This month’s best new history

Don’t miss the best new history from the past month, hand-picked by our editors! We’ve rounded up this month’s biggest and buzziest history books — including a riveting account of Cold War espionage, an absorbing look at an unsolved disappearance on Mount Everest, and more!

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	A newly resurfaced account of the Hiroshima bombing from one of its survivors WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Lost for decades, this “stunning historical discovery and… heartrending testimony” (Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize–winning coauthor of American Prometheus) was recently unearthed in a university archive A young Methodist minister chronicles the immediate aftermath of the attack and his tireless efforts to save his congregants amid the devastation “A powerful eyewitness account… It feels more urgent today than at any time since the end of the Cold War” (New York Times bestselling author Serhii Plokhy) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Witness the brutal final months of World War II and the bombings that changed the world forever WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Penned by a renowned Pacific War historian, New York Times bestselling author, and Pulitzer Prize finalist With never-before-heard testimony from Hiroshima and Nagasaki survivors and unparalleled insight into Truman and Hirohito’s inner circles “Meticulously researched, masterfully written, and completely absorbing… Belongs on the bookshelves of every American household” (#1 New York Times bestselling author Jack Carr) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers An eye-opening archaeological account of slavery’s impact on the ancient world WHY IT’S READWORTHY: As Greek and Roman civilizations grew, they turned to states on the outskirts of their empires for enslaved labor Two leading field archaeologists explore how warrior bands spanning from Western Europe to present-day Libya created regional economies organized around the selling of people “Illuminating historical insight into an ancient institution” (Kirkus Reviews) Learn more... MEDIA MENTION: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers In 1924, two British climbers disappeared on Everest — and the circumstances remain unsolved WHY IT’S READWORTHY: This “gripping” read (Library Journal) seeks to answer a critical question: Did George Mallory and Sandy Irvine become the first to reach the summit before they perished? Irvine’s great-niece and a leading mountaineering expert dig into the century-old mystery “Everyone will be riveted by the personalities, the constraints of their era, and the courage and ingenuity they ultimately brought to it, whether or not they succeeded” (Booklist starred review) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers How late-night poker games produced one of World War II’s greatest humanitarian missions WHY IT’S READWORTHY: In the late 1930s, five powerful men who met regularly in Manila to smoke, drink, and gamble hatched an audacious plan to shelter Jewish refugees in the Philippines Shines a light on the courageous collaboration between American and Filipino freedom fighters and the experiences of those they rescued A “heroic effort reminiscent of Oskar Schindler… Through a kaleidoscope of voices, journalist Mark Sy illuminates this inspiring chapter of courage, ingenuity, and moral conviction” (Pulitzer Prize finalist James M. Scott) Learn more... MEDIA MENTION: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers Explore the world of art deemed dangerous — and what it says about our society WHY IT’S READWORTHY: A “deeply impressive book” (The New Statesman) from a Cambridge-educated art philosopher Examines some of history’s most contentious works, from prehistoric sculpture to Renaissance paintings to modern-day video games “This survey of the taboo and the twisted won’t let you look away… A timely and punchy new book” (The Guardian) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers How enslaved Americans used their forced mobility to fight for freedom WHY IT’S READWORTHY: As some enslaved people labored as ferry captains, teamsters, traveling ladies’ maids, and more, they developed a political consciousness that proved crucial to the abolitionist movement “Susan Eva O’Donovan rightfully implores us to take a new view of American political history” (New York Times bestselling author Henry Louis Gates Jr.) Informed by an extraordinary trove of archival documents, including letters, travel passes, and receipts Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers During the Cold War, an American music quartet outsmarted the KGB WHY IT’S READWORTHY: Learn how four musicians with the Klezmer Conservatory Band successfully smuggled secrets in and out of Moscow — using their sheet music as a cipher An “engrossing nonfiction account of espionage” (Jewish Book Council) cowritten by the group’s saxophonist and the director of the National Cryptologic Museum “This book will take its rightful place among the most thrilling stories of the Cold War” (Thomas Maier, author of The Invisible Spy) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers How have humans survived in the world’s most remote landscapes? WHY IT’S READWORTHY: “The best nonfiction writer of her generation” (The Times) reevaluates the concept of wilderness — and how it has been inhabited and modified by humans throughout history Embark on a globe-spanning journey and meet ascetics in the desert, missionaries in the deep jungle, hunters in the African bush, and more “A must-read: Put this book on the top of your list” (Pulitzer Prize finalist David George Haskell) Learn more... MEDIA MENTIONS: GET EBOOK ON: Amazon Other formats and retailers
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