The most popular history books of 2025

History books explain how the world came to be the way it is. Empires, revolutions, wars, inventions and everyday lives are all here, from the ancient world to recent decades. Whether you want a sweeping overview or one remarkable year in detail, you will find narrative history that reads like a story. This list shows the ones first published in 2025.

Cover of Careless People

Careless People

Sarah Wynn-Williams

Published 2025

384 pages

Cover of The Fort Bragg Cartel

The Fort Bragg Cartel

Seth Harp

Published 2025

357 pages

Cover of Is a River Alive?

Is a River Alive?

Robert Macfarlane

Published 2025

384 pages

Cover of John & Paul A Love Story in Songs

John & Paul A Love Story in Songs

Ian Leslie

Published 2025

448 pages

Cover of Proto

Proto

Laura Spinney

Published 2025

352 pages

Cover of When the Going Was Good

When the Going Was Good

Graydon Carter

Published 2025

432 pages

Cover of The CIA Book Club

The CIA Book Club

Charlie English

Published 2025

384 pages

Cover of Death in the Jungle

Death in the Jungle

Candace Fleming

Published 2025

356 pages

Cover of The Echo Machine How Right-Wing Extremism Created a Post-Truth America

The Echo Machine How Right-Wing Extremism Created a Post-Truth America

David Pakman

Published 2025

208 pages

Cover of Blazing Eye Sees All

Blazing Eye Sees All

Leah Sottile

Published 2025

304 pages

Cover of The Novel Life of Jane Austen

The Novel Life of Jane Austen

Janine Barchas

Published 2025

144 pages

Cover of Do Not Cry When I Die A Holocaust Memoir of a Mother and Daughter's Survival In Jewish Ghettos, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen

Do Not Cry When I Die A Holocaust Memoir of a Mother and Daughter's Survival In Jewish Ghettos, Auschwitz, and Bergen-Belsen

Renee Salt, Kate Thompson

Published 2025

272 pages

Cover of Remember Us

Remember Us

Robert M. Edsel

Published 2025

528 pages

Cover of The Fifteen

The Fifteen

William Geroux

Published 2025

400 pages

Cover of Monopoly X How Top-Secret World War II Operations Used the Game of Monopoly to Help Allied POWs Escape, Conceal Spies, and Send Secret Codes

Monopoly X How Top-Secret World War II Operations Used the Game of Monopoly to Help Allied POWs Escape, Conceal Spies, and Send Secret Codes

Philip E. Orbanes

Published 2025

304 pages

Cover of Proof

Proof

Adam Kucharski

Published 2025

368 pages

Cover of Becoming Ghost Poetry

Becoming Ghost Poetry

Cathy Linh Che

Published 2025

128 pages

Cover of Three Weeks in July

Three Weeks in July

Adam Wishart, James Nally

Published 2025

Cover of A Beginner's Guide to the Roots of Yoga

A Beginner's Guide to the Roots of Yoga

Nikita Desai

Published 2025

240 pages

Cover of Golden State

Golden State

Michael Hiltzik

Published 2025

436 pages

Cover of Another World Is Possible

Another World Is Possible

Natasha Hakimi Zapata

Published 2025

432 pages

Cover of Britain According to Very British Problems

Britain According to Very British Problems

Rob Temple

Published 2025

224 pages

Cover of Being Carlos Alcaraz

Being Carlos Alcaraz

Mark Hodgkinson

2025 · 2026 edition

304 pages

Cover of Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love

Rachel Carson and the Power of Queer Love

Lida Maxwell

Published 2025

176 pages

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