The History Reader

10/01/2025

TIME just released their "24 Most Anticipated Books of Fall 2025" list, which includes history picks like Jeffrey Kluger's GEMINI (the true story of NASA's Gemini program, which helped get men to the moon) and Andrew Ross Sorkin's 1929 (the story of the most infamous Wall Street crash).

What history book are you looking forward to the most this fall?

From Margaret Atwood's new memoir to Zadie Smith's latest essay collection

09/30/2025

Elena Sheppard, author of The Eternal Forest, joins us to discuss the myth of La Milagrosa. The Eternal Forest masterfully weaves Cuban mythology and history, and is on sale today!

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/world-history/la-milagrosa-havanas-miraculous-one/

09/30/2025

If you think you know everything about John F. Kennedy and Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, think again. Enter for a chance to win both of these New York Times bestsellers from J. Randy Taraborrelli. https://read.macmillan.com/promo/historyreaderw26sweeps

09/18/2025

Read an excerpt of BRADY VS. BELICHICK, a unique and unparalleled look into the nature and relationship of two of the pillars in the NFL’s greatest dynasty.

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/cultural-history/featured-excerpt-brady-vs-belichick/

09/17/2025

Pulitzer Prize-finalist Siddharth Kara visited the Gold Coast in Africa while doing research on the British slave trade for his book, THE ZORG (on sale 10/14/25). Kara shares with The History Reader the role of Ghana’s Cape Coast Castle in the Transatlantic slave trade as well as what unfathomable misery captured men, women, and children experienced there in the Castle’s dungeons as they waited to be sold to a slave-ship captain.

Siddharth Zorg, author of THE ZORG, shares the history behind the Cape Coast Castle in Ghana and its role in the African slave trade.

09/17/2025

Each year on September 17, we celebrate the anniversary of the ratification of the United States Constitution. Today, we bring you our favorite reads that highlight the period of the founding of America.

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/us-history/compelling-reads-for-constitution-day/

09/16/2025

An entertaining account of heroism and daring underneath the seas, Tom Clavin's RUNNING DEEP is the true story of the deadliest submarine in World War II and the courageous captain who survived torture and imprisonment at the hands of the enemy. Preorder your signed copy at Barnes & Noble : https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/running-deep-tom-clavin/1146890688?ean=9781250429506

09/16/2025

Often, history class is filled with memorizing dates and times. Discover how Tore Olsson, author of Red Dead's History, uses video games as his new teaching strategy for his US history course.

So often history class is a bunch of names and dates we’re perhaps remember long enough for test day and then forgotten. But history is rich with stories and...

09/01/2025

To celebrate Labor Day, TOM PAINE'S WAR author Jack Kelly shares with The History Reader why Thomas Paine, who famously penned the lines, “These are the times that try men’s souls…,” is quite possibly the working-class American founder of our time.

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/historical-figures/a-time-for-every-man-to-stir/

08/26/2025

Looking for your next history read? Need a book for back to school season? Check out some of our favorite new history books publishing in September 2025.

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/world-history/back-to-school-history-reads-september-2025/

08/19/2025

Each year on August 19th, America celebrates National Aviation Day. Today, we bring you our favorite books that honor aviation history and technology. We hope you fly through these must-reads!

https://www.thehistoryreader.com/us-history/national-aviation-day-must-reads/

08/19/2025

Cathy Pegau, author of A Murderous Business: A Mystery, shares with The History Reader how some q***r, 20th-century women of means in the United States were able to push boundaries more so than women in poor or middle, working-class families. https://www.thehistoryreader.com/historical-figures/20th-century-q***r-women-of-means/