Top 10 History/Nonfiction Books of 2024 (I read 50!)

[@KistReadsBooks]

What was your favorite history/nonfiction book of the year?

[@BlaackChris]

I finally finished rise and fall of the third Reich by William L Shirer. It took me a few months to finish it, but it’s an excellent read 5/5 stars for me!

[@katherinedote2324]

My favorite nonfiction book of 2024: The House of Government by Yuri Slezkine.

[@KistReadsBooks]

​@BlaackChris Have that, need to read it. Thinking I'll take down more thicc bois like that next year

[@Henri79]

Postwar by Tony Judt. Absolutely phenomenal.

[@emanuel5187]

The campaigns of Napoleon

[@user-iz6cc6lz3j-Vickie]

I love finding a booktuber whose reads history. I just discovered your channel today.

[@cj1986x]

I'm someone who is a fast reader when it comes to fiction but a pretty slow reader with nonfiction, so 50 history books in a year is really wow for me. I hope to read more nonfiction in 2025 and i love your recs. I found your channel because of an earlier short you did about How the Word is Passed which is a book I read when it was pub'd and loved it (especially since I once lived in Galveston), and I was so excited to see someone on Booktube talking about it!

[@KistReadsBooks]

I definitely read nonfiction at a slower pace since I practice active reading and stop to reference from other sources. Routine really helps me there!

[@jameswalker6168]

The Bloodlands was an incredible book about a horrendous subject. I’m glad you read it.

[@tracigrant5130]

A Rome of One's Own sounds so good. Thanks for the rec! I'm a recent follower of your channel, so i don't know if you've read this, but i really enjoyed The Bookshop by Evan Friss. It's the history of the bookstore in the U.S.

[@KistReadsBooks]

I'll check that out, thank you!

[@nocescamus]

Highly recommend "A Woman of No Importance" by Sonia Purnell. It's the nonfiction account of an American socialite from Baltimore who became an SOE Agent, working as a spy in Occupied France. She was so effective in her years behind enemy lines that she was put on the Germans' Most Wanted list, and was on the radar of senior Gestapo leaders desperate to catch her. It's so brilliantly written that it reads quickly, like a thrilling wartime spy novel, but it's all thoroughly researched and accessible nonfiction. Probably one of my all time favorite reads!

[@Mffl233]

I'm so happy I found your channel!

[@RodWilliams-m7r]

Thanks for your clear thinking and enthusiasm.

[@fashionearrings]

I've stumbled on here completely by accident. I was looking up the best historical fiction of this century... And now I have found actual history books to sink my teeth into.. Thank you YT ALGORITHMS ! Because now this channel is my new favorite channel ❤️

[@KistReadsBooks]

The Almighty Algo knows all

[@uzi888]

That is what we needed - Kist in longform - following on TikTok for a long time but long form chilled out Kist on KZbin is superb

[@KistReadsBooks]

Haha a little less pre-workout, a little more indepth, appreciate you

[@margaretbailey8463]

I picked up Bloodlands after watching this video. Bar none, it is one of the most nonstop depressing books ever, but I'm determined to finish it because so much of the information is new to me. At the same time, I'm reading The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes, and by chance I'm reading about the 30s in parallel. It's a startling juxtaposition, with only brief moments of crossover as Jewish scientists fled Europe. Reading about the development of nuclear weapons is actually a welcome relief from what was happening in Eastern Europe.

[@vajs6312]

My top 2 history books I’ve read so far in my life are: Tony Judt’s “Postwar” and Donald L. Miller’s “Masters of the Air”. Although I’m a history teacher, for some reason, I don’t read many history books for pleasure 😅 but these 2 just had it all and at times read like the most exciting documentary you’ll ever watch. Happy holidays from Croatia! 🙂

[@KistReadsBooks]

I've nearly picked up Postwar so many times, have heard wonderful things.

[@anndalva]

A Rome of Ones Own and How the World is Passed are added to my TBR. Honestly your whole list sounds great. This year I only read 3 history books. 1491 and 1493 by Charles Mann and American Jezebel by Eve Laplante. I loved American Jezebel so much that I bought another book about Anne Hutchinson.

[@fidelogos7098]

I loved the 1491 and 1493 books! I was hoping there'd be more similar from Mann.

[@erikareading]

I'm just restarting my history journey (since high school) and I'm starting with The Great Courses History of Western Civilization. You definitely have me intrigued with some of the biographies.

[@candithomson]

I completely agree with you on Nothing to Envy. It was simply a spectacular read!

[@erickpaulino-risk1911]

wonderfully crafted video, i love how passionate and enveloped you sound in your commentary for each book. came for recs, staying for kist🫡

[@cinnamontownproductions9620]

I love your show! Your enthusiasm for history is inspiring!

[@DonateRanchoKitty]

Good stuff, will add some of these to my list. Thx

[@jonathankrueger3288]

Very good video. My preferred genre is fantasy fiction, but I want to make time for areas of study

[@PeteG143]

Thank you for that video. I’m new to your channel but really enjoying your videos, your format, the books covered and the way in which you examine each one. Thanks.

[@KistReadsBooks]

Thank you for the kind words!

[@Mac-ci3py]

Destiny Disrupted is so good! I read it last year and was blown away. I’m glad you liked it

[@fidelogos7098]

I'm an avid reader of history, but I tend to read everything I can find about certain periods of time or certain families (like the Plantagenets or ancient Greece) to the detriment of reading outside my comfort zone. All of your recommended books are new to me and all sound interesting. Now, where to start? 🤔🤔

[@mjzigzag]

If you liked Say Nothing, you should read Four Shots in the Night by Henry Hemming. Really excellent-especially with the wrap up of Operation Kenova a couple of months ago. Love the channel!

[@VerhoevenSimon]

Thank you for the list. Mine was `How the word is passed`. Destiny disrupted sounds like a fascinating read.

[@mattm9069]

Glad your channel showed up in my recommended. I've been interested in Russian military history for awhile. Some recent books over a year or so: The Russian Revolution by McMeekin, The Cold War by Odd Arne Westad, The Gulag Archipelago (vol 1.) by Solzenitsyn. I like to pick an era in history and try to find definitive books that describe a lot.

[@cinnamontownproductions9620]

I love American history, so my favorite this year was the Wright Brothers by David McCullough. I love all David McCullough’s book. I would love it if you did a video on the best America history.

[@fidelogos7098]

I haven't read Wright Brothers but I love McCullough. John Adams, 1776, and Johnstown Flood are three that I recommend if you haven't read them. I saw an interview with McCullough and he seemed to be a dear, gentle man.

[@Ravenblade86]

Sengoku Jidai is one I have on my want to read list, and you have sold me on White Malice with your recent videos about that as well. Some of my 2024 history picks would be Lost Worlds of South America by Edwin Barnhart, Pharaohs of the Sun by Guy de la Bédoyère, In Service of the Shogun by Frederik Cryns, Heresy by Catherine Nixey and for a couple of oddballs, Nothin' But a Good Time (about the 80's hard rock music scene) and Empires of Eve vol.1 & 2 (history of player driven conflicts in the mmorpg Eve Online)

[@KistReadsBooks]

Checking all of these out!

[@insaneck]

If you haven't, please read The Last Jew of Treblinka. It's a short Holocaust memoir and I promise there is no way to put it down once you start. Of course the subject matter is extremely heavy and intense, not for the faint of heart, but the writing is great and the story is incredible.

[@mferree1]

One might think that "Mosquito" by Timothy C Winegard is not a history book, but this animal -- the mosquito -- is responsible for more deaths throughout human history than any other. This book takes follows the timeline of Western and Eastern history and gives new insight into how this deadly predator has helped win and lose battles, protected young growing empires, and ultimately brought those empires to an end, all while our ancestors were entirely unaware of the source of the diseases that sapped their strength and shortened their lives.

[@DaisyMae0929]

My two favorite history books that I have read this year are "A Peace to End All Peace" by David Fromkin and "A True History of the United States" by Daniel A. Sjursen. Both 5 star reads for me.

[@reynaldogonzalez5919]

So I was a political science major and I want to read more books!!!! I love the field and started but didn’t finish my masters in international affairs

[@cjohnson8217]

Blood and thunder: mountain men, Kit Carson, Mexican American War, various Native American tribes and very well written!

[@Sactown15]

I read The Witches: Salem 1692, at the beginning of the year. Awesome book with lots of detail

[@wileepeyote27]

Not published in 2024 but Migrations and Cultures by Thomas Sowell is a remarkable piece of work with unparalleled research. Some 300+ sited footnotes.. In each chapter. It's really more of a macro overview of the world's diaspora movements rather than a straightforward story. But if you want hard facts and mind blowing detail about culture this is an all time read.

[@toulcaz31]

Amazon has just released the audiobook of The Prize by Daniel Yergin. It goes through major historical geopolitical events through the lens of the Energy sector. A must read IMHO to understand even today things happening with Iran and Russia.

[@ChaosandComics]

I've started looking more for memoir type books. My favorite history book I read this year was Pilsudski: a Biography by His Wife and straying away from books written by historians. But that could change because there are a lot of interesting books by historians. 😅😅

[@jordanknight9614]

My top history book of the year was Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Doris Kearns Goodwin. My favorite of 2023 was Robert E. Lee and Me: A Southern’s Reckoning with the Myth of the Lost Cause by Ty Seidule.

[@donbrown2391]

My favorite history book that I read this year was Fifth Sun A New History of the Aztecs by Camilla Townsend, seconded by River Kings: A New History of the Vikings from Scandinavia to the Silk Roads by Cat Jarman.

[@KistReadsBooks]

Fifth Sun is excellent

[@joegilbody4878]

My favorite history read was "The Last Tsar." I am a mathematician but am interested in Roman history, Russian history, WWI and the American Civil War.

[@engreem9281]

My favourite 2 history books I read this year were 'Alexander Von Battenberg' by Egon Caesar Corti, and 'A short history of modern Bulgaria' by RJ Crampton They were both pretty good and interesting. The 2nd was more detailed than I thought it would be

[@carsonhansen9740]

My favorite book this year was say nothing. That being said I didn’t get a chance to read any of these others, they are definitely on my list for 2025!

[@HeathTimmins]

Love your videos.❤ I was wondering if you’d consider recommending anything on Egypt. It’s talked about so much that people end up thinking they know a lot about it and I would actually like to learn about it. Thx

[@KistReadsBooks]

Thank you! And I did a video on a few Egyptian books I read recently, should be easy to find in the history playlist

[@HeathTimmins]

@ thank you

[@ludium_Gambit]

Awesome video! I have to say the best book I've read this year is House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski.

[@milan0762]

Favourite history book this year was definitely "the Rise of Theodore Roosevelt" by Edmund Morris, absolutely stunning biography. Definitely recommended if you haven't read it yet.

[@IngramWilliam]

"The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to the Civil War" by Joanne Freeman

[@troypeake2573]

Best history I read in the past year was Mark Bowden's "Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam.

[@mahammatbaba8666]

“Saltwater Frontier” by Andrew Lipman.

[@Sam-hg9sk]

Gotta read Severed...it's a history of beheading of all types. Just discovered your channel so pardon if you've already discussed.

[@williamjones1468]

What’s the Lego set? The coliseum?

[@KistReadsBooks]

Yep!

[@PAJama_Reads]

Race of Aces - John Bruning

[@joniheisenberg]

Have you read “The Lumumba Plot: The Secret History of the CIA and a Cold War Assassination” by Stuart A. Reid? I highly recommend.

[@KistReadsBooks]

I almost picked it up but I was about to read White Malice, hoping it covered Lumumba (which it did, in depth), but Ill grab it anyway soon

[@RyanGosling769]

you should read ''The Venture of Islam, (total 3 Volume) Book by Marshall Hodgson''

[@lolaphearse3688]

Have you read Tom Holland,and if so,what do you think of him!

[@KistReadsBooks]

Love 'em. He sacrifices some academic rigor for flair and story but I especially loved Rubicon and Dynasty by him.

[@annacalifornia6498]

Both bloodlands and nothing to envy. Had a great affect. Still hard to believe how backwards North Korea is today in 2024

[@jamescoffey2472]

Congratulations on reading 50 history books.

[@pharoahblaque]

Check out Africana by Henry Louis gates, decolonial Marxism, the destruction of a black civilization, man, God, civilization

[@Boogeymayne]

a history book on slavery that would be worth reading is how blacks invented slavery but somehow lost to the whites in terms of slavery

[@wileepeyote27]

There's no reliable evidence that any given race invented slavery. It's been a practice of human tribes probably as old as fire. The modern word is derived from the Slavic people in eastern Europe, but it's an extremely ancient horror.

[@DoingItRight53]

Exactly.