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Nonfiction Reading List
Recommended and Approved for AP World History
NF-6 NONFICTION - Period 6 - 1900 to present - BOOKS FOR FIRST SEMESTER
Beah, Ishmael. A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier. True story of a boy soldier in Sierra Leone. 240 p.
Chang, Jung Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China. Fabulous story of 3 generations of women in China. ***
Follain, John. Zoya's Story: An Afghan Woman's Struggle for Freedom. Tells of a woman’s clandestine resistance against the Taliban in Afghanistan. 256p.
Friedman, Tom, The World is Flat. Shows how interconnected the world has become with new technology and digital advances, led often not by corporations, but also individuals. ***
Gourevitch, Philip. We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families: Stories from Rwanda. Tales of genocide in Rwanda. Is incredibly depressing and moving.
Hitchcock, William I. The Bitter Road to Freedom. An examination of the lives of civilians after the end of WWII
Hoffer, Eric. The True Believer. Nature of mass movements, a key aspect of the 20th and 21st century.
Huntington, Samuel The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. Discusses increasing threat of violence from renewed conflicts between cultures that base traditions on religious faith and dogma.
Keylor, William. The Twentieth-Century World. Big structures of diplomacy, alliances, & trade in the century.
Kinser, Stephen. A Thousand Hills: Rwanda's Rebirth and the Man Who Dreamed It. Balanced look at events leading up to the 1994 genocide (and earlier "practice" ones) and life after it in Rwanda. ***
Kurlansky, Mark. 1968: The Year That Changed the World. An engaging look at life in 1968 and how events around the world, as far apart as the US and Poland, were interconnected. ***
MacMillan, Margaret. Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the War. Fascinating look at events during the conference that ended WWI. Presents a different hypothesis on causes leading to WWII.
McNeill, John. Something New Under the Sun: An Environmental History of the 20th Century. Prize winning book about the dramatic changes in the world’s environment in the last century.
Roberts, J.M. Twentieth Century. One of the best one-volume accounts on the past century.
Sacco, Joe. Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992 - 1995. Examines life in war torn Bosnia during the early 1990s and the break up of the region. Graphic novel.
Palestine. Graphic novel of life in Israel & Occupied Territories during the first Intifada.
Satrapi, Marjane. Persepolis. A brief memoir in pictures (cartoon) about growing up in 1980s Tehran.
Wolff, Eric. Peasant Wars of the Twentieth Century. Notes parallels in the Chinese, Russian, and other revolutions.
Wong, Jan. Red China Blues. Canadian-Chinese student at end of Cultural Revolution. Good account of Tiananmen Square.
Wrong, Michela. I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation. Compelling account of the recent history of Eritrea (since the turn of the century) and its neighbors and colonizers. ***
NF-1 NONFICTION - Period 1 - 8000 BCE to 600 BCE BOOKS FOR FIRST SEMESTER
Diamond, Jared. Guns, Germs, and Steel: the Fates of Human Societies. One theory for European dominance, skip Part 4.
Lerner, Gerda. Creation of Patriarchy. Multi-causal theory to explain development of the patriarchal system.
Teresi, Dick. Lost Discoveries: The Ancient Roots of Modern Science--from the Babylonians to the Maya. Traces technology and science in Foundations period (and a little beyond). Math and science heavy.
NF-2 NONFICTION - Period 2 - 600 BCE to 600 CE BOOKS FOR FIRST SEMESTER
Armstrong, Karen. The Great Transformation. Fascinating look at the changes in major belief systems in India, China and the Middle East from 900 BCE to 200 BCE.
Bentley, Jerry. Old World Encounters: Cross-Cultural Contacts & Exchanges in Pre-Modern Times.A look at early societies trading patterns and the exchanges that occurred culturally as well.
NF-3 NONFICTION - Period 3 - 600 CE –1450 CE BOOKS FOR FIRST SEMESTER
Abu-Lughod, Janet L. Before European Hegemony: The World System A.D. 1250-1350. One theory of world systems and the existence of a world trading system before 1450.
Bednarski, Steven. A Poisoned Past: The Life and Times of Margarida de Portu, a Fourteenth Century Accused Poisoner. Not to everyone’s taste, but if you are interested in how historians take evidence and draw conclusions, this is your book.
Bovill, Edward W., and Hallett, Robin. The Golden Trade of the Moors: West African Kingdoms in the Fourteenth Century. Looks at the gold and salt trade of the Islamic Kingdoms of West Africa.
Chambers, James. The Devil's Horsemen: The Mongol Invasion of Europe. Excellent. ***
Chaudhuri, K.N. Asia before Europe: Economy and Civilization of the Indian Ocean from the Rise of Islam to 1750. Explores the interactions in the regions around and beyond the Indian Ocean.
Coe, Michael. Mexico: From the Olmecs to the Aztecs. Great source from the premier researcher on this region.
Dunn, Ross E. The Adventures of Ibn Battuta: A Muslim Traveler of the 14th Century. An excellent review of the world up to 1400, especially Dar al Islam. Can also read Ibn Battuta in Black Africa for a shorter version.
Fagan, Brian. The Great Warming: Climate Change and the Rise and Fall of Civilizations. Looks at the period from 800-1300 when temperatures rose dramatically, and its impact.
Gies, Frances and Joseph. Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages. Discusses Europe's rise to technological leadership and their non-European sources of many of their inventions.
Gordon, Stewart. When Asia Was the World: Traveling Merchants, Scholars, Warriors, and Monks Who Created the "Riches of the "East." Entertaining tales of various travelers (some well-known) from 700-1500 in Asia.
Levathes, Louise, When China Ruled the Seas: The Treasure Fleet of the Dragon Throne 1405-1433 The tale of Chinese emperor and his admiral’s seven major naval expeditions to India, Indonesia, and Africa.
Starr, S. Frederick. Lost Enlightenment: Central Asia's Golden Age from the Arab Conquest to Tamerlane. Examines the cultural contributions (including science) from Central Asia and examines the reasons leading up to it and why it stopped.
Weatherford, Jack. Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World. The Mongols and their legacy. Can also read Mongol Queens.
NF-4 NONFICTION - Period 4 - 1450 CE –1750 CE BOOKS FOR SECOND SEMESTER
Barendse, Rene J. The Arabian Seas: The Indian Ocean World of the Seventeenth Century. Focuses on trade.
Braudel, Fernand. The Mediterranean and the Mediterranean World in the Age of Philip II. The Mediterranean in the 1500s, explaining the environment’s role in rise of the Ottomans, how Egyptians made iced drinks, etc.
Brook, Timothy. Vermeer’s Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World. A look at intercultural connections in the Age of Vermeer via Vermeer’s paintings.
Butler Greenfield, Amy. A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage and the Quest for the Color of Desire. An interesting look at how artists and tailors got red, including a look at cochineal and its impact on the world.
Crosby, Alfred. The Colombian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492. Ultimate work on this event. Discusses the exchange of foods, diseases and ideas between the Americas and Europe. ***
Curtin, Philip D. The Atlantic Slave Trade: A Census. Seminal work on the Atlantic slave trade.
The Rise and Fall of the Plantation Complex. Pioneering study of plantation societies in the Americas.
Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. 1492: They Year the World Began. A examination of the world-wide events leading up to and beyond Columbus' voyage to the Americas.
Mann, Charles. 1491. Great read on new findings about pre-Colombian America. ***
1493. Also a good read on new (and old) findings about the Columbian Exchange and its global impacts.
Milton, Giles. Samurai William. A English sailor rises to prominence in the court of the reigning Shogun, Ieyasu.
Northrup, David. Africa's Discovery of Europe 1450-1850. African view on encounters with Europeans.
Pagden, Anthony. Lords of All the World: Ideologies of Empire in Spain, Britain and France C.1500-C. 1800. Describes different theories colonial powers used to justify seizure & subjugation of aboriginal lands & peoples.
Thornton, John. Africa and Africans in the Making of the Atlantic World, 1400 - 1800. Offers an Afrocentric perspective on the Atlantic world and the slave trade.
Weatherford, Jack. Indian Givers: How the Indians of the Americas Transformed the World. Compelling read on the legacy of Native Americans.
Willis, John. 1688. Entertaining read about this time period around the world. ***
The World from 1450 to 1700. Interesting read focusing on key themes during this time period.
NF- 5 NONFICTION - Period 5 - 1750 CE –1900 CE - BOOKS FOR SECOND SEMESTER
Blaufarb, Rafe and Liz Clark Inhuman Traffick: the International Struggle against the Transatlantic Slave Trade: A Graphic History. Graphic history about the movement to end the slave trade.
Brown, L. Carl ed. Imperial Legacy: The Ottoman Imprint on the Balkans and the Middle East. Good book on Ottomans.
Chaudhuri, Nupur and Margaret Strobel. Western Women and Imperialism: Complicity and Resistance. Examines the role of women in imperialism.
Cocker, Mark. Rivers of Blood, Rivers of Gold: Europe's Conquest of Indigenous Peoples. Impact of imperialism in Mexico, Tasmania, the land of the Apaches, and the tribes of southwest Africa.
Curtin, Philip D. The World and the West: The European Challenge and the Overseas Response in the Age of Empire. Case studies of the interaction of Western societies of Europe & America with others around the world.4
Davis, Michael. Late Victorian Holocausts: El Nino Famines and the Making of the Third World – Sad tale of the connection between El Niño, famines and imperialism. ***
Getz, Trevor and Liz Clarke. Abina and the Important Men. Graphic history about an 1876 court case. ***Headrick, Daniel R. The Tools of Empire: Technology & European Imperialism in the 19th Century; An examination of the technologies that made imperialism possible and how those technologies came about. 221 pgs
Tentacles of Progress: Technology Transfer in the Age of Imperialism. Impact of technology transfer.
Hochschild, Adam. King Leopold's Ghost. Account of megalomaniac King of Belgium, his cruelty and those who fought him after unexpectedly finding themselves witness to a holocaust.
Kertzer, David I. The Kidnapping of Edgardo Mortara. Fascinating examination of anti-Semitism in Italy at the time of rising Italian nationalism and its global implications.
Loewen, James W. Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong. Only read this one if US history is vague for you. Discusses revisionism.
BOOKS FOR EITHER SEMESTER
NF-7 NONFICTION - Cross Era Histories (Generally focused on one region or theme)
Ahmed, Leila. Women and Gender in Islam. Thorough treatment of women in Islam throughout history. ***
Anderson, Benedict. Imagined Communities: Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism - a bit slow but has useful information on nationalism and its spread.
Ansary, Tamim. Games without Rules: The Often Interrupted History of Afghanistan. Entertaining tale of the history of Afghanistan from the 18th C until present day.
Armstrong, Karen. Islam: A Short History. Interesting look at the development of Islam & societies that adopted it.
Bender, Thomas. Rethinking American History in a Global Age. US history from a global perspective.
Benton, Lauren. Law and Colonial Cultures: Legal Regimes in World History, 1400-1900. Discusses how legal regimes shaped modern imperialism and the international order.
Chasteen, John Charles. Born in Blood and Fire: A Concise History of Latin America. An interesting view of Latin American history from Conquest to the present.
Crosby, Alfred. Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of Europe, 900-1900. Examines world history during from an environmental perspective, trying to explain why Europe dominated the world. ***
Curtin, Philip, et al. African History: From Earliest Times to Independence. Survey of African history.
Cushman, Gregory T. Guano and the Opening of the Pacific World. Interesting environmental and economic examination of the impact of guano.
Davies, Norman. Europe: A History. History of the continent from pre-history to the end of the Soviet Union.
Diamond, Jared. Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed. Environmental theory on why societies fail.
Ehret, Christopher. The Civilizations of Africa: A History to 1800. Pre-colonial history of Africa.
Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. Millennium: A History of the Last Thousand Years. History of the world from the 10th century to the present. Examines the West's domination of global affairs, its inevitability and future.
Figes, Orlando. Natasha's Dance: A Cultural History of Russia. Russian culture and things that influenced it.
Grove, Richard. Green Imperialism: Colonial Expansion, Tropical Island Edens and the Origins of Environmentalism, 1600-1860. Origins of environmentalism in European colonial policy & practice.
Hoerder, Dick. Cultures in Contact: World Migrations in the Second Millennium. History of migrations.
Lewis, Bernard. The Muslim Discovery of Europe. Covers contact between Europe and the Muslim world.
Lieberman, Victor. Strange Parallels: Volume 1, Integration on the Mainland: Southeast Asia in Global Context, c. 800-1830. Connects Southeast Asia’s development to that of the world.
Lovejoy, Paul E. Transformations in Slavery: A History of Slavery in Africa. Discusses the often-ignored Islamic African slave trade, as well as other slavery within and without Africa.
McNeill, J. R. Mosquito Empires: Ecology and War in the Greater Caribbean, 1620-1914. Compelling, if
heavy in biology, read on the role of ecology (in particular that associated with mosquitoes that carried
Yellow Fever and malaria) and disease had in the conquest of the Caribbean, the revolutionary or
independence movements and how the diseases were vanquished.
Mottahedeh, Roy. The Mantle of the Prophet: Religion and Politics in Iran. Historical examination of Iran – leading up to the Islamic Revolution and a little beyond.
Pearson, Michael. Port Cities and Intruders: The Swahili Coast, India, and Portugal in the Early Modern Era. A thorough study of the interactions of these areas and peoples.
Reader, John. Africa: A Biography of the Continent. A great survey that uses vignettes about Africa!
Waley-Cohen, Joanna. Sextants of Beijing: Global Currents in Chinese History. An enjoyable and accessible, book that puts to rest the myth that China was unchanging and cut off from the rest of the world. ***
Watson, Andrew. Agricultural Innovation in the Early Islamic World. Discusses the “Islamic Exchange” across Eurasia and the Americas, including citrus fruits, rice, cotton, sugar and improved irrigation.
Wilson, Samuel M. The Emperor's Giraffe and Other Stories of Cultures in Contact. Historical contact stories.
Wolff, Eric. Europe and the People without History. Different perspective on history, favored by AP. *** 240pp
BOOKS FOR EITHER SEMESTER
NF-8 NONFICTION - World Histories
Ansary, Tamim. Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes. Presents a very different perspective and periodization of history from the perspective of the Islamic world (or the Middle World- not Middle East).
Armstrong, Karen. A History of God: The 4,000-Year Quest of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. The history of how people have perceived and experienced God from the time of Abraham to the present.
Fields of Blood: Religion and the History of Violence. Examination of the role (perceived vs. actual) of religion in the conflicts of the world's history.
Bray, R. S. Armies of Pestilence: The Effects of Pandemics on History. Looks at pandemics and their impact.
Christian, David. This Fleeting World: A Short History of Humanity. A brief but sweeping view of human history, focus on the part discussing 8000 BCE to the present (The Agrarian Era).
Crosby, Alfred. Throwing Fire: Projectile Technology through History. Look at hard, accurate throwing and the manipulation of fire as unique human capabilities. 218 p.
Children of the Sun: A History of Humanity's Unappeasable Appetite for Energy. A look at society’s use of energy and how dwindling resource should give us pause, but also hope with our adaptability.
Curtin, Philip. Cross-Cultural trade in World History A single theme is pursued in this book - the trade between peoples of differing cultures through world history
Fernandez-Armesto, Felipe. Civilizations: Culture, Ambition, and the Transformation of Nature. Explaining success & failure in environmental adaptation.
Pathfinders: A Global History of Exploration. Looks at human exploration around the world along with scientific, technological, political and economic implications.
Findley, Carter. Turks. Looks at the Turkic peoples of Central Asia and their impact on world history.
Keay, John. India: A History. History of India from 3000 BCE to 1998.
Keegan, John. A History of Warfare. World history of warfare including technology
Kurlansky, Mark. Cod: A History of a Fish that Changed the World History of cod. ***
Nonviolence: 25 Lessons from the History of a Dangerous Idea. Looks at nonviolence (or missed opportunities for the practice it) throughout history.
Salt: A World History. History of salt and its by-products. You’ll get hungry! ***
Marks, Robert. The Origins of the Modern World: Fate and Fortune in the Rise of the West. Brief examination of reasons for European domination, alternative to Diamond. ***
McClellan, James and Harold Dorn. Science and Technology in World History. Good world-wide
examination.
McNeill, William. Plagues and Peoples Study of role of disease in world history by one of the first world historians.
McNeill, William and McNeill J. R. (Father and son). The Human Web: A Bird’s Eye View of World History. Exploration of the connections that have drawn humans together since earliest times by two leading historian.
Pacey, Arnold. Technology in World Civilization. Excellent source on technology.
Pomeranz, Kenneth and Topik, Steven. The World that Trade Created: Society, Culture, & the World Economy Great short stories about economics, trade, and history. ***
Ponting, Clive. A Green History of the World: The Environment and the Collapse of Great Civilizations. Discusses world history through an environmental lens.
Reynolds, Jonathan and Gilbert, Erik. Africa in World History. Looks at world history from an African lens.
Stearns, Peter. Cultures in Motion. Brief examination of cross-cultural interactions and exchanges in world history, including major religions, migrations, nationalism, imperialism and consumerism. Neat maps.
Toussaint-Samat, Maguelonne. The History of Food. Comprehensive (i.e. long) look at the history of gathering, hunting, meat, dairy products, sugar, chocolate, sugar, coffee, tea, etc. Each major food has its own chapter.
Winchester, Simon. Atlantic: Great Sea Battles, Heroic Discoveries, Titanic Storms, and a Vast Ocean of a Million Stories. Broad examination of the history of humans on the Atlantic Ocean
Wright, Donald. The World and a Very Small Place in Africa. Engaging study of the expanding global economy as it affects one town and surrounding villages in West Africa. Excellent for APWH. ***
Yergin, Daniel. Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, And Power. Traces the history of oil.
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