by Alec Israeli In the debate between Samuel Moyn and Peter Gordon in Rethinking Modern European Intellectual History on “contextualism” in the history of ideas, there are a few key points of convergence: they each reject notions both of ideas’ absolute transcendence of material conditions and ideas’ absolute debt to material conditions. For both, that…
It began with a mysterious letter from a screenwriter, asking about a story. Your family. World War II. Nazi spies. It evolved into a thirty-year quest to discover the truth behind a horrendous family secret. Christine Kuehn’s Family of Spies is the never-before-told story of one family’s shocking involvement as Nazi and Japanese spies during WWII…
This December, we’re taking a look back at the many fascinating history books that published this year. From axe murderers to the history of rope, from the biography of Mt. Rushmore to a diverse array of WWII stories, the 2025 Holiday Gift Guide has a book recommendation for every history lover. Organized by general topic,…
by Samuel Miller McDonald In Progress: How One Idea Built Civilization and Now Threatens to Destroy it, author Samuel Miller McDonald offers a bold, provocative, wide-ranging argument about the human idea of progress that offers a new vision of our future. Read on for a featured excerpt in which McDonald deconstructs a letter written by…
by Jeffrey Kluger Named by Time Magazine as one of the most anticipated books of fall 2025, Gemini by Jeffrey Kluger reveals the thrilling, untold story of the pioneering Gemini program that was instrumental in getting Americans on the moon. Read on for a featured, introductory excerpt! Like every man who had ever orbited the…
by Tim Queeney In his book Rope, author Tim Queeney takes readers on a unique and compelling adventure through the history of rope and its impact on civilization. In the article below, Queeney takes a look at the Nuremberg executions during WWII, which rope played a critical role in as the men were executed by…
by Tilar J. Mazzeo In The Sea Captain’s Wife, New York Times bestselling author Tilar J. Mazzeo reveals the true story of the first female captain of a merchant ship and her treacherous navigation of Antarctica’s deadly waters. Read on for a featured excerpt! Neptune’s Car Clipper Ship, 19th Century. Courtesy of Wikimedia. Public Domain….
by J. Randy Taraborrelli J. Randy Taraborrelli shares with The History Reader an excerpt from his instant New York Times bestselling book, JFK: Public, Private, Secret. Read on to discover how Jackie’s parents and John’s parents felt about their budding relationship as well as early details on how John’s family supported his early political career….
by Anne Sebba An instant USA Today bestseller, The Women’s Orchestra of Auschwitz by Anne Sebba is a vivid portrait of the disparate women who came together to form an orchestra in order to survive the horrors of Auschwitz. Read on for a featured excerpt! Auschwitz’s main gate, bearing the motto “Arbeit Macht Frei” (Work…
In 2023, two metal detectorists discovered an assemblage of five Anglo-Saxon gold and garnet jewels on a hillside near Donington on Bain in Lincolnshire, UK. Dating to the 7th century, they were found dispersed over a radius of 20-30 feet in plough soil, indicating they had recently been churned up by deep cultivation. The assemblage…