These nonfiction history books – covering a wide variety of topics and time periods – are well-researched and page-turning true stories published in the last few years. This list was created by a Librarian at The Seattle Public Library. Annotations from NoveList, unless otherwise attributed. (December 2024)
Pathogenesis
Drawing on the latest research in fields ranging from genetics and anthropology to archaeology and economics, this revelatory book takes us through 60,000 years of history to show how the major transformations in history have been shaped by eight major outbreaks of infectious disease.
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The Demon of Unrest
Drawing on diaries, secret communiques, slave ledgers and plantation ledgers, Larson offers a gripping account of the months between Lincoln's election and the start of the Civil War, which tore a deeply divided nation in two.
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Palestine
Starting with the earliest references in Egyptian and Assyrian texts, Nur Masalha explores how Palestine and its Palestinian identity have evolved over thousands of years, from the Bronze Age to the present day. (Publisher’s description)
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The Small and the Mighty
[McMahon] offers inspiring portraits of 12 ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of the United States.
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Blood in the Machine
Merchant unspools a myth-busting historical tale interwoven with pointed comparisons to how modern tech giants are eroding workers’ collective rights. (New Scientist)
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Night Flyer
A National Book Award-winning author weaves Tubman's life into the fabric of her world, probing the ecological reality of Tubman's surroundings and examining her kindship with other enslaved women, revealing a story of powerful inspiration for our own time of troubles.
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Silk
Prasad explores the global, natural, and cultural history (and future) of a unique material that has fascinated the world for thousands of years.
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How the World Made the West
A Professor of Ancient History at Oxford University subverts the usual understanding that civilizations develop independently and instead focuses on the ways in which the emergence of the West was informed by influences from all over the globe.
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The Black Utopians
Robertson reflects on a diverse array of Black utopian visions, from the Reconstruction era through the countercultural fervor of the 1960s and 1970s and into the present day. By doing so, Robertson showcases the enduring quest of collectives and individuals for a world beyond the constraints of systemic racism.
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The Wide Wide Sea
Part high-seas adventure, part examination of the Age of Exploration, this account of Captain James Cook's last voyage in 1776 charts how his overt and covert missions came to a head on the island of Hawaii and left behind a complex and controversial legacy still debated to this day.
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