 | Guns, Germs and Steel: A short history of everybody for the last 13,000 years by Jared M. Diamond
Buy new: £6.96 / Used from: £3.98 The best history of human evolution on the planet, its civilizations and how they developed. In the way it builds a most intriguing case for the west supremacy
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 | Empires of the Word: A Language History of the World by Nicholas Ostler
Buy new: £9.75 / Used from: £9.20 A fascinating account of the history of languages, its drivers and future prospects
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 | Cities in Civilisation by Peter Hall
Buy used from: £15.94 Cities have been at the core of Western civilization - in fact originating the word civilization- and I've read no better account of the history of western cities from Athens to Los Angeles
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 | The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics) by Edward Gibbon
Buy new: £8.07 / Used from: £4.51 In spite of a number of books appearing lately Gibbons work on the demise of the Roman Empire is still the paramount one. I've read the French edition.
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 | Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years by Felipe Fernaandez-Armesto
Buy used from: £3.36 Felipe Fernandez-Armesto is one of my favourite historians and this is probably his best book.
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 | The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II: v. 1 (Mediterranean & the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip) by F Braudel
Buy new: £20.83 / Used from: £18.34 Although I'm not a great fan of the "Annales" history approach this is certainly a massive book.
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 | The Age of Empire, 1875-1914 (Age of...) by E.J. Hobsbawm
Buy used from: £1.18 Hobsbawn has produced the best history of the 19th century in 3 remarkable volumes. The last one is my favourite, culminating in the fascinating drive to the 1st WW.
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| Diplomacy by Henry A. Kissinger
Buy used from: £8.76 A masterpiece in the history of international relations from Richelieu to the end of the Cold War
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 | The Fifty-year War: Conflict and Strategy in the Cold War by Norman Friedman
Buy new: £25.50 / Used from: £21.49 The best account of the Cold War, considerably supeiror to the more hyped Gaddis work
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 | Age of Extremes: The Short Twentieth Century, 1914-91 by E.J. Hobsbawm
Buy used from: £4.75 The quality of the narrative fully matches the insights. His account of the golden age (45-75) fully matches the best parts of his own 19th century history.
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 | Europe: A History by Norman Davies
Buy used from: £9.60 An enormous tour-de-force and the definitive history of Europe. The capsules and snapshots are the key of the success of the book. A bit lop-sided for Eastern Europe tough, as most Davies works.
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 | Postwar: A History of Europe Since 1945 by Tony Judt
Buy used from: £12.00 A strong contender for the best history book of recent years and a perfect complement for Davies "Europe". So sharp you feel Judt is dissecating your own life.
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 | The Struggle for Mastery in Europe, 1848-1918 (Oxford History of Modern Europe) by A. J. P. Taylor
Buy new: £19.73 / Used from: £7.29 A.J.P.Taylor is probably my favourite historian, writing with a marvellous verve and poise. This is in my view his best book, now feeling a bit old-fashioned but still an excellent read.
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 | The Isles: A History by Norman Davies
Buy new: £12.65 / Used from: £6.00 A history of the British Isles from a late 20th century viewpoint. Could be dated a few years from now but enormously informative and provocative.
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 | The Spanish Civil War by Hugh Thomas
Buy new: £13.35 / Used from: £8.03 One of the better books I've ever read. You might read it is a Spanish, military, 20th century history, or even as a novel- in all cases it is simply outsanding. Still the definitive account of SpCW
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 | Black Lamb and Grey Falcon: A Journey Through Yugoslavia by Rebecca West
Buy used from: £4.75 At once a history of former Yugoslavia, a travel book, and a personal journey it is certainly impossible to put down
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 | Warfare in Antiquity: V. 1: History of the Art of War (Twentieth Century Fund Book) by Hans Delbruck
Buy new: £28.99 / Used from: £9.95 The masterwork on military strategy and warfare through history
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 | The Proud Tower: A Portrait of the World before the War, 1890-1914 by Barbara Wertheim Tuchman
Buy used from: £8.92 |
 | The Pity of War (Allen Lane History) by Niall Ferguson
Buy used from: £14.95 Ferguson sometimes overreach himself but here he was brilliant in condensing in a single volume the history of WWI and its reflection in the 20th century
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 | Stalingrad by Antony Beevor
Buy used from: £8.98 A griping account of a key battle of WWII
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 | The Second World War, Volume 2: Their Finest Hour by Winston S. Churchill
Buy used from: £0.01 Some may argue about Churchill's accuracy and truthness (and authorship) but his 6 books no WWII were a classic from it's publishing and remain so. Vol. II - their finest hour is the most touching
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 | A World at Arms: A Global History of World War II by Gerhard L. Weinberg
Buy used from: £5.16 |
 | The Complete War Memoirs of Charles de Gaulle by Charles De Gaulle
Buy used from: £19.80 |
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