Top Hacker News Book Recommendations in History (all time)

All Time Past 6 Months

Metropolis: A History of the City, Humankind's Greatest Invention

Ben Wilson

4.5 on Amazon

6 HN comments

In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

Erik Larson, Stephen Hoye, et al.

4.5 on Amazon

6 HN comments

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York

Deborah Blum

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

These Truths: A History of the United States

Jill Lepore and Recorded Books

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex

Nathaniel Philbrick

4.6 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead

Jim Mattis, Bing West, et al.

4.7 on Amazon

6 HN comments

Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest

Stephen E. Ambrose

4.8 on Amazon

5 HN comments

A World Undone: The Story of the Great War, 1914 to 1918

G. J. Meyer, Robin Sachs, et al.

4.7 on Amazon

5 HN comments

The Emperor's Handbook: A New Translation of The Meditations

Marcus Aurelius , David Hicks, et al.

4.7 on Amazon

4 HN comments

The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine

Lindsey Fitzharris

4.8 on Amazon

4 HN comments

White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America

Nancy Isenberg

4.4 on Amazon

4 HN comments

The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt

Edmund Morris, Mark Deakins, et al.

4.7 on Amazon

4 HN comments

The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal

David E. Hoffman

4.7 on Amazon

4 HN comments

The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance

Ron Chernow, Robertson Dean, et al.

4.5 on Amazon

4 HN comments

The Vietnam War: The Definitive Illustrated History

DK and Smithsonian Institution

4.8 on Amazon

3 HN comments

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lsniddyonNov 20, 2015

also, Philbrick's "In the heart of the sea", about to be released as a movie on Dec 11, is an excellent read and an amazing story

ngmaloneyonNov 20, 2015

He also wrote In The Heart of the Sea which is an incredible read about an ill fated crew sailing out of Nantucket.

ToddonNov 22, 2011

The book "In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" by Nathaniel Philbrick is great, BTW.

randletonJan 13, 2021

I heartily recommend "In The Heart Of The Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex" if anyone is interested in learning more about Nantucket whaling. It is a captivating true story that talks about the characters and culture involved in the whaling community. It is also apparently the story that inspired Melville to write Moby Dick.

ycom13__onDec 25, 2015

My 5 favorite ones I read this year

  In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
  Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
  To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War by Jeff Shaara 
  Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
  The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

All 21 books I read are here https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10785428

ycom13__onDec 23, 2015

Here are all the ones I read this year

  A Dance with Dragons (A Song of Ice and Fire) by George R. R. Martin
  A Feast for Crows: A Song of Ice and Fire (Game of Thrones) by George R.R. Martin
  The Confident Speaker: Beat Your Nerves and Communicate at Your Best in Any Situation by Harrison Monarth
  House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewsk
  To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War by Jeff Shaara 
  Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
  Becoming Steve Jobs: The Evolution of a Reckless Upstart into a Visionary Leader by Brent Schlender
  George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution by Brian Kilmeade
  Think Like a Freak: The Authors of Freakonomics Offer to Retrain Your Brain by Steven D. Levitt
  Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
  Finders Keepers: A Novel by Stephen King
  The Guns of August: The Pulitzer Prize-Winning Classic About the Outbreak of World War I by Barbara W. Tuchman
  The Wright Brothers by David McCullough
  Seveneves: A Novel by Neal Stephenson
  The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson
  Hitler's Last Day: Minute by Minute by Emma Craigie
  The Girl on the Train by Paula Hawkins
  Robopocalypse: A Novel (Vintage Contemporaries) by Daniel H. Wilson
  Robogenesis by Daniel H. Wilson
  In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick

My 5 favorite ones from that list are

  In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick
  Elon Musk: Tesla, SpaceX, and the Quest for a Fantastic Future by Ashlee Vance
  To the Last Man: A Novel of the First World War by Jeff Shaara 
  Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik Larson
  The Wright Brothers by David McCullough

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