What is the best history book you have ever read?

camW00dS

A History of France from the Earliest Times by William Stearns Davis, covers almost whole Europe's history, well-written and interesting even for non-history-lovers like me

zeppelino

Probably Berlin by Antony Beevor. All his books are good, accessible even if you find history books difficult.

Theydon Bois

Semi fictional - Sven Hassel. Penal Tank crews in world war 2

Edit: I meant semi auto biographical, but I don’t think they were, and were in fact fiction.

Garrett

Iv not read it but stuck a head up on the Kindle thread cheapy thread.
Hans von Luck : Panzer Commander autobiography £1.19

Sonic67

I've read it. Worth a read.

Garrett

I spotted on Amazon there bringing a book out >Wilm Hosenfeld< The helpful German officer in the Pianist.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Only-See-Person-Front-Hosenfeld/dp/1595728422/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1550080308&sr=1-2&keywords=Wilm Hosenfeld

Sonic67

The Rise and Fall Of The Third Reich - William L Shirer. Read it a few times. It covers the rise of Hitler all the way through to the end. There's a few errors in it I know of but worth a read.

Robert Kershaw's books. I'd work through them.

Wings On My Sleeve - Captain Eric "Winkle" Brown possibly the worlds greatest ever test pilot and never recognised for what he had achieved. No OBE etc. Not really "history" but factual and fascinating.

Garrett

For you that like a view from the other side on  Napoleon up at 99p today only
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B01G8V1TMW/ref=s9_acsd_hps_bw_c_x_2_w?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_s=merchandised-search-2&pf_rd_r=VA9SHGN7DFFEDG34HDFA&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_p=f919c5f8-edf0-4006-8e4e-0da74f867846&pf_rd_i=5400977031

LX200GPS

Read all of them years ago. Definitely works of fiction. I posted on the Audible thread that I thought The Civil War by Shelby Foote was a masterpiece. The three volumes on the Third Reich by Richard Evans is a very detailed history from beginning to end. The Dresden book by Frederick Taylor is a horrifying account of the bombing of the city. Agree with the Beevor comments. Hastings has written some great stuff too. One of my favourites is Namesis which tells the story of the war in the Pacific. Loads of great stuff out there. So little time!

TylerDurden

I found A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson a particularly good read.