Private History

From one of the most beloved authors of our time—more than six million copies of his books have been sold in this country alone—a fascinating excursion into the history behind the place we call home. “Houses aren’t refuges from history. They are where history ends up.” Bill Bryson and...

England's Tudor monarchs - Henry VII, Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I, and Elizabeth I - are perhaps the most celebrated and fascinating of all royal families in history. Their love affairs, their political triumphs, and their overturning of the religious order are the subject of countless works of popular scholarship. But for all we know about Henry's quest for male heirs or Elizabeth's purported virginity, the lives of the Tudor monarchs away from the public eye remain largely beyond our grasp, mostly not chronicled by previous historians.

This is the story of Mark Twain's brief career as a Confederate soldier at the beginning of the American Civil War. Mark Twain's "private history" is told from the viewpoint of "someone who set out to do something in the war, but didn't". What starts out as a kind of class reunion/camping trip quickly becomes a series of frightful near misses with a determined and deadly foe, and ends in painful, premature death for some and a lifetime of guilty regrets for others.

Winner of the 2025 Audie Award for Multi-Voiced Performance A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “Absolutely gripping.” —The Washington Post “A masterpiece of oral history…stirring, surprising, grim, joyous, moving, and always riveting.” —Evan Thomas From the New York Times...

For the first time ever, the intimate thoughts and political decisions of Abraham Lincoln’s entire presidency - day by day. In a startlingly innovative format, journalist Stephen A. Wynalda has constructed a painstakingly detailed day-by-day breakdown of president Abraham Lincoln’s decisions in office - including his signing of the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862; his signing of the legislation enacting the first federal income tax on August 5, 1861; and more personal incidents like the day his 11-year-old son, Willie, died.

Steve Coll investigates the largest and most powerful private corporation in the United States, revealing the true extent of its power. ExxonMobil’s annual revenues are larger than the economic activity in the great majority of countries. In many of the countries where it conducts business...

From David Graeber, the bestselling author of The Dawn of Everything and Debt—“a master of opening up thought and stimulating debate” (Slate)—a powerful argument against the rise of meaningless, unfulfilling jobs…and their consequences. Does your job make a meaningful contribution to...

*VANITY FAIR'S BEST BOOKS OF 2025*ONE OF NEW REPUBLIC'S BOOKS OF THE YEAR*KIRKUS' BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE YEAR 2025*ONE OF AV CLUB'S BEST BOOKS OF 2025* "[An] indictment of an industry that has cannily tilted the playing field in its favor. Bad Company details how clichéd abstractions like...

Historical Books of the Bible What if the Bible’s historical accounts were never meant to answer only what happened—but to expose why it happened? What if behind every battle won, throne lost, city burned, and exile endured stood a deliberate God shaping history through covenant, obedience, and human choice? This book confronts a shocking reality: when the theological meaning of biblical history is ignored, Scripture is reduced to stories instead of divine explanations for real-world outcomes. Many readers struggle with the historical books because they appear violent, repetitive, or ...

In this deeply researched and vivid account, Cyril Marlen uncovers the astonishing role pigeons played in the most destructive conflict of the twentieth century. Radios could be jammed, batteries failed in freezing cold, and transmissions risked interception. But pigeons, guided only by instinct and loyalty to their home lofts, rose into the air and carried messages across battlefields, seas, and occupied territories. Their journeys were often short, sometimes perilously long, but always fraught with danger from bullets, hawks, storms, and exhaustion.

On a beautiful summer day, crowds lined up outside a theater witness a sudden act of extreme road rage: a tap on a fender triggers a nearly homicidal attack. Jackson Brodie, ex-cop, ex-private detective, new millionaire, is among the bystanders. The event thrusts Jackson into the orbit of the...

North Korea is one of the most troubled societies on earth. The country's 24 million people live under a violent dictatorship led by a single family, which relentlessly pursues the development of nuclear arms, which periodically incites risky military clashes with the larger, richer, liberal South, and which forces each and every person to play a role in the "theater state" even as it pays little more than lip service to the wellbeing of the overwhelming majority.

At daybreak on April 6, 1862, Confederate forces launched a bold suprise attack on the Union army, encamped in southwestern Tennesse. The battle of Shiloh, also known as the battle of Pittsburg Landing, would prove to be the bloodiest battle up until that point in United Staes history. The two day battle would cost a staggering 23,000 casualties. Both sides were stunned at the appalling loss of life. At the time, neither realized that three more years of such bloodshed were still to come.

#1 New York Times Bestseller The inspiration for the Netflix series streaming now! “A revealing look at life inside the White House. . . it’s Downton Abbey for the White House staff.”— The Today Show A remarkable history with elements of both In the President’s Secret Service and The...

Drawing on a huge range of sources - letters, memoirs, conversations - Orlando Figes tells the story of how Russians tried to endure life under Stalin. Those who shaped the political system became, very frequently, its victims. Those who were its victims were frequently quite blameless. The Whisperers recreates the sort of maze in which Russians found themselves, where an unwitting wrong turn could either destroy a family or, perversely, later save it: a society in which everyone spoke in whispers - whether to protect themselves, their families, neighbours or friends - or to inform on them.

Explores in depth how Greenland and its surroundings were inhabited for nearly 5 centuries by two Nordic colonies, Vestri-bygd and Eystri-bygd Shares extensive evidence from the still-living indigenous oral tradition of the Far North as well as surviving sculptural art to show how the...

Darya Saltykova was a Russian noblewoman who exercised near-absolute authority over the people bound to her estates. For years, violence unfolded within that private world, sustained by serfdom, silence, and a system that treated suffering as an internal matter. In The Lady of the Estate, Alana Sanchez examines Saltykova’s case not as an isolated act of cruelty, but as a study of private power. Drawing on petitions, legal process, and the political context of Catherine II’s Russia, this book traces how abuse persisted, why intervention was delayed, and how punishment ultimately served ...

Only Mark Twain, with his wry humor, would weigh in on a military campaign's failure and delight his listeners with a different take on the evils of war and the damage it can cause.

A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK FINALIST FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR NONFICTION “Riveting . . . a powerful snapshot of four young Chinese women attempting to assert control over the direction of their lives.” —The New York Times Book Review “As powerfully intimate as it is politically...

For centuries, millions have been drawn to the stories of Marian apparitions—visions of the Virgin Mary that promise divine messages, peace, and hope. These extraordinary encounters have shaped faith, sparked controversy, and transformed cultures across the globe. But what lies behind the stories of these mystical experiences? What makes a vision credible—and what makes it controversial? Exploring Marian Apparitions takes you deep into the heart of this fascinating subject, offering a clear-eyed, balanced examination of the most famous apparitions throughout history. From Lourdes to ...