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Top Reads - Best Narrative History
A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution, 1891-1924A People's Tragedy: Russian Revolution, 1891-1924 by Orlando Figes
Buy new: £11.88 / Used from: £9.99
The finest account of the grinding of humanity in the Russian Revolution. Peerless, breathtaking and absorbing
The Fall of Berlin 1945The Fall of Berlin 1945 by Antony Beevor
Buy used from: £6.53
Beevor takes the reader into the dark heart of Nazi Germany as it suffers its long, spasmic last days before the feared onslaught of the Russians
StalingradStalingrad by Antony Beevor
Buy used from: £2.87
One of the finest accounts of battle in the English language. Beevor's tale of privation, hardship, valour and despair is unmatched
The Devil in the White CityThe Devil in the White City by Erik Larson
Buy new: £4.15 / Used from: £1.68
An incredibly vivid, lucid and at times devestating account of both the Chicago World Fair and the dark secrets of the World Fair Hotel
The Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the CatharsThe Perfect Heresy: The Life and Death of the Cathars by Stephen O'Shea
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £2.27
A surprisingly readable yet informative account of the last days of the Cathar heresy
Hawkwood: Diabolical EnglishmanHawkwood: Diabolical Englishman by Frances Stonor Saunders
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £1.36
A smashing romp through the war ravaged Italian peninsular in the company of Hawkwood - a diabolical Englishman buried with full Venetian honours
London: The BiographyLondon: The Biography by Peter Ackroyd
Buy new: £10.49 / Used from: £4.00
Not as strictly narrative as the others, but the single best account of the history of a city as complex and diverse as its inhabitants
Gulag: A History of the Soviet CampsGulag: A History of the Soviet Camps by Anne Applebaum
Buy new: £6.99 / Used from: £0.99
Hard labour, plunging temperatures and the despair of an all-encompassing state. Stalin's terror is truly relived and rightly reviled
Stasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin WallStasiland: Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall by Anna Funder
Buy new: £4.79 / Used from: £0.01
Fascinating look behind the iron curtain as a decade of research into the activities of Germany's secret police is revealed
Frederick The Great: A Life in Deed and LettersFrederick The Great: A Life in Deed and Letters by Giles MacDonogh
Buy used from: £2.50
An intelligent biography of one of the most intelligent, if eccentric, rulers in Europe's history
Rough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American RevolutionRough Crossings: Britain, the Slaves and the American Revolution by Simon Schama
Buy new: £7.91 / Used from: £1.84
A stunning tour de force from one of the best living historians. Lucid, thought provoking and timely.