100 books like The Next 100 Years

By George Friedman,

Here are 100 books that The Next 100 Years fans have personally recommended if you like The Next 100 Years. Shepherd is a community of 11,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Book cover of The Pioneers: The Heroic Story of the Settlers Who Brought the American Ideal West

Sam Foster Author Of Beardstown

From my list on creating civilization.

Why am I passionate about this?

Beardstown is my ancestral home. I grew up, sitting on my grandfather’s knee and listening to stories of great floods, huge winter storms, steamboat trade up and down the river, and even ancient tales of the Iroquois annihilating the Mascouten and the long-forgotten Indian mounds. It has been such a joy to be able to compile all those ancient memories into one pretty good story.

Sam's book list on creating civilization

Sam Foster Why did Sam love this book?

McCullough’s last book is about the history of pioneers in the Northwest Territory. It is the same place and period as my novel. The first tool McCullough shows pioneers using is a saw to cut lumber. The first business, my book's main character, Tom Beard knows he needs to attract and does is a lumber mill. When McCullough iterates the goods available from the first trading post the largest supply they have is of whiskey. The second business Beard attracts, and knows he must to build population is a distillery. McCullough and I are telling the same story it’s just that he’s a historian and I’m a novelist. I think the story of people's needs wants and ambitions are more interesting than a simple iteration of facts.

By David McCullough,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked The Pioneers as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

As part of the Treaty of Paris, in which Great Britain recognized the new United States of America, Britain ceded the land that comprised the immense Northwest Territory, a wilderness empire northwest of the Ohio River containing the future states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, Michigan, and Wisconsin. A Massachusetts minister named Manasseh Cutler was instrumental in opening this vast territory to veterans of the Revolutionary War and their families for settlement. Included in the Northwest Ordinance were three remarkable conditions: freedom of religion, free universal education, and most importantly, the prohibition of slavery. In 1788 the first band of pioneers…


Book cover of Centennial

Marian Jasper Author Of For All Time

From my list on catapulting history back to life.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having edited 5 newspapers in North London a few years ago, I found that my love of reading–especially historical novels–expanded to writing once my business was sold to a well-known newspaper publishing company. All history fascinates me, as is obvious from my recommendations, and even though these could be listed as fiction, they all have a great deal of fact within them. I delved into historical reading as a very young girl and progressed from the Georgette Heyer novels to my current more in-depth novelists, so my range has been quite vast and varied over the years. I truly wish I had more time to read. 

Marian's book list on catapulting history back to life

Marian Jasper Why did Marian love this book?

I read this book before I watched the TV series, and I admit that the series was not disappointing. The book reverts to prehistoric times for the origins of what was to become the town of Centennial in Colorado.

This is another story of the building of America, although from the opposite spectrum to my prior recommendation. It touches on the Indian tribes who fought long and hard to keep their land and continues on to cover all aspects of the eventual population, from trappers to cowboys and ranchers, and the hardships experienced in creating such a settlement in 1844.

I enjoy any book or TV series that shows the origins of how places or people came to be. This book certainly goes into such details and readers are pulled into the lives of several families through to relatively modern times. Mesmerising as only the expert storyteller James Michener can…

By James A. Michener,

Why should I read it?

4 authors picked Centennial as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NATIONAL BESTSELLER

Written to commemorate the Bicentennial in 1976, James A. Michener’s magnificent saga of the Westis an enthralling celebration of the frontier. Brimming with the glory of America’s past, the story of Colorado—the Centennial State—is manifested through its people: Lame Beaver, the Arapaho chieftain and warrior, and his Comanche and Pawnee enemies; Levi Zendt, fleeing with his child bride from the Amish country; the cowboy, Jim Lloyd, who falls in love with a wealthy and cultured Englishwoman, Charlotte Seccombe. In Centennial, trappers, traders, homesteaders, gold seekers, ranchers, and hunters are brought together in the dramatic conflicts that shape the…


Book cover of Conversations with God: An Uncommon Dialogue, Book 1

Weam Namou Author Of Healing Wisdom for a Wounded World: My Life-Changing Journey Through a Shamanic School

From my list on spiritual ancient teachings.

Why am I passionate about this?

Born in Baghdad and raised in America, I come from an ancient lineage of people called the Chaldeans (Neo-Babylonians who still speak Aramaic). The first book I read was Gone with the Wind, at age nine, in Arabic. We lived in Jordan at the time, awaiting a visa to the United States and Scarlett O’Hara’s land and people were my impressions of what America would look like. But Michigan in the 1980s was not Georgia in the 1860s. Still, that book proved that great storytelling transcends ethnicity, age, and gender. So in my writing and film career, I have focused on the art of storytelling as I share the stories my people, culture, and heritage. 

Weam's book list on spiritual ancient teachings

Weam Namou Why did Weam love this book?

In this book, author Neale Donald Walsch, at the lowest point of his life, picks up pen and paper one night and begins an interesting and quite intimate conversation with God.

The conversation becomes a daily routine and helps him get past his fears and challenges. Walsch asks questions I think many people, including myself, want to ask God, and God (the author’s higher consciousness) provides answers that really make you think and look at things through a different perspective.

This conversation ends up changing Walsh’s life, as well as the reader’s. 

By Neale Donald Walsch,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Conversations with God as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Conversations with God Book 1 began a series that has been changing millions of lives for more than ten years. Finally, the bestselling series is now a movie, starring Henry Czerny (The Pink Panther and Clear and Present Danger) and Ingrid Boulting (The Last Tycoon). Produced and directed by Stephen Simon (producer of Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come) and distributed by Samuel Goldwyn Films and Fox Home Entertainment, the theatrical release is set for October 27, 2006. The movie is the true account of Walsch (played by Cierny), who went from an unemployed homeless man to an…


Book cover of The Accidental Superpower: The Next Generation of American Preeminence and the Coming Global Disorder

Sam Foster Author Of Beardstown

From my list on creating civilization.

Why am I passionate about this?

Beardstown is my ancestral home. I grew up, sitting on my grandfather’s knee and listening to stories of great floods, huge winter storms, steamboat trade up and down the river, and even ancient tales of the Iroquois annihilating the Mascouten and the long-forgotten Indian mounds. It has been such a joy to be able to compile all those ancient memories into one pretty good story.

Sam's book list on creating civilization

Sam Foster Why did Sam love this book?

In Accidental Superpower, Zeihan primary thesis is “stuff is hard to move; stuff is easier to move by water than land. And then he explains that the natural wealth, not just in soil, but in the river flow allowing traffic from Pittsburgh to New Orleans and the world enabled farmers coming to the Illinois prairie to get a plow in the ground immediately, without having to spend years clearing a forest, and then get the crops down river to markets within the same year. That nowhere in the history of the world had it been so easy to develop a marketable surplus and get it to market. All very interesting facts. But I think novelizing the frontier, watch men struggle against the wilderness to create wealth with exactly these conditions is far more interesting than a mere recitation. Zeihan and I tell the same story but in very different ways.

By Peter Zeihan,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Accidental Superpower as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In THE ACCIDENTAL SUPERPOWER international strategist Peter Zeihan examines how geography, combined with demography and energy independence, is paving the way for one of the great turning points in history, and one in which America reasserts its global dominance. From a geographic standpoint, no modern country has a greater network of internal waterways, a greater command of deepwater navigation, or a firmer hold on industrialization technologies than America. Such factors have been historically significant in the success of past world powers, from the Ottoman Empire's control of the Danube, to England's mastery of the seas, to Germany's industrial infrastructure. Zeihan…


Book cover of The Source

Sam Foster Author Of Beardstown

From my list on creating civilization.

Why am I passionate about this?

Beardstown is my ancestral home. I grew up, sitting on my grandfather’s knee and listening to stories of great floods, huge winter storms, steamboat trade up and down the river, and even ancient tales of the Iroquois annihilating the Mascouten and the long-forgotten Indian mounds. It has been such a joy to be able to compile all those ancient memories into one pretty good story.

Sam's book list on creating civilization

Sam Foster Why did Sam love this book?

Michener’s fifty-year-old novel focuses on a natural spring that becomes a tell – one civilization stacked on top of another from the beginning of time. It is the spring that makes life. If it is life that creates civilization and then destroys it and then comes back to the water to create yet another. The eternal and lasting thing is the water. Michener makes a beautiful story of the civilizations that come and go and stack on top of one another. 

The town is a new civilization created, the founder believes, from wilderness. But it is not so. The spot he choose was previously occupied by indigenous natives and they took it from the natives there before them. How could I not love Michener’s story? It is the same as mine just 5,000 years earlier.

By James A. Michener,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Source as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In his signature style of grand storytelling, James A. Michener transports us back thousands of years to the Holy Land. Through the discoveries of modern archaeologists excavating the site of Tell Makor, Michener vividly re-creates life in an ancient city and traces the profound history of the Jewish people—from the persecution of the early Hebrews, the rise of Christianity, and the Crusades to the founding of Israel and the modern conflict in the Middle East. An epic tale of love, strength, and faith, The Source is a richly written saga that encompasses the history of Western civilization and the great…


Book cover of The First-Time Manager

Daniel Rusteen Author Of Profitable Properties: Airbnb Insider Secrets to Find, Optimize, Price, & Book Direct any Short-Term Rental Investment for Year-Round Occupancy

From my list on managing short-term rentals by a former Airbnb employee.

Why am I passionate about this?

Hi! I’m Danny Rusteen, and I live and breathe STRs. I’ve been hosting, co-hosting, and managing property since 2013. In 2017, I started living full-time in Airbnbs, that’s more than just a fun fact, it gives me a unique perspective that no other expert has. Maybe it’s why my calendar is full all year round. I see Airbnb as a tool for peace. I'm going to get philosophical for a moment. Airbnb creates connections that never otherwise would have existed. Instead of letting the TV tell you what country X thinks of country Y, it's better to find out from real people: hosts and the locals you interact with.

Daniel's book list on managing short-term rentals by a former Airbnb employee

Daniel Rusteen Why did Daniel love this book?

While this one is not about short term rentals or Airbnb, it does teach you a lot about managing, which you WILL have to, whether you like it or not.

This is a manual on how to be effective in your first management position and navigate the corporate environment, including politics.

By Jim McCormick,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The First-Time Manager as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

MORE THAN 500,000 COPIES SOLD!

The trusted management classic and go-to guide for anyone facing new responsibilities as a first-time manager.

Learn to conquer every challenge like a seasoned pro with the clear, candid advice in The First-Time Manager. For nearly four decades, this expert guide has brought newcomers up to speed on the realities of managing people.

The updated seventh edition delivers new information that helps you manage across generations, use online performance appraisal tools, persuade with stories, oversee remote employees, build a team dynamic, match a boss's style, and more.

The jump from star employee to new manager…


Book cover of External Powers and the Gulf Monarchies

Birol Baskan Author Of Turkey and Qatar in the Tangled Geopolitics of the Middle East

From my list on the Persian/Arabian Gulf international politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

The events/developments that unsettle international politics of the Gulf are two kinds: internal and external to the region. Yet, no matter whether it is internal or external, its consequences concern us all, no matter where we live in. What happens in the Gulf does not stay in the Gulf. It unleashes ripple effects that reach directly or indirectly into our pockets and hence our lives. I am one of them and a non-resident scholar in the Middle East Institute, broadly speaking, writing on Turkey, the Persian/Arab Gulf, and the Middle East. 

Birol's book list on the Persian/Arabian Gulf international politics

Birol Baskan Why did Birol love this book?

Besides the US and Iran there are others: especially China as an alternative hegemon/gendarmerie to the US, Russia as a partner in OPEC+, India, South Korea, Japan as major consumers of Gulf oil and natural gas, Egypt and Turkey as potential regional strategic allies, UK and France as old imperial centers and new destinations for Gulf capital, and Brazil as a giant economic power. This edited volume covers it all and as such is an indispensable read for a comprehensive look at the external powers that matter, and will matter, in international politics of the Gulf.

By Jonathan Fulton (editor), Li-Chen Sim (editor),

Why should I read it?

1 author picked External Powers and the Gulf Monarchies as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The Gulf monarchies have been generally perceived as status quo actors reliant on the USA for their security, but in response to regional events, particularly the Arab Spring of 2011, they are pursuing more activist foreign policies, which has allowed other international powers to play a larger role in regional affairs.

This book analyses the changing dynamic in this region, with expert contributors providing original empirical case studies that examine the relations between the Gulf monarchies and extra-regional powers, including the USA, Russia, China, India, Brazil, Turkey, Japan, South Korea, France, and the United Kingdom. At the theoretical level, these…


Book cover of Making Diplomacy Work: Intelligent Innovation for the Modern World

Teresa Fava Thomas Author Of American Arabists in the Cold War Middle East, 1946–75: From Orientalism to Professionalism

From my list on Americans living and working in the Middle East.

Why am I passionate about this?

Teresa Fava Thomas, Ph.D. is a professor of history at Fitchburg State University and author of American Arabists in the Cold War Middle East, 1946-75: From Orientalism to Professionalism for Anthem Press. I became interested in people who became area experts for the US State Department and how their study of hard languages like Arabic shaped their interactions with people in the region.

Teresa's book list on Americans living and working in the Middle East

Teresa Fava Thomas Why did Teresa love this book?

An experienced diplomat offers a good overview of how the past diplomatic history of the US since 1945 informs the present. Explains the major theoretical perspectives on modern diplomacy and fundamentals of practice. An informative read which presents a broad on how American diplomacy can be better shaped to function more effectively in the future.

By Paul Webster Hare,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Making Diplomacy Work as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Making Diplomacy Work: Intelligent Innovation for the Modern World is a critical and comprehensive survey of how diplomacy works. While most discussions of diplomatic reform stop short of proposing concrete ideas to make diplomacy work better, this text suggests doable initiatives that could make diplomacy more versatile, more attuned to modern realities, and more capable of confronting the shared problems that no state can solve on its own. It takes a fresh look at the practice of diplomacy, sets its achievements and failures in a contemporary context, and analyzes the major factors that have changed the way it is conducted.…


Book cover of Liberal Internationalism: Theory, History, Practice

Dillon S. Tatum Author Of Liberalism and Transformation: The Global Politics of Violence and Intervention

From my list on liberalism and politics.

Why am I passionate about this?

Dillon Stone Tatum is an Assistant Professor of Political Science at Francis Marion University. His research interests are on the history, development, and politics of liberal internationalism, international political theory, and critical security studies.

Dillon's book list on liberalism and politics

Dillon S. Tatum Why did Dillon love this book?

Beate Jahn’s Liberal Internationalism is an exciting blend of analysis of the liberal tradition of political thought, while also providing an “immanent critique” of liberalism’s global contradictions—both historically, and in contemporary constellations. Jahn’s book represents, to me at least, the “sweet-spot” between carefully considered analysis, concept-building, and ethical reflection.

By Beate Jahn,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Liberal Internationalism as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This study provides an original conception of liberalism that accounts for its internal contradictions and explains the current crisis of liberal internationalism. Examining the disjuncture between liberal theory and practice, it offers a firmer grasp on the historical role of liberalism in world politics.


Book cover of The False Promise of Liberal Order: Nostalgia, Delusion and the Rise of Trump

Philip Cunliffe Author Of The New Twenty Years’ Crisis 1919-2019: A Critique of International Relations

From my list on liberal international order in the 21st century.

Why am I passionate about this?

Having come of age at the End of History in the late 1990s, it seemed to me back then that the only big political questions left were international ones. Everything in domestic politics appeared to be settled. As I pursued this interest through my scholarly work as an academic, I came to understand how questions of international and domestic order were intertwined – and that one could not be understood without the other. As we’re now living through the end of the End of History, unsurprisingly we’re seeing tremendous strain on political systems at both the national and international level. These books will provide, I hope, some signposts as to what comes next.  

Philip's book list on liberal international order in the 21st century

Philip Cunliffe Why did Philip love this book?

Despite having been maligned for so long in the British academy, in this book Porter shows the continuing vitality of the intellectual tradition of classical realism for understanding power politics today. He gratifyingly sweeps away the dewy-eyed nostalgia for the so-called ‘rules-based order’ that supposedly crumbled on Trump’s election to the White House in 2016. In addition to usefully reminding us of all the hypocrisy bound up with liberal internationalism, Porter also forces us to reckon with the core question of all politics – how far power is needed to underpin political order. Although I demur from some of his conclusions, Porter scrapes the tablet clean, offering the possibility of a more forthright and meaningful debate. 

By Patrick Porter,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The False Promise of Liberal Order as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In an age of demagogues, hostile great powers and trade wars, foreign policy traditionalists dream of restoring liberal international order. This order, they claim, ushered in seventy years of peace and prosperity and saw post-war America domesticate the world to its values.

The False Promise of Liberal Order exposes the flaws in this nostalgic vision. The world shaped by America came about as a result of coercion and, sometimes brutal, compromise. Liberal projects - to spread capitalist democracy - led inadvertently to illiberal results. To make peace, America made bargains with authoritarian forces. Even in the Pax Americana, the gentlest…


5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in international relations, colonialism, and presidential biography?

11,000+ authors have recommended their favorite books and what they love about them. Browse their picks for the best books about international relations, colonialism, and presidential biography.

International Relations Explore 267 books about international relations
Colonialism Explore 98 books about colonialism
Presidential Biography Explore 19 books about presidential biography