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Best European History

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany
Hailed as “one of the most important works of history of our time” ( The New York Times ), this definitive chronicle of Hitler’s rise to power is back in hardcover with a new introductory essay by Ron Rosenbaum ( Explaining Hitler and How the End Begins ) commemorating the fiftieth anniversary of its National Book Award win. Ron Rosenbaum is the bestselling author of Explaining Hitler and The Shakespeare Wars and has written or edited six. other books.
Reviews
"I have not ready any other histories of Nazi Germany, but I can't imagine another more comprehensive account of the horror that was the Third Reich. In reading this book I began to get a clearer understanding of how such an atrocity could have come to exist. If Hitler's grandfather had not belatedly married his grandmother, he would have remained Adolf Schicklgruber and certainly would not have achieved any of the power that he did. But reading it, not as an obligation, but for an understanding of this bleak moment in our world's history, it is a masterpiece. If you choose to read this book, be prepared for an extremely detailed account of every correspondence, letter, speech, meeting that went on with each move and conjecture in this almost chess game of a war. Also, I started to get annoyed that there was so much on the war and nothing about the concentration camp atrocities and the genocide that was taking place."
"Written by a man who lived through the years leading up to the Nazi Party's birth, growth, eventual election to power and all the subsequent insane and inhuman events that followed; a journalist keeping detailed diaries and then supplementing with years of detailed research through vast amounts of other documents, diaries, court records, interviews."
"In the late 90s, purchased still another copy and read it a third time."
"Shirer presents a straight forward and accurate accounting of Germany and the Third Reich. Armed conflict will never stop and the Holocaust may have targeted Jews and other “undesirables” but other societies have and are still persecuting people based on religious beliefs or ethnicity."
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The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
The dramatic, pulse-pounding story of Harry Truman’s first four months in office, when this unlikely president had to take on Germany, Japan, Stalin, and the atomic bomb, with the fate of the world hanging in the balance. although there are plenty of good biographies of Truman, few are as entertaining as Baime’s." Baime is a master storyteller, and The Accidental President contains everything a reader could ever want from a work of history: characters that jump off the page, tension that makes your pulse pound, and smooth, smart writing that makes you think. Baime's biography uses new sources to paint Harry Truman as a complex and thoroughly American figure. Baime has put a spotlight on those four months, recounting them faithfully and with heart, so that you come away with not only a sense of history, but a sense of the man, Harry Truman, as well. As Grandpa himself said a few years later, ‘It’s hell to be President of the Greatest Most Powerful Nation on Earth.’” —Clifton Truman Daniel, Truman’s grandson and author of Growing Up with My Grandfather: Memories of Harry Truman. “An entertaining new history of Truman’s first months in office...filled with events that are strikingly proportionate to what the Trump administration has weathered since January.” —John Batchelor, The Daily Beast. "By relying mostly on primary sources, Baime allows for a better perspective of Truman, in which his political decisions are equally as significant as the correspondence with his beloved wife, daughter, and mother. His carefully crafted narrative transports the reader back in time... Each sentence is carefully constructed and colorfully packed with details that makes Harry Truman and this period in history come alive.
Reviews
"His previous books on Willow Run and the La Mans battle between Ferrari and Ford were just tremendous. Taking what Baime claims is four of perhaps the four most consequential months of any presidency, a point of which is probably correct, this book starts off with FDR's surprising death in Warm Springs, Georgia as World War II reaches its penultimate moments with the collapse of Germany and the beginning of the end of the Empire of Japan."
"I enjoyed this book very much. I suspect that we will never see the likes of a Harry Truman in American presidential politics. It struck that the author made the statement toward the end of the book that America peaked with the surrender of the Japanese and will never see those lofty heights again."
"We have all read good books and great books from a historical perspective. This book is one, if you please, that is an absolute must read."
"I love this book; the author mines a number of narrative strands and weaves them together with dexterity to tell the story of a reluctant leader who united the country."
"I highly recommend this book to students of history, Truman, WWII, and/or the Presidency."
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The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story
Best-selling naturalist and acclaimed storyteller Diane Ackerman combines extensive research and an exuberant writing style to re-create this fascinating, true-life story―sharing Antonina's life as "the zookeeper's wife," while examining the disturbing obsessions at the core of Nazism. “It is no stretch to say that this is the book Ackerman was meant to write.”. - Los Angeles Times.
Reviews
"The Zookeeper’s Wife, a true story set in Warsaw, Poland at the onset of WWII, is both horrifying and endearing on a scale I’ve not experienced in years. But somehow the family manages, by one clever ploy after another, to remain at the villa where they daringly rescue Jews and work in the resistance."
"Just started reading and already CAN'T PUT IT DOWN!"
"The Zookeeper's Wife is a remarkable account of the courage and selfless actions of the occupants of Warsaw during the Second World War who rescued and hid at great personal danger, the hundreds of Jews who were hunted and murdered by the Nazis."
"Was pleased though by how the story developed to include the whole occupation of Warsaw by Germany, felt like a very interesting history assignment."
"I wanted to like this book."
"If you like flowery descriptions of a zoo, of the climate, descriptions of the people & everything else, this is the book for you. Somehow that all got lost in flowery descriptions that sidetracked the story."
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Best United States History

Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919 (The History of NYC Series)
New York was transformed in these two decades as the world's second-largest city and now its financial capital, thriving and sustained by the city's seemingly unlimited potential.
Reviews
"It is fascinating and though this urban history is over a hundred yes old it is so important to understand the foundations of today, but so much is similar."
"Great history, many detail were interesting but I will never remember all the names."
"Excellent historical account!"
"This book, however is so massive in scope, exacting and detailed in the particulars, and engaging to read that I abandoned that approach shortly after starting and began skipping about from topic to topic by level of interest in the subject area. There are many, MANY hours of fascinating material in here to digest (perhaps best at leisure), and if you are interested at ALL in history, the time period in question, or the city in particular you will find much to enjoy within, even if shortly after starting it becomes a tad daunting."
"My favorite sections were on the development of the ‘arteries and ligaments’ of the city; the radicals among the Jewish immigrants, and New York in World War I."
"There are 24 chapters with titles such as "Who Rules New York" (Ch.6), which concerns mayors, district leaders, muckrakers, reformers, "Sky Boom" (Ch.7), which concerns builders, engineers, and financiers, "Show Biz" (Ch.13), which concerns Broadway, Coney Island, and Tin Pan alley, and "Repressives" (Ch.17), which concerns street gangs and gambling. "History books" filled with imaginary dialogue and fictional accounts of emotions, include "Crisis of the Old Order: 1919-1933, The Age of Roosevelt" by Schlesinger, which is more like a book of fiction, and Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition by Okrent, which is more like a comedy book intented for idle amusement. Black and white reproductions of photos, magazine covers, magazine illustrations, posters, and paintings occur every few pages. For example, on page 241 is an illustration showing firemen and a curious crowd, with two streams of water, where billowing smoke comes out of an apartment building. Page 140 shows the cover of Scientific American, which has a drawing of the Singer Building in New York City, but the Singer Building is drawn next to Niagara Falls in order to show the relative heights. On page 316 is a photo of Macy's (1908) showing automobiles and several trolley cars. On page 505 is a photo of six children, a baby, and a mother, in a tenement building apartment. On page 613 is a full-page reproduction of a poster called, "QUEEN OF CHINATOWN (1899)" and at the bottom is the inscription, "HURLED BY HIGHBINDERS THROUGH THE RAT PIT'S DOUBLE TRAP." The poster shows a cutaway of an apartment house, showing two floors, where a white man climbs through the upper floor window, a Chinese man pushes him down through a trap door in the floor, and where another white man has already fallen through this trap door and is about to fall through a second trap door in the lower floor. Page 762 has a photo of "Mrs. H. Riordan, American Sufferagette" and she is posing in front of a grocery called, B.L. Jumping into the text, in Chapter 7 "SKY BOOM" (pages 131-166) we learn about these buildings: Flatiron Building designed by Daniel Burnham, Singer Sewing Machine Co.'s building called "The Singerhorn," Met Life tower designed by Napoleon Le Brun, and Woolworth Building designed by Cass Gilbert. To provide one more except, this is from Chapter 17 ("Repressives") (pages 559-620). (pages 595-596)."
"Just through one chapter."
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Best African History

An Army at Dawn: The War in North Africa, 1942-1943, Volume One of the Liberation Trilogy
In this first volume of the Liberation Trilogy, Rick Atkinson shows why no modern reader can understand the ultimate victory of the Allied powers without a grasp of the great drama that unfolded in North Africa in 1942 and 1943. “Exceptional... A work strong in narrative flow and character portraits of the principle commanders... A highly pleasurable read.” ― The New York Times Book Review. This vivid, personality-driven account of the campaign to drive Axis forces from North Africa shows the political side of waging war, even at the tactical level.” ― Chicago Tribune. An Army at Dawn may be the best World War II battle narrative since Cornelius Ryan's classics, The Longest Day and A Bridge Too Far .” ― Max Boot, The Wall Street Journal. His account of the Kasserine Pass disaster is alone worth the price of the book and stands as an exciting preview of the rich volumes to come. It is impressively researched and superbly written, and it brings to life in full detail one of the vitally important but relatively ‘forgotten' campaigns of World War II. Rick Atkinson strikes the right balance between minor tactical engagements and high strategic direction, and he brings soldiers at every level to life, from private to general. Among the many pleasures of an Army at Dawn are the carefully placed details--shells that whistle into the water with a smoky hiss; a colonel with 'slicked hair and a wolfish mustache'; a man dying before he can fire the pistols strapped in his holster.” ― Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Given his success with modern military history, the penetrating historical insights Atkinson brings to bear on America's 1942-43 invasion of the North African coast are not surprising.” ― Kirkus Reviews. “Atkinson, author of the best-selling The Long Grey Line (1989), a chronicle of the West Point class of 1966, here debuts an ambitious three-volume saga about the North African and European theaters of World War II. This first volume covers the conception of Operation Torch through the German surrender in Tunisia in May 1943 and reveals the author's skill in balancing big-picture strategizing with unit-level tactical fighting... Using battlefield reports and archival material, Atkinson tells a fascinating story of the North African campaign that is hard to stop reading, even though one knows the outcome.
Reviews
"This thorough account includes many fascinating statistics, incidents and details which demonstrate just what a profoundly miraculous event the successes of the invasion of North Africa was."
"Probably the most fascinating account of the war I've ever read."
"He brings to life the personal aspects of war, from the perspectives of the politicians, the enlisted men, and the officers of all ranks up to and including the President."
"We also see that the Germans had their own problems and were initially superior in how to fight a war; something that the allies had to learn as they went along. But, even if you have no map, this book is riveting."
"Written by Pulitzer Prize winning author Rick Atkinson, it tells the unaltered truth of an unprepared military entering war against an enemy more than a match for it. The book captivates the reader quickly as one follows the competing political and military storms that engulf the inexperienced U.S. Supreme Commander in Chief Dwight Eisenhower as his British and American subordinates attempt to take over the running of the war's strategy and tactics. The book narrates in detail the sad lessons the American Army pays in blood to learn as they are exposed to their weaknesses in leadership, equipment, and tactics."
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Best Asian History

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea
An eye-opening account of life inside North Korea—a closed world of increasing global importance—hailed as a “tour de force of meticulous reporting” ( The New York Review of Books ). NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST • NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST In this landmark addition to the literature of totalitarianism, award-winning journalist Barbara Demick follows the lives of six North Korean citizens over fifteen years—a chaotic period that saw the death of Kim Il-sung, the rise to power of his son Kim Jong-il (the father of Kim Jong-un), and a devastating famine that killed one-fifth of the population. Demick brings to life what it means to be living under the most repressive regime today—an Orwellian world that is by choice not connected to the Internet, where displays of affection are punished, informants are rewarded, and an offhand remark can send a person to the gulag for life. She takes us deep inside the country, beyond the reach of government censors, and through meticulous and sensitive reporting we see her subjects fall in love, raise families, nurture ambitions, and struggle for survival. One by one, we witness their profound, life-altering disillusionment with the government and their realization that, rather than providing them with lives of abundance, their country has betrayed them. A fascinating and deeply personal look at the lives of six defectors from the repressive totalitarian regime of the Republic of North Korea, in which Demick, an L.A. Times staffer and former Seoul bureau chief, draws out details of daily life that would not otherwise be known to Western eyes because of the near-complete media censorship north of the arbitrary border drawn after Japan's surrender ending WWII.
Reviews
"We learn about a young man left an orphan whose father had been Party member, a pediatrician whose greatest dream was to be allowed to join the Party, a housewife with 2 young children and an abusive husband, a young woman and her "forbidden" boyfriend, a factory worker who had absolute loyalty to the regime, and several more. This book also covers the operation of the government and its regimentation over people's lives from a historical viewpoint, how this all changed (slightly for the better) during the starvation years of the 90's, and the newer changes (for the worse) under Kim Jong-un."
"Astonishing reveal of the harsh reality of life during the 1980's in North Korea under that strict propagandist regime."
"It follows a number of individuals lives while living in North Korea."
"I was completely rivited by this book!"
"While I am an author myself, I don't know the author and no one asked me to review this."
"The constant propaganda, brainwashing, fear of being turned in by a neighbor, wife or son, the limits and downright bans on their freedom of movement, freedom of speech, freedom to assemble, freedom of economy, freedom to choose their own paths, and the absolute desert of information about the outside world is a staunch warning to everyone, including we Americans, who see the seedlings of many of these bans and controls and limits and increased surveillance and the drying up of information."
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Best Ancient History

The Complete World of Greek Mythology
"A Landscape of Myths" sets the stories within the context of the mountains, caves, seas, and rivers of Greece, Crete, Troy, and the Underworld. Complemented by lavish illustrations, genealogical tables, box features, and specially commissioned drawings, this will be an essential book for anyone interested in these classic tales and in the world of the ancient Greeks. Greek lit prof Buxton (Imaginary Greece: the Contexts of Mythology) treats the subject thematically, covering Greek origin myths, the character and functions of the Olympian gods, the exploits of heroes, the Homeric epics and the sagas of the House of Atreus and other tragic clans in which there is a "seamless connection between heroic exploits and domestic catastrophes."
Reviews
"The book wasn't in the best condition when it arrived, but it is one of the better compendium of Greek Mythology out there and a great starting point for anyone interested in the field."
"Given as a gift, my granddaughter loves it."
"It is a fantastic book, cheap and delivered in time."
"Nice."
"You would not imagine what this book tells you and all the pictures to go with it so if I were you I would buy it."
"Was like new and arrived on time!"
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Best Latin American History

Mexico Profundo: Reclaiming a Civilization
Within the México profundo there exists an enormous body of accumulated knowledge, as well as successful patterns for living together and adapting to the natural world. To face the future successfully, argues Bonfil, Mexico must build on these strengths of Mesoamerican civilization, "one of the few original civilizations that humanity has created throughout all its history." This translation of a major work in Mexican anthropology argues that Mesoamerican civilization is an ongoing and undeniable force in contemporary Mexican life.
Reviews
"Instead it tells the story of two separate cultures: one, the dominant culture which rules Mexico socially, politically, and economically, and of the second culture, the Indigenous culture which lives and thrives underneath the dominant one."
"This is a powerful analysis of Mexico and the continuing esistence of the civilization encountered by the Spanish."
"Wonderful book!"
"Great book about the construcción of the Mexican identity and nationhood."
"Great information on the evolution of cultures."
"Great book for understanding the nature of a culture and the manipulations of colonialism the land is the ultimate ruler."
"Great to read and know your history."
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Best Military History

The Art Of War
Note: The chapters in the book are not in order and it is intentional. 1.
Reviews
"I want to tell future readers of this book in this way. I read it first when I was 14 or 15."
"A great short read, the laws can be applied to not only warfare, but everyday life and any problems that may arise."
"I received and read this book all in one day."
"Most popular book for those with careers in the military."
"Great job providing "The Art of War" affordably."
"There's one chapter out of order, which is certainly a mistake and weird, but not super bad."
"Eager to learn how to walk that fine line that makes the difference between winning or losing? Want to learn how to always come out on top--no fuss--no muss? Learn how to handle a situation without the situation handling you---learn how to handle a "situation" correctly."
"This paperback edition was in new shape, and easy to understand."
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Best Middle Eastern History

A Peace to End All Peace: The Fall of the Ottoman Empire and the Creation of the Modern Middle East
Published with a new afterword from the author―the classic, bestselling account of how the modern Middle East was created. “Wonderful...No book published in recent years has more lasting relevance to our understanding of the Middle East.” ― Jack Miles, Los Angeles Book Review.
Reviews
"If you have dreams of quality international politics or agreements, this book will shatter them. Finding a quality map of the late Ottoman empire and modern middle east is essential if you're going to follow the campaigns, as the map is unfortunately devoid of any maps."
"War is a never ending battle."
"This read was excellent, well researched and complete as the impact of WWI on the middle east."
"Fromkin delivers what he promises; how after the fall of the Ottoman Empire during the Great War, the modern Middle East was basically drawn in the map. He explains how the Englishmen were ignorant in Middle Eastern affairs and how the religious fervor in both continents shaped many of the events recounted in the book."
"Lot's of insight on the various politicians and characters involved in the Middle East and "the Peace"."
"This book gave me a much deeper understanding of the middle east and how we have arrived in the mess we're in."
"Fromkin has done an incredible amount of research to gather such an immense volume of detail about the political machinations of the combatants, victors and losers of the first world war and early post war period that have so materially shaped the political landscape of the Middle East."
"About half way through and I’m really appreciating learning the back stories all in one place."
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