Books

The best history books, according to hackers

51 history books recommended in Hacker News comments over the past year, ranked by how many separate people recommend each one.

• Most recommendedThe Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David Wengrow23 people recommend it
• Least regretCadillac Desert by Marc Reisner18 recommend, 0 criticize
• Free and lovedExtraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay11 people recommend it

All history books

• The Dawn of Everything by David Graeber and David WengrowRecommended for reshaping how people view early human societies, using recent anthropology and archaeology. Critics say it cherry-picks evidence and projects modern views onto the past.23recommend
• Cadillac Desert by Marc ReisnerPeople recommend it as the classic, readable history of how water development shaped the American West, especially California. No critic complaints appear in the quotes.18recommend
• The Box by Marc LevinsonPeople recommend it as an engaging history of the shipping container, giving perspective on containerized shipping and its wider effects.16recommend
• Sapiens by Yuval Noah HarariEngaging, sweeping history of humankind that readers say changed how they see civilization and belief. Critics say it is loose with facts, especially on prehistory.13recommend
• Chip War by Chris MillerReadable history of the chip industry that helps explain semiconductor production and geopolitics. Critics say it contains a number of factual errors.13recommend
• Showstopper! by G. Pascal ZacharyReaders call it an engaging, excellent account of building Windows NT, though it is light on technical detail and one copy had poor OCR text.12recommend
• Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles MackayRecommended for its entertaining, encyclopedic accounts of mass manias like tulip mania and its witty writing. Caveat: it is not considered a reliable historical record, as it exaggerates and sensationalizes.11recommend
• The Victorian Internet by Tom StandageA popular history of the telegraph and how it spread, recommended as an engaging read on how modern digital culture has roots in 19th-century networks.10recommend
• Blood in the Machine by Brian MerchantRecommended as a readable history of the Luddite movement and the workers who resisted industrial automation. No critics recorded.8recommend
• The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard RhodesRecommended for a character-driven history that still explains the physics clearly; readers say it reads like a novel. One caveat: many characters are hard to keep track of.8recommend
• A People's History of the United States by Howard ZinnPeople recommend it as a grounded, analytical account of US history that shows what has and hasn't worked, and some say it should be required reading.8recommend
• IBM and the Holocaust by Edwin BlackRecommended as a well-researched, instructive history of IBM's dealings during WWII, and as a starting point for readers new to the topic.7recommend
• The Origins of Efficiency by Brian PotterRecommended as a readable history of manufacturing efficiency, including the Model T path. Commenters find it a useful reference and enjoyable to read.7recommend
• The Perfectionists by Simon WinchesterRecommended as an accessible history of how precision engineering developed and how it shaped modern manufacturing. One critic found it spends too long on irrelevant detail.7recommend
• Waging a Good War: A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968 by Thomas E. RicksPraised for treating civil rights protests as military campaigns, with detail on activist training and the strategic use of nonviolence.6recommend
• Proto by Laura SpinneyRecommended as a good overview of Proto-Indo-European, covering its branches, the Yamnaya, and links to DNA archaeology and historical linguistics.6recommend
• 1491 by Charles C. MannPeople recommend it as an eye-opening, well-researched history of the Americas before Columbus that reads like a page-turner. No critical comments were recorded.6recommend
• Surveillance Valley by Yasha LevineRecommended as a documented account of the military and intelligence roots of the internet and its surveillance design.5recommend
• The Prize by Daniel YerginRecommended as the go-to history of the worldwide oil and gas industry, praised for clear explanations of its strategy and the scheming behind it.5recommend
• Humankind by Rutger BregmanReaders recommend it as a fact-based, hopeful take on human nature that is more positive than Sapiens, with examples of kindness in hard times. One reader rejects its main thesis.5recommend
• Palo Alto by Malcolm HarrisRecommended as a deep history of Silicon Valley, covering its origins back to the 1800s, dotcom-era startup failures and Amazon's later success.5recommend
• 1177 B.C. by Eric H. ClinePeople recommend it as an enjoyable, on-topic account of the Late Bronze Age collapse by a leading specialist on the subject.5recommend
• The Horse, the Wheel, and Language by David AnthonyPeople recommend it as a good starting point for learning about the Bronze Age, and describe it as interesting and pretty good.5recommend
• Salt: A World History by Mark KurlanskyReaders call it fascinating and highly recommended, and it shows how influential salt has been in human history.5recommend
• The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William ShirerPeople recommend it for its detailed account of how Nazi Germany rose and fell, and for how well it speaks to current politics. Critics say it is a struggle to read.5recommend
• The Eighth Day of Creation by Horace Freeland JudsonRecommended as a history of the makers of the revolution in biology, built from interviews with its leading scientists, and called possibly the best history of science ever written.5recommend
• The Day the Universe Changed by James BurkePeople recommend it for combining history, science and philosophy in its account of how ideas changed the world.5recommend
• The Jakarta Method by Vincent BevinsPeople recommend it as an exploration of the deliberate destruction of independent third world movements, and as a sad, unsettling account of the killings in Indonesia.4recommend
• The Color of Law by Richard RothsteinRecommended for a well researched, scholarly history of how government policy segregated America, including zoning as a tool of racial exclusion.4recommend
• The Golden Road by William DalrympleRecommended for explaining India's cultural, economic and religious influence across Eurasia before and during the Middle Ages, and for making history enjoyable to read.4recommend
• 1493 by Charles C. MannRecommended as an interesting read on the global impact of the European opening of the New World, and as further reading on the topic.4recommend
• Ignition! by John D. ClarkRecommended for an engaging look at how rocket engineers worked in the past, especially their very different safety culture.4recommend
• The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo GinzburgReaders recommend it for an unusual history that other writers rarely cover, told boldly and engagingly.4recommend
• Longitude by Dava SobelRecommended as a readable account of the challenges of inventing maritime chronometers for measuring longitude, and a story of scientific resistance to the right answer.4recommend
• The Anarchy by William DalrympleA focused, readable history of how the East India Company rose to power in India, recommended as an intro to the 18th century and a counterweight to imperial nostalgia.4recommend
• Inventing the Renaissance by Ada PalmerRecommended as complex history told with science fiction tools and infectious enthusiasm. Its tone matches the author's videos, which may not suit everyone.4recommend
• Sextant by David BarriePeople recommend it as one of the standard works on sextants, and say sextants are clever devices. Critics raised no complaints.4recommend
• The Idea Factory by Jon GertnerPeople recommend it as a worthwhile history of Bell Labs, described as an awesome book about that institution. No recurring criticisms appear in the quotes.3recommend
• The Fabric of Civilization by Virginia PostrelPeople recommend it as a fascinating, content-rich argument that cloth and textile production was among civilization's core developments.3recommend
• Console Wars by Blake HarrisPeople recommend it for its account of Sega history and David Rosen's story. One critic disputes its telling of the internal Sega conflict.3recommend
• Fire in the Valley by Paul Freiberger and Michael SwaineRecommended as a great way to become immersed in its subject, and no critics were recorded.3recommend
• Empire of the Summer Moon by S. C. GwynneRecommended as a fantastic historical account and a great read. One critic says it is badly regarded from the perspective of narrative history.3recommend
• Night Battles by Carlo GinzburgRecommended as a wild account of gangs of witches in Italy, and as an amazing read that opens a deep rabbit hole.3recommend
• SPQR by Mary BeardReaders recommend it as an informative, enjoyable survey of ancient Rome. Critics say it repeatedly calls the early list of consuls impossible.3recommend
• Against the Grain by James C. ScottPeople recommend it for its look at early states and their repeated failures, and for its solid archaeology coverage.3recommend
• 1929 by Andrew Ross SorkinPeople recommend it as a thorough account of the 1929 crash, with much of it focused on the people involved. One critic says it fills gaps the author left.3recommend
• From Dits to Bits by Herman LukoffPeople recommend it as a good, fascinating read, and a firsthand account of early computing told by someone who was there.3recommend
• Our Band Could Be Your Life by Michael AzerradRecommended for conveying the headspace of its era, a great read that leads to great listening, and parallels between bands and startups.3recommend
• War Before Civilization by Lawrence KeeleyRecommended as a grounded account of what archaeology and anthropology can reconstruct about prehistoric and pre-colonial warfare, and as a view that still reflects the field's mainstream thinking.2recommend
• Bloodlands by Timothy SnyderTwo commenters call it a good book, and no critic raised a complaint in the discussions.2recommend
• The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers by Paul KennedyPeople call it the classic book on this topic and a good treatise on why great powers rise and decline.2recommend