History

The Brigade

by Howard Blum & Hardscrabble Entertainment

November 1944. The British government finally agrees to send a brigade of 5,000 Jewish volunteers from Palestine to Europe to fight the German army. But when the war ends and the soldiers witness firsthand the...

The Mental Floss History of the World

by Erik Sass, Steve Wiegand & Editors of Mental Floss

Pop quiz! Who said what about history?

History is . . .

(a) more or less bunk.

(b) a nightmare from which I am trying to awaken.

(c) as thoroughly infected with lies as a street whore with syphilis.

Match your answers:...

Quarrel with the King

by Adam Nicolson

Spanning the most turbulent and dramatic years of English history—from the 1520s through 1650—Quarrel with the King tells the remarkable saga of one of the greatest families in English history, the Pembrokes,...

The Years of Extermination

Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction 2008

by Saul Friedländer

The enactment of the German extermination policies that resulted in the murder of six million European Jews depended upon many factors, including the cooperation of local authorities and police departments,...

Seasons on Harris

by David Yeadon

The Outer Hebrides of Scotland epitomize the evocative beauty and remoteness of island life. The most dramatic of all the Hebrides is Harris, a tiny island formed from the oldest rocks on earth, a breathtaking...

Seasons in Basilicata

by David Yeadon

Award-winning travel writer and illustrator, David Yeadon embarks with his wife, Anne on an exploration of the "lost word" of Basilicata, in the arch of Italy's boot. What is intended as a brief sojourn turns...

Nazi Germany and the Jews

by Saul Friedländer

A great historian crowns a lifetime of thought and research by answering a question that has haunted us for more than 50 years: How did one of the most industrially and culturally advanced nations in the world...

Mission: Black List #1

by Eric Maddox & Davin Seay

Everyone has seen the footage: a heavily bearded Saddam Hussein blinking under the bright lights of infantry cameras, dazed to find himself in U.S. Army custody. Yet while the breaking news was broadcast around...

Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet

by Sharada Dwivedi & Shalini Devi Holkar

A national bestseller in India, Almond Eyes, Lotus Feet is the fictional memoir of a wise Indian princess, who recalls the ways the women of the Indian court found friendship, faith, and love through their beauty...

The Snoring Bird

by Bernd Heinrich

Although Gerd Heinrich, a devoted naturalist, specialized in wasps, Bernd Heinrich tried to distance himself from his "old-fashioned" father, becoming a hybrid: a modern, experimental biologist with a naturalist's...

Misquoting Jesus

by Bart D. Ehrman

When world-class biblical scholar Bart Ehrman first began to study the texts of the Bible in their original languages he was startled to discover the multitude of mistakes and intentional alterations that had...

It Looked Good on Paper

by Bill Fawcett

A remarkable compendium of wild schemes, mad plans, crazy inventions, and truly glorious disasters

Every phenomenally bad idea seemed like a good idea to someone. How else can you explain the Ford Edsel or the...

Inside Gitmo

by Gordon Cucullu

The U.S. military detention center at Guantánamo Bay—known to the public as Gitmo—has been called the American Gulag, a scene of medieval horrors where innocent farmers and goat herders swept up in Afghanistan...

How to Lose a Battle

by Bill Fawcett

A remarkable compendium of the worst military

decisions and the men who made them

The annals of history are littered with horribly bad military leaders. These combat incompetents found amazing ways to ensure...

I'll Find a Way or Make One

by Dwayne Ashley, Juan Williams & Adrienne Ingrum

A comprehensive and definitive guide to America's 107 historically black colleges and universities, this commemorative gift book explores the historical, social, and cultural importance of the nation's HBCUs...

Three Roads to the Alamo

by William C. Davis

Three Roads to the Alamo is the definitive book about the lives of David Crockett, James Bowie and William Barret Travis—the legendary frontiersmen and fighters who met their destiny at the Alamo in one of...

Once Upon a Town

by Bob Greene

In search of "the best America there ever was," bestselling author and award-winning journalist Bob Greene finds it in a small Nebraska town few people pass through today—a town where Greene discovers the...

It Seemed Like a Good Idea...: A Compendium Of Great Historical Fiascoe

by William R. Forstchen & Bill Fawcett

Throughout the annals of history, the best of intentions—and sometimes the worst—have set in motion events with a vastly different outcome than originally intended. In this entertaining, fact-filled chronicle,...

God in the White House: A History

by Randall Balmer

How did we go from John F. Kennedy declaring that religion should play no role in the elections to Bush saying, "I believe that God wants me to be president"?

Historian Randall Balmer takes us on a tour of presidential...

Dying to Cross

by Jorge Ramos

On May 14, 2003, a familiar risk-filled journey, taken by hopeful Mexican immigrants attempting to illegally cross into the United States, took a tragic turn. Inside a sweltering truck abandoned in Texas, authorities...