sgt. Isaac Woodard And The Awakening Of President Harry S. Truman And Judge J. Waties Waring | Richard Gergel | NPR |
145 | Upheaval: Turning Points for Nations in Crisis | Goodreads | |
146 | Useful Enemies | Telegraph | |
147 | Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories Of Social Upheaval | Saidiya Hartman | NPR |
148 | What You Have Heard Is True: A Memoir Of Witness And Resistance | Carolyn Forché | NPR |
149 | When We Were Arabs: A Jewish Family’s Forgotten History | Massoud Hayoun | NPR |
150 | Who Dares Wins: Britain 1979-82 | Telegraph | |
151 | Winds of Change | Telegraph | |
152 | Witcraft | Telegraph | |
153 | Working | Amazon | |
154 | You Will Be Safe Here | Damian Barr | NPR |
Source | |
Amazon | |
Dan Jones | |
Five Books | |
Goodreads | |
NPR | |
Smithsonian Magazine | |
Telegraph | |
The Pietist Schoolman |
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