This month’s best new history

Don’t miss the best new history from the past month, hand-picked by our editors! Don’t miss this month’s history picks — which include a fascinating look at the world of Vikings, a highly anticipated new book from Pulitzer Prize finalist Nathaniel Philbrick, and more!

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	A little-known true story that will have you on the edge of your seat WHY IT’S READWORTHY: In 1944, three American commandos sought to be captured by the Nazis to spread an important lie… This international bestseller chronicles World War II’s incredible Operation Sparrow — a top secret mission to make the Third Reich believe D-Day was coming to the Balkans, not France “Bell tells true stories as dramatically as a novelist, giving the reader the sense that they’ve lived a piece of history” (Booklist) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers During the battles of Iwo Jima and Okinawa, brave nurses saved thousands of US service members WHY IT’S READWORTHY: This riveting military history “shines a long overdue spotlight on an overlooked aspect of World War II” (New York Times bestselling author John C. McManus) Unsung for decades, the women who braved constant danger in the Pacific Theater to treat and evacuate troops finally get their due “A terrific book… I defy readers not to be moved” (Tim Brady, author of Three Ordinary Girls) Learn more... MEDIA MENTION: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Uncover the secrets of a stolen Renoir masterpiece and the enigmatic woman it depicts WHY IT’S READWORTHY: During World War II, Nazis plundered La Petite Irène from a French château — while its subject hid in plain sight in Paris An award-winning journalist unravels the intertwined stories of the famed painting and Irène Cahen d’Anvers, the daughter of a wealthy Jewish dynasty “A vivid and deeply reported portrait of looted art, memory, and one family’s struggle for survival and justice during one of history’s darkest eras” (New York Times bestselling author Dana Canedy) Learn more... MEDIA MENTION: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers In the Civil War’s wake, a generation of Black women risked everything to gain an education WHY IT’S READWORTHY: “A stirring contribution to America’s historical narrative” (Kirkus Reviews starred review) based on a decade of research Meet the unheralded activists, educators, organizers, and mothers who helped bring literacy to the newly emancipated “With Freedom’s Daughters, Celeste Headlee rigorously and vividly restores the history of Black women erased from the record” (New York Times bestselling author Anna Malaika Tubbs) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Black women visionaries come to life on the page WHY IT’S READWORTHY: The Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Franchise delivers a stunning group biography Meet 13 women behind the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, from household names like Rosa Parks and Josephine Baker to lesser-known women such as choir director Eva Jessye and coordinator Anna Hedgeman “Chatelain lets us see the complexities of these women’s lives, feel their pain, and marvel at their ability to cut through the thicket of racism and sexism” (New York Times bestselling author Carol Anderson) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers ‘A cinematic saga of a real-life hero who puts James Bond to shame’ (Publishers Weekly) WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Two #1 New York Times bestselling authors tell the remarkable story of Pierre “Pete” Ortiz — a polyglot, spy, resistance leader, and decorated Marine officer You’ll be gripped as you read about Ortiz’s dangerous, clandestine World War II missions, including parachuting into North Africa and France behind enemy lines “A character-driven account of espionage, sabotage, and survival” (Library Journal) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers This spellbinding instant New York Times bestseller charts the history of the modern Middle East WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Witness a “brilliant and formidable” historian (New York Times bestselling author Michael Beschloss) “at his absolute best” (Robert Lyman, author of A War of Empires) Surveys the region’s last 125 years, from the waning days of the Ottoman Empire to the ongoing Gaza war “Superb… A triumph of blood-and-thunder narrative history” (The Wall Street Journal) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers ‘Living, breathing, roaring history you won’t be able to put down’ (Adam Makos) WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Costing more than the Manhattan Project, the B-29 Superfortress changed the course of World War II and helped the US become an aerial superpower A New York Times bestselling author follows the plane’s journey from factory assembly lines to European skies “[Baime] takes a story about machines and physics and metal and writes a panoramic human drama” (#1 New York Times bestselling author Doug Stanton) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers An Ojibwe author examines the legacy of frontier violence — and its lasting impact on American identity WHY IT’S READWORTHY: The latest release from the New York Times bestselling author of The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee is “unlike anything I have read” (Pulitzer Prize–winning author Percival Everett) Written in the form of letters to his children, this “singularly powerful work” (Publishers Weekly) combines elements of history, memoir, and cultural commentary “Artful and insightful… Poised to be the book of the moment” (Literary Hub) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Look back on humanity’s long quest to make sense of the world WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Discusses the major shifts in thinking about reality — from ancient philosophy to today’s cutting-edge quantum computing An award-winning astrophysicist intertwines multiple fields of study in this vividly illustrated history “The next great breakthrough might come from the curious mind holding this very book” (Derek Muller) Learn more... GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers How did California’s Gold Rush shape modern ideas of wealth, freedom, and labor? WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Named a New York Times Most Anticipated Nonfiction Book of 2026 and a Los Angeles Times Best Book of the Fall Jon Meacham recommends this “illuminating and absorbing” account A Pulitzer Prize finalist and National Book Award–winning author “takes the old maxim ‘follow the money’ to an engaging and revelatory extreme” (Erik Larson) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Experience the Viking world as never before WHY IT’S READWORTHY: “Nearly every page brings a surprise, sometimes disturbing, often moving, always profound” (The Times) Rooted in new archaeological research, this sweeping history takes readers across three centuries, introducing a fascinating cast of characters and debunking stereotypes along the way “The Sea-King and the Sorceress speaks eloquently to the beauty, fascination, and strangeness of what we call the Viking age” (Booklist) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Explore the groundbreaking innovations that made our modern world WHY IT’S READWORTHY: A Next Big Idea Club must-read from the #1 internationally bestselling author of A Brief History of the World in 47 Borders Get the origin stories behind concepts and technologies we now take for granted — from lampposts to street numbering “Thousands of years of urbanization unfold in this entertaining history… Readers will learn to be sharper observers of the world around them” (Publishers Weekly) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers
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