History & Politics

In 1857, three white men embarked on an expedition to “discover” the source of the Nile. It’s hard to imagine a world in which you couldn’t just jump on Google Maps to find your answer or, better yet, believe the people who lived there. From the jump, this expedition was fraught with mishaps and tragedies. Millard, once again, paints a fascinating picture of intrigue, betrayal, and the fragile egos of European men. This is the perfect book for the history-loving reader who wants a bit of a challenge to their biases.  —Ivy

Looking at the complexity of the Black Creeks’ story (whose Creek Nation citizenship was suddenly revoked by tribal members and Congress in the 1970s), and weaving history with present day, Caleb Gayle writes to the question of what is racial and ethnic identity in a country that has been rooted in white supremacy since its beginning. Gayle’s prose is stunning and the historical sections of his book leap off of the page, while he equally gives poetic justice and grace to the voice of today’s Black Creek members and their examination of race and belonging. I could not put this book down and it has risen to the top of my favorite nonfiction reads. Wow.  —S.M.C.

Bill Browder (Red Notice) has written another fascinating, alarming, and compelling account of Russian corruption. Formerly the CEO of the largest foreign investor in Russia, Browder became one of Putin’s biggest enemies by exposing his laundering of hundreds of billions of dollars and by relentlessly campaigning for the Magnitsky Act. His tales of dodging arrest warrants and what it’s like being a subject of the Trump Tower meeting and Helsinki summit had me turning the pages as fast as I could.  —S.B.

You’ll want to be reading excerpts to your friends, but don’t do it. They’ll want to take a look at it “for a minute.” A quarter of an hour later, you’ll be able to get back to the crazy story of the Tangier International Zone, or the Free State of Bottleneck (both real things). Each former “country” gets a cause of death, from “too louche” to “probably not existing in the first place.” Treat yourself to this one.  —Dave

Thomas Edison is credited with many great inventions: movies, electricity, and the phonograph, to name a few. His integrity isn’t without question, however, and many people are aware that Edison may have stolen his “invention” of the incandescent bulb from Nikola Tesla. Less well known is that he was not the first person to successfully film a motion picture; that credit goes to Louis Le Prince. After a decade's worth of work and several experiments, Le Prince was on his way to the US to showcase his invention when he disappeared. In this careful and thoroughly engrossing account, Fischer makes the case for Le Prince, shedding light on a long-obscured mystery and once again bringing Edison’s honor into question.  —Jade

If you’re looking for a summer read as full of facts as juicy tidbits, look no further. Bren’s well-researched capture of this iconic women-only Manhattan hotel is written with the same ease and grace as many of its storied guests, including Molly Brown, Grace Kelly, Sylvia Plath, and Joan Didion. Offering its residents an evolving sense of empowerment through much of the twentieth century, life at the Barbizon is a slice of the mainstream (albeit glamorous) women’s experience, and it’s rather delicious to follow along.  —Melinda

Through Craig McNamara’s intimate and enjoyable memoir, we are offered a window into his relationship with his father, former Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara, its complexity and conflict, frustration and love. As McNamara struggles to understand his father’s piece in the Vietnam War and how to live with it, we are given a unique lens to see America and its journey at large, how to know its past, its forebears, and still move forward, connected but different.  —Melinda

I picked up Let the Record Show for my interest in LGBTQIA history. I devoured Let the Record Show for the absolutely compelling narrative and the voices and stories of real, complex, human people. I’m recommending Let the Record Show because this political/oral history of how ACT UP fought AIDS has so much relevance to our now—from the COVID-19 pandemic to practical lessons on organization and activism. Trust me, you won’t be able to stop reading.  —Jocelyn

1619 is the year captive Africans were first brought to the shores of North America and enslaved in the colonies. Thus begins a new history of our country that centers the supremacist systems of oppression, the resistance against them, and the ongoing pursuit of justice. Originally a NYT Magazine project, Hannah-Jones paints a comprehensive landscape with contributions by historians, scholars, poets, and artists, that casts a vital perspective on all aspects of where we’ve come from and how we must choose to move forward. An incomparable must-read. —Melinda

Reading this book is like attending the most thorough lecture series on a singular historical event. Andrés Reséndez, UC Davis professor of history, sets out to highlight Lope Martín, a mixed-race navigator and pilot who, for the first time in recorded European history, successfully circumnavigated the Pacific in 1565. Résendez details geologic, scientific, political, and intercultural history to give context to the full magnitude of Martín’s feat, and so evokes a vivid, visceral 16th century world.—Jocelyn