20 of the Best World History Books

I don’t know about y’all, but every depiction I had of what North America was like before it was colonized was distanced tribes living in untouched wilderness. Granted, I did grow up with Georgia’s education system, but still. It was blatantly false. Indigenous peoples actively sculpted the landscape to fit their needs, but in a more sustainable way than what we do know. This book points out and refutes every misconception people have about the Pre-Columbian era in North America, from technological inventions to scientific advancements to culture. In depth and thorough, it does an excellent job of showing just how complex these civilizations were prior to Columbus’s “discovery” of the Taíno peoples. Indigenous Americans played a larger role in world history than a lot of us realized.

In 1816, there was a massive volcanic eruption in Indonesia that plunged most of the Northeastern United States and much of Europe into a weather pattern that effectively canceled summer for the year. Due to the near constant rain, frost, and snowfall throughout the year, it was referred to as 18-hundred-and-froze-to-death. The Klingamans show the dichotomy of what was happening in world history at the time, from the mass migrations to better climates, epidemics, famines, and food riots to the first novel of a new genre being written to fiery sunsets being painted, along with an illustration of what was likely the beginnings of the climate change crisis we’re in now.

You can tell a lot about a person, and a culture, by the food they eat — and that includes their drinks. You can tell a lot about a species by the drinks that affect their history. Tom Standage has gone through our history — from Neolithic to the 21st century — and picked out the six drinks that have played the biggest role in our history: beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and cola. Each drink played a role in shaping who we are, assisting in the rise of empires, the sharing of ideas, being a reason for colonization, or boosting the slave trade.

I’m an anthropologist, which means that whenever someone mentions Jared Diamond to me, or recommends one of his books, my blood pressure spikes just a bit, or I get a bit of an eye twitch. I’m not alone. In fact, this book is a response to his book Collapse, and is full of essays from historians and anthropologists about how civilizations actually decline; that they usually don’t “collapse” the way people think, but rather adapt, and resilience is the the usual pattern of how things play out, as well as showing the problems with the outdated idea of environmental determinism and the inherent racial aspects of “success” and “failure.”

This is the history of colonies fighting back. Specifically, the British colonies, the people of Africa, of the Caribbean, of India, and the people in London that supported their voices. These groups are often shown as victims of imperialism, but Priyamveda Gopal shows that they were more than that, that even while they were fighting against imperialism they were still helping the country that was oppressing them, creating lasting legacies. The book follows the intellectual movements that were building within the then-colonies, and pushes back against the constant idea of “they’re just a product of their time, they had the support of the people, it was thought of as okay.” Just a heads up with this one though, it is a little academic jargon heavy, and one I recommend reading in chunks.

A little dated, as it was initially published in 1983, this is still an excellent book that is necessary to read, especially if you have any interest in Marxist ideologies. Robinson points out that Marxist analyses are often based on European history and context, and tend to ignore how Black individuals have played as fighters in the resistance. He traces Black radicalism back to Africa and the fight Black communities have had in Western countries, as well as pulling in voices like W.E.B. Du Bois, C.L.R. James, and Richard Wright as support.

This book works to end the biggest game of Gossip that we’ve been playing with each other. Taking 15 historical myths that have been repeated so often that they’re taken as fact, Weir goes to the root of the myth, revealing the true story, and then usually the reason why it became so misconstrued (which was usually on purpose). He even points out important individuals that managed to escape consequences due to these myths. Each chapter in this book is dedicated to one popular myth, so you get plenty of information for the next time you are at a party and get the chance to be That Person (I’m usually That Person. It’s okay. Turn it into a cool learning experience for everyone.)

Prior to the burning of Institut für Sexualwissenschaft by Nazis, Germany — especially Berlin — was the center of the queer social scene in Europe. It was the home of the first homosexual organizations and magazines, as well as an entire field based around the legitimate study of these identities and psychology. This book is written in a way that is accessible for everyone, and dictates the lives of the individuals at the time, from science to scandals. Just a warning, though: the book does go all the way to 1945, and being German history, this means that there is mention of Nazi persecution and concentration camps.

The history of Africa prior to colonization isn’t extensively covered in world history classes. You may learn about Mansa Musa, perhaps a little about Egypt, especially where it intersects with Greece and Rome, but it’s more of a blip than anything. Granted, there’s a lot to cover in world history (especially for an underpaid public school teacher), but Africa had a rich history before Europe looked to exploit it for resources. That’s where this book comes in. Written by a Senegalese anthropologist and historian, it compares the social and political systems of African civilizations to those of contemporary Europe, showing just how much Africa truly contributed to the development of the world. A heads up on this one, however: it was published in 1960. Some of the words used then, like primitive, are not what we would use now when describing these societies and have a different connotation to us now.

A mix of science and history, this book weaves the stories of multiple colors through history, the significance they had in art, or war, or religion, or in health. Humans don’t have the best color vision out there, but it’s still nothing to sneeze at, and the colors we do see give us more information about an object than we realize. This book is a bit formidable, too; it’s hefty, and built pretty solidly. It’s well worth it, though. The cover and pages are gorgeous, and the book itself is full of diagrams of spectrums and graphs and, of course, color.

Collecting over 500 years of history, this book traces the many roles women have filled, from slaves to soldiers to astronauts. Even without history focused on them, and sometimes ignoring them, women have played a constant role in history. Pulling on archival materials like oral histories, personal papers, religious teachings, and so many other forms of documentation, Smith puts together a story line of women’s history from the Renaissance to current times

Indigo captivated the world, across cultures, and played a larger part in history than one would have expected. It helped foster the transatlantic slave trade, changed the way we dyed clothes, and was even used as medicine and played a part in religious ceremonies. Indigo changed agriculture, economics, chemistry, and became so important it was included in various folklores around the world. A culmination of 15 years of research, this history is paired with amazing photographs of indigo and the plant it comes from.

The history of the United States, of the American continents, doesn’t start with when Europeans first stepped onto the soil. That is where this book comes in. It covers Indigenous history from what life was like prior to colonization, the extensive trade routes and farming practices tribes had, and lays bare exactly what European settlers did after arriving, breaking down every myth students in the United States were told in school. This is absolutely an important book to read, especially right now as the Land Back movement gaining momentum and the water protectors pushing back against oil pipelines.