The most recommended social history books

Who picked these books? Meet our 68 experts.

68 authors created a book list connected to social history, and here are their favorite social history books.
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Book cover of Rehearsals for Living

J. Moufawad-Paul Author Of Politics in Command: A Taxonomy of Economism

From J.'s 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Philosopher Activist

J.'s 3 favorite reads in 2023

J. Moufawad-Paul Why did J. love this book?

“Eventually, if we are lucky, we will release this work from the past, through the present and into the future, as a record of how we thought and interacted at one point in time.” I love dialogical work formed through a conversation by two or more authors. Comprised of letters between Maynard and Simpson during the COVID lockdown, Rehearsals For Living thinks the violence of settler/racial capitalism and the struggles of Black and Indigenous subjects in the immediacy of the pandemic.

One reason I enjoyed it was that it echoed a dialogical project I was part of at the time and echoed a lot of the themes, but the framing was different, particularly the intimate friendship that is evoked by the text.

By Robyn Maynard, Leanne Betasamosake Simpson,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rehearsals for Living as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

A revolutionary collaboration about the world we're living in now, between two of our most important contemporary thinkers, writers and activists.

When much of the world entered pandemic lockdown in spring 2020, Robyn Maynard, influential author of Policing Black Lives, and Leanne Betasamosake Simpson, award-winning author of several books, including the recent novel Noopiming, began writing each other letters-a gesture sparked by friendship and solidarity, and by a desire for kinship and connection in a world shattering under the intersecting crises of pandemic, police killings, and climate catastrophe. Their letters soon grew into a powerful exchange on the subject of…


Book cover of The Samurai: A Military History

Thomas Lockley Author Of African Samurai: The True Story of Yasuke, a Legendary Black Warrior in Feudal Japan

From my list on Japan’s global history.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first came to Japan knowing nothing about the place I was going to live. With hindsight, that was perhaps foolish, but it started my adventure in Japanese history. At first, I stumbled through blindly, reading the odd book and watching dramas and movies for fun. But then I discovered Yasuke, an African who became samurai in 1581. He focused me, and I started reading to discover his world. History means nothing without knowing what came before and after, so I read more, and more, until suddenly, I was publishing books and articles, and appearing on Japanese TV. It has gone well beyond the African Samurai now, but I am eternally grateful to him for his guidance.

Thomas' book list on Japan’s global history

Thomas Lockley Why did Thomas love this book?

I would recommend anything by Stephen Turnbull, but I can only choose one, so I chose this. It is a blow-by-blow account of ‘The Age of the Country at War,’ Japan’s long 16th century, which ended with the unification of the country under the rule of Tokugawa Ieyasu. A key era in Japanese history, and there is still no other book in English to match it.

By Stephen Turnbull,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

First published in 1977, The Samurai has long since become a standard work of reference. It continues to be the most authoritative work on samurai life and warfare published outside Japan. Set against the background of Japan's social and political history, the book records the rise and rise of Japan's extraordinary warrior class from earliest times to the culmination of their culture, prowess and skills as manifested in the last great battle they were ever to fight - that of Osaka Castle in 1615.


Book cover of A Narrow Street

Anne De Courcy Author Of Magnificent Rebel: Nancy Cunard in Jazz Age Paris

From my list on the social history of the inter-war years.

Why am I passionate about this?

Social history has always been my passion: unless you know how people thought, felt and lived, even down to how they dressed and ate, it is often impossible to understand why they acted as they did. And no period is as fascinating to me as the inter-war years; after WW1, the greatest conflict the world had ever seen, the upcoming generations determined to break barriers, discard the last vestiges of what they saw as hidebound custom, to invent new, freer ways of writing, painting, dancing - and to have fun. And for most of this post-war generation, there was nowhere like Paris.

Anne's book list on the social history of the inter-war years

Anne De Courcy Why did Anne love this book?

A fascinatingly evocative study of one small quarter of Paris in the Twenties.

Elliot Paul, an American journalist, an intimate of the ‘Lost Generation' first walked into rue de la Huchette in the summer of 1923. "There," he wrote, "I found Paris." This atmospheric study of the life in a cramped street brings to life a cast of characters so vividly that you feel you are living among them.  

By Elliot Paul,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked A Narrow Street as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Elliot Paul first went to France during the first World War where he served as a sergeant in the AEF. It was at the end of the war that he began the long residence in Paris in which he tells in A Narrow Street.


Book cover of The Nutmeg's Curse: Parables for a Planet in Crisis

Liz Conor Author Of Skin Deep: Settler Impressions of Aboriginal Women

From my list on climate change and race.

Why am I passionate about this?

I became a climate activist and later a researcher after my sister and her family lost their home in the Black Saturday fires of 2009 in Victoria. Their bravery and survival is a daily reminder for me, that climate change is upon us, and we are fighting for our lives as well as our children and future generations. Because my research has been focused on colonialism and race their story has opened many questions for me around the history of colonialism and whether it was coal-fired. I’m thinking about what it means for settlers to lose their homes on stolen land, and whether this recognition could prompt us to rethink land ownership, custodianship, and coexistence.

Liz's book list on climate change and race

Liz Conor Why did Liz love this book?

Taking the exploitation of the Nutmeg as a parable for the logic of extraction that precipitated our current planetary crisis, Ghosh’s book draws the direct historical connections that have upended so many worlds and now threatens to do the same to us all.

Climate change becomes the present manifestation of Western colonialism, with its deeply entrenched antipathy to vitalism, animism, and all the living entities that make up this precious home, Earth. Ghosh explains how our very survival depends now on the respect for and inspiration of Indigenous knowledge of ecologies.

His writing is pure with moral clarity and urgency, and the scholarship is wide-ranging and erudite. An exquisite and indispensable book for these frightening times.

By Amitav Ghosh,

Why should I read it?

3 authors picked The Nutmeg's Curse as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In this ambitious successor to The Great Derangement, acclaimed writer Amitav Ghosh finds the origins of our contemporary climate crisis in Western colonialism's violent exploitation of human life and the natural environment.

A powerful work of history, essay, testimony, and polemic, Amitav Ghosh's new book traces our contemporary planetary crisis back to the discovery of the New World and the sea route to the Indian Ocean. The Nutmeg's Curse argues that the dynamics of climate change today are rooted in a centuries-old geopolitical order constructed by Western colonialism. At the center of Ghosh's narrative is the now-ubiquitous spice nutmeg. The…


Book cover of Invincible Microbe: Tuberculosis and the Never-Ending Search for a Cure

Marsha Hayles Author Of Breathing Room

From my list on when illness touches a young person's life.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am an author fortunate to be alive because of emergency medical treatments I received as an infant, treatments not available to one of my older sisters who died as a result. That I grew up in Rochester Minnesota—home to the world-famous Mayo Clinic where my father worked as a pediatric endocrinologist—also may have increased my awareness of how illness and its medical treatments can affect a young person’s life. 

Marsha's book list on when illness touches a young person's life

Marsha Hayles Why did Marsha love this book?

This nonfiction book on tuberculosis, published the same year as my book, begins with the discovery of a skull marked by the scars of tuberculosis. Turns out it belonged to a young man who died over 500,000 years ago from the disease. The authors trace the devastating effects of tuberculosis to modern day when our drugs can no longer fully guarantee treatment. This book tells a fascinating, yet worrisome, story about a most dreaded disease.

By Jim Murphy, Alison Blank,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Invincible Microbe as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it. This book is for kids age 10, 11, and 12.

What is this book about?

"Who knew the biography of a germ could be so fascinating?”—Kirkus (starred review)

This is the story of a killer that has been striking people down for thousands of years: tuberculosis. After centuries of ineffective treatments, the microorganism that causes TB was identified and the cure was thought to be within reach—but drug-resistant varieties continue to plague and panic the human race.

The "biography" of this deadly germ and the social history of an illness that could strike anywhere are woven together in an engrossing, carefully researched narrative. Includes a bibliography, source notes, and index.

This medical detective story is…


Book cover of Upheaval

Sergei Guriev Author Of Spin Dictators: The Changing Face of Tyranny in the 21st Century

From my list on why countries succeed and why they fail.

Why am I passionate about this?

What are some countries rich and others are poor? I strongly believe that this is the most important question for modern economics. I've become an economist to understand this. I am happy that in recent decades economists – working closely together with other social scientists – have made so much progress in this field. And this is not abstract knowledge – it is being applied already to help developing countries catch up with the rich world. I have seen it myself when I took a leave from academia to work as a Chief Economist of a development bank (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) – to learn more from and to contribute to this work.

Sergei's book list on why countries succeed and why they fail

Sergei Guriev Why did Sergei love this book?

This is a fascinating in-depth account of several case studies of countries that faced a crisis and had to reinvent themselves: Australia, Chile, Finland, Germany, Indonesia, Japan, and the US (I am not mentioning the exact time points to avoid spoilers).

The author puts together a general framework to evaluate the factors that contribute to successful or failing transformations.

For me, as a Russian, this is a very practical guidebook – how should we rebuild Russia after Putin, how should Russia re-emerge as a peaceful and free country; how can we make sure that Russia will never again be what it is now. The book provides many insights on this but, unfortunately, also suggests that success is not guaranteed.

By Jared Diamond,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?


A "riveting and illuminating" Bill Gates Summer Reading pick about how and why some nations recover from trauma and others don't (Yuval Noah Harari), by the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of the landmark bestseller Guns, Germs, and Steel.

In his international bestsellers Guns, Germs and Steel and Collapse, Jared Diamond transformed our understanding of what makes civilizations rise and fall. Now, in his third book in this monumental trilogy, he reveals how successful nations recover from crises while adopting selective changes -- a coping mechanism more commonly associated with individuals recovering from personal crises.

Diamond compares how six countries have survived…


Book cover of The Third Wave: The Classic Study of Tomorrow

David J. Agans Author Of Debugging: The 9 Indispensable Rules for Finding Even the Most Elusive Software and Hardware Problems

From my list on to give engineers new perspectives.

Why am I passionate about this?

I am fascinated by the big picture—never mind what street corner I’m on, where am I on the map of the world? In fact, where am I in the plane of the solar system? (Gazing at the setting moon, I’ve worked this out!) As an engineering manager, I helped engineers debug systems with diverse technology, and found (and wrote about) principles that apply as much today as they did in 1975, using examples drawn from 30 years of my life and career. I developed a love for other timeless, classic books that helped me see the forest beyond the trees.

David's book list on to give engineers new perspectives

David J. Agans Why did David love this book?

I like to look at the big picture. This book’s picture is huge: it explains three waves of human civilization, from agriculture and land ownership, to centralization and mass manufacturing, to distributed and custom everything—the wave we are in now. It was originally published in 1980 and predicted our current culture and technology with astonishing accuracy. I, and many entrepreneurs of the time, tried to use those predictions to guide our businesses, and many, like Amazon, succeeded as a result. Are there still more third wave things to invent? Yes—think of how streaming video channels are just now taking over from cable and broadcast, not to mention movie theatres. Will this help you invent the next big thing? Maybe. And what will the fourth wave be?

By Alvin Toffler,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

From the author of Future Shock, a striking way out of today’s despair . . . a bracing, optimistic look at our new potentials.

The Third Wave makes startling sense of the violent changes now battering our world. Its sweeping synthesis casts fresh light on our new forms of marriage and family, on today's dramatic changes in business and economics. It explains the role of cults, the new definitions of work, play, love, and success. It points toward new forms of twenty-first-century democracy.

Praise for The Third Wave
 
“Magnificent . . . an astonishing array of information.”—The Washington Post
 
“Imperishably…


Book cover of Old Times: A Picture of Social Life at the End of the Eighteenth Century, Collected and Illustrated from the Satirical and Other Sketches of the Day

John Mosier Author Of Verdun: The Lost History of the Most Important Battle of World War 1, 1914-1918

From John's 3 favorite reads in 2023.

Why am I passionate about this?

Author Contrarian Doesn’t play well with others Prefers animals to people

John's 3 favorite reads in 2023

John Mosier Why did John love this book?

Partly as a result of one of my numerous misguided educational choices and partly out of genuine interest, I did a lot of work in late eighteenth and early nineteenth-century English literature. I wish I’d had Ashton’s book, as it’s a social history of England back then and a basic anthology of what was being reported at the time, with dozens of reproductions of drawings. 

Jane Austen is a favorite novelist of mine, and when you look at the section on women’s fashions, it definitely changes how you see her women—and how the men saw them. 

At the same time, the picture of an England beset by riots, mutinies, and social chaos is not only a useful corrective but a potent reminder of how little our society has changed.

By John Ashton,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and…


Book cover of Harlots, Hussies, & Poor Unfortunate Women: Crime, Transportation & the Servitude of Female Convicts, 1718-1783

Cian T. McMahon Author Of The Coffin Ship: Life and Death at Sea During the Great Irish Famine

From my list on maritime social history.

Why am I passionate about this?

As an emigrant myself (I left Ireland in the late 1980s), I’ve always been interested in understanding the process of moving from one place to another; of existing in that liminal space between “being here” and “being there.” I spent several years researching the letters and diaries of nineteenth-century Irish migrants for my book, The Coffin Ship, but found the answers led to new questions on how other peoples, in other places, have managed being somewhere between “here” and “there.” These are some of the books that have helped me along that long, emotional journey.

Cian's book list on maritime social history

Cian T. McMahon Why did Cian love this book?

Because the nineteenth-century sailing ship was such a male-dominated space, women were largely invisible in traditional histories of life at sea. Although Edith Ziegler’s book does not simply focus on the voyage itself (it includes analysis of female convicts’ lives before and after the journey as well), it does show how women combatted the “sexual opportunism and exploitation” that was endemic on convict transports. What’s great about this book is that even though many of its subjects were illiterate (and thus left precious few letters and diaries behind), Ziegler manages to unearth the women’s voices in authentic and moving ways.

By Edith M. Ziegler,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Harlots, Hussies, & Poor Unfortunate Women as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In Harlots, Hussies, and Poor Unfortunate Women, Edith M. Ziegler recounts the history of British convict women involuntarily transported to Maryland in the eighteenth century.

Great Britain's forced transportation of convicts to colonial Australia is well known. Less widely known is Britain's earlier programme of sending convicts - including women - to North America. Many of these women were assigned as servants in Maryland. Titled using Basing much of her powerful narrative on the experiences of actual women, Ziegler restores individual faces to women stripped of their basic freedoms. She begins by vividly invoking the social conditions of eighteenth-century Britain,…


Book cover of The Transnational World of the Cominternians

Oleksa Drachewych Author Of Left Transnationalism

From my list on international communist movement between World Wars.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been interested in the topic of international relations and when I started graduate studies, I focused on Russian and Soviet foreign policy between the World Wars. When I began my research, I learned of the existence of the Comintern and was fascinated both by this attempt to develop a worldwide movement and its connection to Soviet foreign policy. Since then, I have focused on trying to understand the individuals who populated the parties and the organization and unearthing a legacy that still resonates today. One cannot fully understand the history of decolonization or of human and civil rights movements without considering the influence of the Comintern. 

Oleksa's book list on international communist movement between World Wars

Oleksa Drachewych Why did Oleksa love this book?

For a long time, studies of the Comintern focused on the political organization itself. Brigitte Studer’s work focuses on developing a cultural history of the organization, focusing on what she calls the “Cominternians,” the various communists who worked in the apparatus. Here, she uses a variety of lenses, from Moscow as a transnational hub, to the role of gender, to the impact of the Stalinist terror on these members. By also focusing on a wide array of experiences, she showcases the hope many Cominternians had, but also the betrayal they experienced as Stalinism changed the movement in the 1930s. Partially responsible for the transnational turn in Comintern studies, this book is a must-read for anyone looking to know more about the organization. 

By Brigitte Studer,

Why should I read it?

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

What is this book about?

The 'Cominternians' who staffed the Communist International in Moscow from its establishment in 1919 to its dissolution in 1943 led transnational lives and formed a cosmopolitan but closed and privileged world. The book tells of their experience in the Soviet Union through the decades of hope and terror.


Book cover of Rehearsals for Living
Book cover of The Samurai: A Military History
Book cover of A Narrow Street

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