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I’ve read a good number of history books over the years, and I thought I’d take the time to list my recommendations of some of the best of the best I’ve come across, with links to my fuller reviews. I mostly look at military history, so there’s a decided weight here, and not being in academic circles, these are mostly ‘general reader’ books, but there’s plenty of very good ‘period pieces’, and some very good more detailed studies.

Song of Wrath by J.E. Lendon — This is a good look at the first of the four “Peloponnesian Wars”, trying to reconstruct the societal meaning around it all. It’s impossible to say he’s right, but it’s still a worthy theory.

Empires and Barbarians by Peter Heather — This one of my favorites even on this list. Peter Heather takes a look at the “Age of Migrations” using modern migration studies to inform his view. It’s also something of a sequel to his The Fall of the Roman Empire, which I’ve yet to read, and I have Rome Resurgent on my ‘to read’ list, though I wasn’t nearly as happy with The Restoration of Rome, it is still worth a look.

Shadow of the Sword by Tom Holland — Another of my favorite of favorites. Holland does an excellent job with the start of Islam, and has enough to say that he circles around the subject a few times, easing you into the view he gives of events. His Persian Fire isn’t this good, but is well worth reading too.

The Norman Conquest by Mark Morris — Morris presents nearly a century of history to show just various factions came to be pushing the English throne in different directions in 1066. It continues through Domesday, but the value is all the background given. His later The Anglo-Saxons is also recommended, though part of it is covered here, and I think better done in this version.

The Hundred Years War by Johnathan Sumption — Be ready before starting this, because we’re talking nearly 3,600 pages of text on the Hundred Years War (not including indexes, notes, bibliographies, etc). However, it is very much worth it, and a clear, detailed, look at a subject that you often just get a couple “exciting” corners of. His earlier book on The Albegensian Crusade is also good, but this is the main event.

Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer — I’m actually still in the ending sections of this book. It’s very unusual, with a very personal tone as Palmer talks to us about various subjects. It was a little off-putting at first, but she uses this change up well, as she guides us through the historiography of the Renaissance and her own experiences with research and symposiums. It’s worth it for the latter, and that’s still the least of what it’s got to say.

Empires of the Sea by Roger Crowley — A well written and paced account of the sieges of Rhodes, and Malta, and the battle of Lepanto, showing warfare in the sixteenth-century Mediterranean. Crowley is an engaging writer, and is always worth reading, and I especially recommend City of Fortune. Ernle Bradford’s The Great Siege is also good for Malta, but most of it is in here already.

A Dragon’s Head and a Serpent’s Tail by Kenneth M. Swope — You don’t get to hear much of the 1592 Japanese invasion of Korea, and Swope has a good book looking at it from the Chinese point of view. There’s a sequel, but it’s locked behind scholarly low-volume high prices so I haven’t read it yet.

Crucible of War by Fred Anderson — This is a surprisingly wide-ranging book on the French and Indian War. Even if you think you know enough, there’s plenty in here, and its all well put together.

A Country of Vast Designs by Robert W. Merry — The Mexican-American War is under-discussed, and this book is really more about Polk’s political career. So, you see how it ties into Oregon and his tariffs, but the war is seen distantly. A Wicked War takes a (deservedly) much more negative view of events (Vast Designs is too close to Polk for proper perspective), but has problems. The Training Ground has good views of the combat, but I spotted some big errors, and worry about what I didn’t spot, and only Vast Designs even begins to have any Mexican viewpoint in it.

Centennial History of the ACW by Bruce Catton — Catton is one of the best writers the American Civil War has had, and I recommend any of his books, but the Centennial Trilogy of The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword, and Never Call Retreat are overall his best. (My absolute favorite passage is the final chapter of Glory Road.)

Dreadnought by Robert Massie — A massive book covering about sixty years of European political history. The main thesis is that in around 1850 Britain and the Germanies were fairly close. In 1914, Britain and unified Germany went to war. Massie does an amazing job navigating the personalities and events that lead to the collision. All his books are very good, but this is by far his best.

Playing at the World by Jon Peterson — There’s now an expanded two-book set, but I’ve just read the original massive tome. Pop culture is somewhat ignored in more academic circles, leaving it to write its own histories. Peterson has applied a lot of rigor and detective work to a history of the start of RPGs, and spends time to go into some theoretical thoughts why the first was inevitably a fantasy RPG, and background on the history of wargaming. He’s gone on to a couple of other books around the same subject since, but I haven’t gotten to them yet. Shannon Applecline’s Designers & Dragons is also a good overall history of RPGs, and worth finding their own details in.