Telegraph readers' favourite history books

Telegraph

22-06-2025

All intelligent people need to understand our past – and Telegraph readers agree. Simon Heffer, our expert historian and columnist, picked a shelf's work of history books everybody ought to read, from the stink of medieval England to the savagery of Nazi Germany. Readers commented in their hundreds and highlighted the books that should have been included. Here are their top recommendations, plus some from colleagues around the newsroom.
Uncrowned Queen (2019)
By Nicola Tallis
'Her biography of Margaret Beaufort, the mother of Henry VII, is brilliant.' Tudor Lady
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America and the Imperialism of Ignorance (2012)
By Andrew Alexander
'I recommend this book by a former parliamentary sketch writer for The Telegraph and Daily Mail. His thesis is that the Cold War was based on US ignorance and corruption of the truth.' Leo Thomas
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Irish Freedom. The History of Nationalism in Ireland (2007)
By Richard English
'It's a recent book on Irish nationalism: This book debunks, with sound evidence, many beliefs about Irish history. For example. The Irish are not Celts.' Vincent Cooper
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History of the Peloponnesian War (431 BC)
By Thucydides
'A classic and still relevant today on the unpredictability of war.' Me We
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The Last Days of Hitler (1947)
By Hugh Trevor-Roper
'A real account showing his madness and how he hated Germany as much as the allies near the end. It breaks any notion he was a genius of any kind.' Me We
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A Monarchy Transformed: Britain 1603-1714 (1966)
By Mark Kishlansky
'I love history, have a degree in it and read histories. This book is a good broad sweep of the Stuarts, far more digestible than a multi-volume epic in my humble opinion.' Katy Cletheroe
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Napoleon the Great (2014)
By Andrew Robert
'Covers the period sufficiently and, being a biography, is definitely not dry as dust. The conversational literary style does not suit books on history.' Dermod Hill
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The Mediterranean (1949)
By Fernand Braudel
'Marc Bloch was a remarkable historian. Shot for being a member of the French Resistance. With Fernand Braudel he founded the French 'annales' school of history which produced some remarkably detailed historical works which sought to recreate the 'texture' of life in the past rather than just being an account of kings and statesmen. An amazing generation of engaged historians. Braudel wrote his masterpiece, The Mediterranean, whilst a prisoner of war.' David Eden
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Reformation Europe (1963)
By GR Elton
'The best and most readable account of the upheavals, intellectual and political, caused by the European Reformation.' David Eden
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The Guns of August (1962)
By Barbara Tuchman
'A better book than The Sleepwalkers, in my opinion.' Iain Allan
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Smoke and Ashes (2023)
By Amitav Ghosh
'Just the one volume but it will help explain why China and India will not be doing the UK any favours in the next century.' Marion Grindrod
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Wonderful Adventures of Mary Seacole in Many Lands (1857)
By Mary Seacole
'Often, it is biographies that illuminate an era.' James Anderson
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Europe: A History (1996)
By Norman Davies
'A thought-provoking introduction and some very interesting and pertinent perspectives on Eastern Europe.' Can Dide
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The Flashman Papers (1969)
By George MacDonald Fraser
'All you need to know about the Victorian period; and quite a lot you should not.' Pete Nossined
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The March of Folly (1984)
By Barbara Tuchman
'This should be compulsory reading for every world leader. It covers the utter futility of war from Troy to Vietnam. Sadly, she died before Iraq/Afghanistan/Ukraine/Gaza etc., etc. I sometimes wonder what she would have made of it all.' Judith Roberts
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The King's War (1958)
By C. V. Wedgwood
'Readable enough to have a 15-year-old science student engrossed.' Martin Moss
Byzantium: The Early Centuries (1988)
By John Julius Norwich
'He manages to bring a bit of character into some of the players, which can't be easy to do, given the paucity of material to work with. And you get genuinely frustrated reading it shrink as it had yet another pointless civil war, and the Turks, Bulgarians and Venetians slowly ate it into nothing, whilst they were putting each other's eyes out and slitting their noses.' Ryan Brighton
The Most Dangerous Enemy (2000)
By Stephen Bungay
'Best overall single volume I've ever read. A really brilliant look at the Battle of Britain, with stunning conclusions. Gives great credit due to Dowding and Park (and Churchill, and seven other visionaries). Well worth a read.' Simon Davey
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All the Shah's Men (2003)
By Stephen Kinzer
'Tells the story of how the CIA and the British secret service overthrew the elected Iranian prime minister Mohammad Mosaddegh in 1953. Without a doubt things would be very different today had they not done so.' Ian Brown
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A New World Begins (2019)
By Jeremy Popkin
'An outstanding history of the French Revolution. I'd suggest pairing it with Roberts's excellent Napoleon biography.' Matthew Andrews
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The Spanish Civil War (1961)
By Hugh Thomas
'A case study in how a country turns on itself. Coming to a town near you soon…' Richard Freer
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Female author recommendations
' Mary Beard: A renowned classicist and historian, known for her expertise in ancient Rome and her engaging writing style.
Gerda Lerner: A pioneering historian of women and a leading figure in the development of women's history as an academic field.' Emma Pearson