Like most of Allende’s works, The House of the Spirits incorporates elements of magical realism throughout the story. Reading a book allows you to visit somewhere new, transporting you to the past, an imagined future, and entirely new worlds. Jamila was the first novel published by Kyrgystan’s most famous author, Chingiz Aymatov. Yale historian Valerie Hansen, author of The Silk Road: A New History, introduces us to its rich history: “one of the reasons the Silk Road is a misnomer is that silk was not the main good moving along.”. Democracy in America — Alexis de Tocqueville. Through My Luck, Chris Abani weaves together the brutality of war and the haunting beauty of humanity. Tara Sullivan’s The Bitter Side of Sweet recounts the experiences of Amadou and Seydou, brothers forced into slavery on a cacao plantation in present-day Ivory Coast. His actions would lead to what was later called ‘the Reformation’ — a grisly period in European history that nonetheless paved the way for a more tolerant and pluralistic society. Given the complexity of Yugoslavia's recent history, you would be forgiven for feeling that a concise version was impossible, but Benson's excellent book, which includes events as recent as Milosevic's arrest in mid-2001, clears away some of the old historiographical cobwebs and provides an excellent introduction to the country's past. One of the great military historians of our time, Sir Hew Strachan, talks us through what makes a great military history. With this list, you can tour the entire world—without ever leaving home. 1.3 Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation by John Hope Franklin and Loren Schweninger. Here, British journalist and critic Peter Stothard, author of The Last Assassin, chooses five books to help you understand both the man and what motivated him and some of the people who have been inspired by him in the 2,000 years since he died. Sit back, get comfortable, and read your way through our list of books set in 150 countries around the world. Every year the Wolfson History Prize seeks out books that combine careful research with good writing, aimed at the general reader. Girls of Riyadh is a coming-of-age story set in present-day Saudi Arabia. Here, historian Lloyd Llewellyn-Jones explains why that needs correcting, looks at its cultural achievements and discusses why the first Persian empire is worth studying in its own right and on its own terms. The hero of Amos Oz’s Panther in the Basement is a twelve-year-old boy named Proffy living in Jerusalem in the days preceding the Battle for Jerusalem and the Jerusalem riots in 1947. Unbeknownst to his wife and superiors, however, he also has a plan of his own. The tale of a young man caught in a generations-old blood feud is written in a simple but evocative style. As Confucianism makes a comeback in China, Daniel A. Ireland: Thomas Bartlett, Ireland: A History. Stieg Larsson’s international sensation, The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is a psychological thriller centered on the disappearance of the grandniece of a wealthy businessman. Princeton Professor Imani Perry—a prolific scholar of African American Studies whose biography of Lorraine Hansberry, Looking For Lorraine, won the 2019 PEN Biography Prize—recommends five books she considers essential to an understanding of the history of black life in America. Mario Vargas Llosa’s murder mystery is a thought-provoking look at life in an increasingly corrupt society. An accusation of heresy and a series of murders in an Italian abbey lead Brother William of Baskerville through a complex investigation of coded manuscripts, secret messages, and semiotics to solve the mystery at the heart of the abbey. The United States: Louis Hartz, The Liberal Tradition in America. The best books are set in locations that are so vivid they feel like another character in the story. The Circle of Karma is the very first novel written in English by a woman from Bhutan and offers a clear glimpse of the country through a native’s eyes. Hunger by Nobel Prize-winning author Knut Hamsun is the disturbing story of a struggling artist caught in the throes of hunger and starvation. In desperation, his mother calls his grandfather to talk some sense into Aref. Cyprus was a Venetian colony during the beginning of Shakespeare’s lifetime and throughout Othello. Set in late 19th-century Nigeria, Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe is a fictionalized account of the colonization of Africa by European nations seen through the experiences of an Igbo warrior struggling to maintain his traditions and culture in the midst of British colonization. The main character, Njoroge is the first member of his family to attend school. Here he guides us through five of the most authoritative—and imaginative—accounts of the artist. One of the greatest works of Brazilian literature, The Devil to Pay in the Backlands is the story of Riobaldo, a former bandit at the turn of the 20th century. The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo and its sequels have won multiple awards and been adapted to highly successful Swedish films. Revolutionary activity continued in Europe and Latin America with varying degrees of success right through to 1848. The novel’s titular character is a femme fatal that is said to rule the Venezuelan countryside wit a combination of seduction and witchcraft. Many books are written by a local author who knows the back streets and unspoken history of a place. Ernest Hemingway’s Pulitzer Prize-winning The Old Man and the Sea opens with an old Cuban fisherman desperate to break an unlucky streak after over 80 days without catching any fish. When Hajji Ahmed’s eighth daughter is born, he is determined to make her a son instead so that she can inherit after he dies. The battle of Waterloo in 1815 did not bring things to a close. Please add books you loved from (or about) countries not already on the list. Long before the Europeans arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries, sub-Saharan West Africa saw the emergence of a series of African empires that lasted for centuries and stretched over vast swathes of the continent. The narrator of Abdulrazak Gurnah’s Desertion, a boy named Rashid, tells his family’s story in Zanzibar during the transition to independence from colonialism. The 1957 film adaptation of the novel won the Academy Award for Best Picture that same year. Although The Bleeding of the Stone was originally published in 1990, it took until 2002 for an English translation to become available. Here, historian William A. Pettigrew recommends five books to help understand the slave trade, how it was established, why it flourished and why it was eventually abolished. Joshua Hammer’s book details one librarian’s brave plot to sneak the priceless manuscripts to safety. There she stumbles upon a pristine Japanese garden and its reclusive owner. The Old English epic poem Beowulf takes place in what is now Denmark and parts of Sweden. Will is a really beautiful writer but his works can get a bit long and dense with each book between 600 and 1,200 pages. She remembers the things she has done and sacrificed for her family’s honor, struggling under the cultural expectations of children’s responsibility to their parents. Andrew Bayliss, Senior Lecturer in Greek History at the University of Birmingham and author of an excellent, short book on The Spartans, talks us through what we know about the heroes of Thermopylae, including the darker sides of their culture and society. Thanks for your question. The popular military historian Antony Beevor recommends some of his own favourite books about the Second World War. The story alternates between Rashid’s childhood and his adulthood 50 years later, providing a glimpse of personal and national changes over half a century. In the 17th and 18th century millions of Africans were shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas as slaves. The French author and journalist Albert Camus was born in French Algeria at the turn of the 20th century. Jane Austen’s classic novel is one of the most widely read books in English worldwide. The story is full of both action, as the fisherman struggles for days to reel in a giant marlin, and emotion, as the fisherman’s neighbors and friends react to his situation. In By Night the Mountain Burns, Juan Tomás Ávila Laurel present colorful and lyrical memories of his childhood in Equatorial Guinea. He went on to create the largest land empire the world has ever known, but was more than just a bloodthirsty conqueror. It’s no longer enough for military history to be just about battles told from the the winning side. Before Shadows of Forgotten Ancestors was an award-winning film, it was a book by Mykhailo Kotsiubynsky. The novel follows American tourists on the Burma Road from China to Myanmar as one misunderstanding after another leads to a humorous mix-up with a village of Kayin people in rural Burma. J.G. In his desire to understand everything, Faust makes a deal with Mephistopheles: Faust’s soul for the devil’s power. When an unnamed visitor from the city arrives at Riobaldo’s ranch, Riobaldo relates the adventures, loves, and tragedies of his long and action-packed life. 1.1 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles C. Mann. After she signs up for a beekeeping apprenticeship, she makes friends with a mismatched group of her new neighbors. Whether you are looking to revisit a favorite country or learn about someplace new, our list of the most iconic books set in 150 countries has something for everyone. Mr. Biswas, who suffers one setback after another, sets a goal to own his own house. Bohumil Hrabal’s novel is both ambitious in scope and intricately drawn: the small details and day-to-day experiences give the story a personal feel even as the characters face the overwhelming changes brought on by war and occupation. Azul… is a collection of poems and stories by Rubén Darío compiled in one volume for a new generation of readers to discover. It is a deliberate act of literary homage to Tolstoy as one can see in the title. Ulysses by James Joyce is considered one of the premier classics of modern English literature. The Three Musketeers is a historical adventure novel about a young man who travels to Paris to join the Musketeers of the Guard. As the title suggests, 1776 focuses on the events surrounding the … Naipaul is a story based partly on the author’s father. The Iraqi democracy and civil rights campaigner says the Iran-Iraq war is one of the single largest unappreciated great events of modern Middle Eastern history. When he finds himself without the money he needs to bribe embassy officials, Alvarez comes up with a dangerous scheme to rob a gold buyer in the vein of the thanks to his obsession with American crime dramas. Carolina De Robertís’s multigenerational tale of a family of strong-willed women begins in the Uruguayan countryside at the turn of the 20th Century. Every time you read it, you notice new things.”. An analysis of the early days of American politics following the signing of the Declaration of Independence from a Frenchman's standpoint. The Bleeding of the Stone by Ibrahim al-Koni is a beautiful portrayal of the Libyan desert and the traditional life of the Bedouin tribes. He came from humble beginnings and never went to high school. Reading the hieroglyphs of ancient Egypt reveals much about the worldview of a civilisation that rose to prominence 5000 years ago and flourished for thousands of years. The Bridge on the Drina chronicles the troubled history of the former Yugoslavia through the story of a strategically important bridge over the Drina River on the border between present-day Bosnia and Serbia. Harrer’s intricate descriptions of Tibetan culture and customs have introduced millions of readers to the isolated country in the mountains between India and China. Yes, I included not one, but two books published by the incredibly skilled author David McCullough, that as always is able to write historical nonfiction that reads like a novel. National wealth soared and disparities between rich and poor exploded. The Vegetarian won both the Man Booker International Prize and the Man Asian Literary Prize after its publication and subsequent translations. Through a series of coincidences, d’Artagnan joins forces with three famous musketeers to foil an assassination plot against the Duke of Buckingham. When Kumalo finally tracks down Absalom, he discovers Absalom has been in trouble and is accused of murder. Through the madcap adventures of the often-delusional protagonist, Cervantes provided commentary on the role and form of contemporary literature. Tom Holland, the author of Rubicon, tells us about the exercise of power, the staging of ceremony and the influence of religion in ancient Rome. Or de Tocqueville? The Matriarch by Witi Ihimaera tells the story of a man searching to untangle truth from legend surrounding his powerful grandmother, the matriarch. The stories are set on a fictional island of Tiko, a tiny island in the South Pacific analogous with Epeli Hau’ofa’s home country of Tonga. It serves as a beautiful introduction to the culture and traditions of Chad, complete with folk tales and national pride. Has a screw loose? The three novels follow one Finnish family through both World Wars and the Finnish Civil War in 1918. Pynter Bender, a novel by Jacob Ross, follows a young field worker in Grenada whose eyesight is miraculously healed. Weep Not, Child by Ngūgī wa Thiong’o was the first novel to be written in English by an East African author. Give these must-read history books a try and take a break from current events. I won’t say it has something for everyone but it has, for its sheer blend of different approaches, a great deal for a great number of people. Travels in Blood and Honey is part travel memoir, part recipe book, and part love letter to present-day Kosovo. Too often it is given merely a villainous walk-on part in the heroic history of classical Greece. Mann’s 2005 work, 1491, is one the most influential books I’ve ever read. Historian Felipe Fernández-Armesto introduces us to some of the trailblazing books in the field, starting in the 2nd century BCE. Although the novel takes place in multiple locations throughout Europe, the thrilling final battle occurs outside the Count’s castle in Romania. Get ready to travel someplace new without even putting on your shoes. The complexity of characterization is one reason This Earth of Mankind works so well. The book includes authentic recipes and comical stories of her adventures both in the United States and among the Bedouin tribes in Jordan. When Santos Luzardo arrives in Apure to sell his family’s property, he must contend with Doña Bárbara in order to regain control of the land. The story follows the main character through his education at a Dutch school and his interaction with the concubine and daughter of a Dutch man. Pride and Prejudice follows the life of Elizabeth Bennet and her family as they welcome a new, eligible bachelor to the neighborhood. Anne Frank’s remarkable diary, discovered in the attic where she hid from the Nazi Gestapo for the last years of her life, offers a personal look into the tragedies and experiences of Jewish families in Holland during the Nazi occupation through the eyes of a young girl as she lived it. 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created (2011), by Charles C Mann. The Ten Best History Books of 2020 Our favorite titles of the year resurrect forgotten histories and help explain how the country got to where it is today Radetsky March by Joseph Roth paints a dynamic picture of the fall of the Austro-Hungarian Empire through the experiences of a family with close ties to the emperor. Black activists today are building upon the legacy of African American women who have been using every open avenue to seek social justice for centuries. Season of Migration to the North by Tayeb Salih is considered one of the most important Arab novels of the 20th Century. Dominican-American author Junot Díaz’s novel follows the lives of a Dominican family living in New Jersey and the Dominican Republic. Alexander Dumas is one of the most widely read French authors worldwide. University of Michigan Professor Melissa Borja recommends five books that illuminate the understudied history of Asian Americans, explain the connection to empire and shine a spotlight on this “coalitional identity.”. We also have book recommendations on early modern history and contemporary history (history of the present). A Pulitzer Prize winning book detailing the civil rights movement in the United States. This site has an archive of more than one thousand interviews, or five thousand book recommendations. War and Peace has been adapted to film and stage numerous times in multiple languages and is considered one of the great classics of 19th-century literature. The novel documents the life of native peoples in Latin America at the turn of the 20th Century. War and Peace is one of Leo Tolstoy’s most famous works. This opposition fuels the story’s conflict and gives the novel its name. The Crystal Boys was recently adapted to a popular TV miniseries in Taiwan. He picks the best books on the ups and downs and Shakespearean-style plot twists that were the life of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th president of the United States. We publish at least two new interviews per week. But, says historian Norman Davies, there’s as much to learn, if not more, from looking at states that have disappeared. The history professor tells us why it’s less interesting to argue about whether the Empire was a force for good or ill, than to understand how it worked and why it fell apart. The unconventional narrator allows Nganang to portray the vibrant sights and sounds of the city in a lighthearted and often comical way. The book is full of her experiences seen through the eyes of three fictional girls. He was born Temüjin and was afraid of dogs as a child. One brother flees to the United States. Though he left more self-portraits to posterity than practically any Old Master, there remains an air of mystery around Rembrandt the man—even on the 350th anniversary of his death. The titular character, Oscar Wao, struggles to find a place in either Dominican or American society. When a new girl arrives at the plantation, the brothers muster up the courage to try one more escape. The title is an intentional reference to Odysseus as many aspects of the novel mirror parts of The Odyssey. Pynter’s view of the world is shaped by the aunts and female cousins who raise him. In The Bomber Mafia, the bestselling author of Talking to Strangers and host of the podcast Revisionist History explores how technology and best intentions collide in a riveting tale of persistence, innovation, and the incalculable wages of war. When the boy’s mother dies, he and his siblings must work together to eke out a living on their own. Like many war veterans, Stefan Hertman’s grandfather was forever changed by his experiences at war. 1.4 The Story of American Freedom by Eric Foner. The Sea and Civilization: A Maritime History of the World by Lincoln Paine. The first of Wilson Harris’s Guyana Quartet, Palace of the Peacock follows a diverse group of men traveling through the jungles of Guyana. Through the course of the novel, Mustafa reveals his colorful history to the narrator. 3,041 books based on 3348 votes: John Adams by David McCullough, The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich: A History of Nazi Germany by William L. Shirer, 17... Home My Books Cry, the Beloved Country is a story about a father and about the racial divides that separated South Africa in the 1940s. History books make me do that. Historian Andrew Roberts, author of a bestselling biography of Napoleon, introduces us to the books that shaped how he sees l’Empereur—including little-known sources from those who knew Napoleon personally. The refreshing voice of the narrator running throughout the story paints a multi-faceted picture of modern life in Angola. The novel is at times tender and other times humorous as it portrays the teachers’ attempts to educate their pupils and the girls’ best efforts to get out of lessons. Required reading for anyone wanting to know more about Armenia, Passage to Ararat takes a closer look at the country’s history through the stories of its people. In the early 1960s, a young man born in the Mongolian high country returned from Germany to lead his people back to their home. He doesn’t just talk about them in the Persian Wars, he actually introduces us to the Spartans and tells us about their practices, the different ways their society works and its historical origins. Farrell uses a heavy dose of satire to describe Singapore during World War II in The Singapore Grip. The Price family arrives on the shores of Africa woefully unprepared for the physical and political climate in 1959—one year before the Congolese would earn independence from Belgium. Below you’ll find a curated list of well-written, easy to read history books. Yale historian Odd Arne Westad recommends the best books on China, Korea and the relationship between them. Check our our ultimate Grammarly review. (Coursera is a mega popular e-learning platform. Tales of the Tikongs is a collection of satirical short stories focusing on the missteps of islanders and developers alike. 11. The complex plot features over 100 historical characters and gave rise to many of China’s most popular proverbs. The novel is broken into three sections, each of which shines light on another result of Yeong-hye’s decision. Weep Not Child is set against the backdrop of the Mau Mau Uprising in Kenya in the late 1950s. While researching Maoism, China expert Julia Lovell battled against two incorrect assumptions: “firstly that Maoism is a story of China; and secondly that Maoism is a story of the past.” Here she recommends five books for coming to grips with the global, still-relevant impact of Maoism. Nobel Prize-winning author Imre Kertész wrote Fatelessness, a semi-autobiographical account of a Hungarian Jew’s imprisonment in the Auschwitz and Buchenwald concentration camps during World War II. His conquests stretched across vast swathes of Europe, but he probably didn’t set out to become an emperor. The Murder of Caesar and Political Assassination, American Caesar: Douglas MacArthur 1880-1964, Imperial Projections in Modern Popular Culture, Mengzi: With Selections from Traditional Commentaries, The Li Chi or Book of Rites, Part II of II (Forgotten Books), The Divine Comedy: Inferno, Purgatorio, Paradiso, Art and Illusion: A Study in the Psychology of Pictorial Representation, Leonardo da Vinci: i documenti e le testimonianze contemporanee, The Nation of the Risorgimento: Kinship, Sanctity and Honour in the Origins of Unified Italy, The Antiquity of the Italian Nation: The Cultural Origins of Political Myth in Modern Italy, Risorgimento in Exile: Italian Emigrés and the Liberal International in the Post-Napoleonic Era, Monarchie et Identité Nationale en Italie (1861-1900), Churchill and the Islamic World: Orientalism, Empire and Diplomacy in the Middle East, In Command of History: Churchill Fighting and Writing the Second World War, Rembrandt's Universe: His Art, His Life, His World, Rembrandt: the Complete Drawings & Etchings, Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae, “It is an endlessly capacious, inventive, stimulating book.
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