Book Riot 2022 #22: Read a history about a period you know little about
1. 
Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption 4.39 avg rating — 989,195 ratings
2. 
4. 
In a Dark Wood Wandering: A Novel of the Middle Ages
by:
Hella S. Haasse
4.09 avg rating — 2,595 ratings 
7. 
A Higher Call: An Incredible True Story of Combat and Chivalry in the War-Torn Skies of World War II
by:
Adam Makos
4.38 avg rating — 27,207 ratings 8. 
A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 3.96 avg rating — 8,810 ratings
10. 
Into the Abyss: How a Deadly Plane Crash Changed the Lives of a Pilot, a Politician, a Criminal and a Cop
by:
Carol Shaben
3.96 avg rating — 9,230 ratings 
12. 
The Killer of Little Shepherds: A True Crime Story and the Birth of Forensic Science
by:
Douglas Starr
3.86 avg rating — 5,269 ratings 13. 
Escape from Camp 14: One Man's Remarkable Odyssey from North Korea to Freedom in the West
by:
Blaine Harden
4.01 avg rating — 70,870 ratings 
15. 
The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation
by:
Elizabeth Letts
4.23 avg rating — 14,498 ratings 16. 
Sergeant Stubby: How a Stray Dog and His Best Friend Helped Win World War I and Stole the Heart of a Nation
by:
Ann Bausum
3.78 avg rating — 460 ratings 17. 
A World Lit Only by Fire: The Medieval Mind and the Renaissance: Portrait of an Age 3.83 avg rating — 12,692 ratings
18. 
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
by:
Hampton Sides
4.59 avg rating — 7,259 ratings 19. 
Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital
by:
Chris Myers Asch
4.57 avg rating — 956 ratings 
21. 
23. 
Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age
by:
Annalee Newitz
3.78 avg rating — 7,116 ratings 
25. 
White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America
by:
Nancy Isenberg
3.76 avg rating — 24,555 ratings 
29. 
Little Manila Is in the Heart: The Making of the Filipina/o American Community in Stockton, California 4.58 avg rating — 67 ratings
30. 
Philip Vera Cruz: A Personal History of Filipino Immigrants and the Farmworkers Movement
by:
Craig Scharlin
4.18 avg rating — 99 ratings 31. 
The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope
by:
Jonathan Alter
3.93 avg rating — 3,786 ratings 
33. 
Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and Bin Laden from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001
by:
Steve Coll
4.31 avg rating — 18,331 ratings 33. 
Frozen in Time: An Epic Story of Survival and a Modern Quest for Lost Heroes of World War II
by:
Mitchell Zuckoff
3.98 avg rating — 12,184 ratings 35. 
Lessons In Disaster: McGeorge Bundy And The Path To War In Vietnam 3.88 avg rating — 407 ratings
35. 
Lone Survivor: The Eyewitness Account of Operation Redwing and the Lost Heroes of SEAL Team 10
by:
Marcus Luttrell
4.34 avg rating — 99,167 ratings 
37. 
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History
by:
Chris Kyle
4.03 avg rating — 138,796 ratings 39. 
SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper
by:
Howard E. Wasdin
4.06 avg rating — 17,998 ratings 40. 
No Ordinary Dog: My Partner from the SEAL Teams to the Bin Laden Raid
by:
Will Chesney
4.55 avg rating — 2,818 ratings 41. 
The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz
by:
Erik Larson
4.30 avg rating — 132,005 ratings 41. 
No Better Friend: One Man, One Dog, and Their Extraordinary Story of Courage and Survival in WWII
by:
Robert Weintraub
4.18 avg rating — 2,132 ratings 43. 
Rescue Warriors: The U.S. Coast Guard, America's Forgotten Heroes
by:
David Helvarg
3.93 avg rating — 221 ratings 
44. 
Opium Nation: Child Brides, Drug Lords, and One Woman's Journey Through Afghanistan
by:
Fariba Nawa
3.75 avg rating — 617 ratings 46. 
The Heartbeat of Wounded Knee: Native America from 1890 to the Present
by:
David Treuer
4.23 avg rating — 6,454 ratings 46. 
The Last Girl: My Story of Captivity, and My Fight Against the Islamic State
by:
Nadia Murad
4.48 avg rating — 27,356 ratings 46. 
49. 
Farewell to Manzanar: A True Story of Japanese American Experience During and After the World War II Internment 3.71 avg rating — 19,530 ratings
49. 
49. 
Iron, Fire and Ice: The Real History that Inspired Game of Thrones
by:
Ed West
3.71 avg rating — 469 ratings 52. 
Controlling Desires: Sexuality in Ancient Greece and Rome (Praeger Series on the Ancient World)
by:
Kirk Ormand
4.08 avg rating — 36 ratings 52. 
Deep Ancestry: The Landmark DNA Quest to Decipher Our Distant Past
by:
Spencer Wells
3.88 avg rating — 704 ratings 
54. 
Fire Underground: The Ongoing Tragedy Of The Centralia Mine Fire
by:
David DeKok
3.92 avg rating — 300 ratings 
57. 
Dear John, I Love Jane: Women Write About Leaving Men for Women
by:
Candace Walsh
3.93 avg rating — 749 ratings 57. 
The Night Wanderers: Uganda's Children and the Lord's Resistance Army 4.06 avg rating — 491 ratings
57. 
The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth 4.02 avg rating — 611 ratings
60. 
Nothing Like It in the World: The Men Who Built the Transcontinental Railroad 1863-69 3.99 avg rating — 13,754 ratings
63. 
Empty Mansions: The Mysterious Life of Huguette Clark and the Spending of a Great American Fortune
by:
Bill Dedman
3.80 avg rating — 39,199 ratings 63. 
Surviving the Angel of Death: The True Story of a Mengele Twin in Auschwitz
by:
Eva Mozes Kor
4.29 avg rating — 7,850 ratings 63. 
Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia
by:
Fiona Ritchie
4.28 avg rating — 201 ratings 
66. 
One Thousand Paper Cranes: The Story of Sadako and the Children's Peace Statue
by:
Ishii Takayuki
4.18 avg rating — 1,451 ratings 66. 
The Chisholm Trail: A History of the World's Greatest Cattle Trail
by:
Sam P. Ridings
3.69 avg rating — 203 ratings 69. 
Triangle: The Fire That Changed America
by:
David von Drehle
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7,586 ratings 
69. 
The Jamestown Brides: The Untold Story of England's 'Maids for Virginia'
by:
Jennifer Potter
3.47 avg rating — 599 ratings 72. 
How to Survive a Plague: The Inside Story of How Citizens and Science Tamed AIDS
by:
David France
4.44 avg rating — 4,225 ratings 
72. 
White Gold: The Extraordinary Story of Thomas Pellow and Islam's One Million White Slaves
by:
Giles Milton
4.12 avg rating — 1,591 ratings 75. 
75. 
The Only Plane in the Sky: An Oral History of 9/11
by:
Garrett M. Graff
4.72 avg rating — 41,759 ratings 
78. 
Memphis and the Superflood of 1937: High Water Blues
by:
Patrick O'Daniel
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 7 ratings 79. 
The Poison Squad: One Chemist's Single-Minded Crusade for Food Safety at the Turn of the Twentieth Century
by:
Deborah Blum
3.93 avg rating — 4,797 ratings 
79. 
Memphis Mayhem: A Story of the Music That Shook Up the World
by:
David A. Less
3.65 avg rating — 49 ratings 82. 
The Catalpa Rescue: The gripping story of the most dramatic and successful prison break in Australian history
by:
Peter FitzSimons
4.29 avg rating — 575 ratings 
84. 
Caviar: The Strange History and Uncertain Future of the World's Most Coveted Delicacy
by:
Inga Saffron
3.78 avg rating — 169 ratings 84. 
Playing for a piece of the door: A history of garage & frat bands in Memphis, 1960-1975 by Hall, Ron (2001) Paperback
by:
Ron Hall
3.83 avg rating — 18 ratings 
86. 
Factory Girls: From Village to City in a Changing China
by:
Leslie T. Chang
3.93 avg rating — 9,485 ratings 
89. 
Afghanistan Book: A Brief History of Afghanistan: From the Stone Age to the Silk Road to Today
by:
University Press
4.14 avg rating — 42 ratings 
89. 
Fulcanelli and the Alchemical Revival: The Man Behind the Mystery of the Cathedrals
by:
Geneviève Dubois
3.50 avg rating — 44 ratings 92. 
Mr. and Mrs. Madison's War: America's First Couple and the War of 1812
by:
Hugh Howard
3.78 avg rating — 142 ratings 92. 
Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages
by:
Frances Gies
3.88 avg rating — 925 ratings 
95. 
Sea of Glory: America's Voyage of Discovery, the U.S. Exploring Expedition, 1838-1842 4.04 avg rating — 6,742 ratings
95. 
Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World
by:
Nick Bunker
3.65 avg rating — 423 ratings 
97. 
Cross and Scepter: The Rise of the Scandinavian Kingdoms from the Vikings to the Reformation
by:
Sverre Bagge
3.35 avg rating — 46 ratings 99. 
