Shining Stars | The Best History Books of the Year (So Far)

Delve into the past and learn lessons for today.

Anthony, Carl Sferrazza. Camera Girl: The Coming of Age of Jackie Bouvier Kennedy. Gallery. May 2023. 400p. ISBN 9781982141875. $29.99.

Carter, Dan T. Unmasking the Klansman: The Double Life of Asa and Forrest Carter. NewSouth. Apr. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9781588384812. $28.95.

Clavin, Matthew J. Symbols of Freedom: Slavery and Resistance Before the Civil War. NYU. Jun. 2023. 288p. ISBN 9781479823246. $29.95.

Crawford, Susan. Charleston: Race, Water, and the Coming Storm. Pegasus. Apr. 2023. 336p. ISBN 9781639363575. $28.95.

Egan, Timothy. A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan’s Plot To Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them. Viking. Apr. 2023. 432p. ISBN 9780735225268. $30.

Eig, Jonthathan. King: A Life. Farrar. May 2023. 688p. ISBN 9780374279295. $35.

Kix, Paul. You Have To Be Prepared To Die Before You Can Begin to Live: Ten Weeks in Birmingham That Changed America. Celadon. May 2023. 400p. ISBN 9781250807694. $30.

Mantler, Gordon K. The Multiracial Promise: Harold Washington’s Chicago and the Democratic Struggle in Reagan’s America. Univ. of North Carolina. Mar. 2023. 366p. ISBN 9781469673868. pap. $29.95.

McManus, John C. To the End of the Earth: The US Army and the Downfall of Japan, 1945. Dutton Caliber. (World War II in the Pacific, Bk. 2). May 2023. 448p. ISBN 9780593186886. $35.

McShea, Bronwen. La Duchesse: The Life of Marie de Vignerot—Cardinal Richelieu’s Forgotten Heiress Who Shaped the Fate of France. Pegasus. Mar. 2023. 408p. ISBN 9781639363476. $28.95.

Montefiore, Simon Sebag. The World: A Family History of Humanity. Knopf. May 2023. 1344p. ISBN 9780525659532. $45.

Rady, Martyn. The Middle Kingdoms: A New History of Central Europe. Basic. May 2023. 640p. ISBN 9781541619784. $36.

Schlögel, Karl. The Soviet Century: Archaeology of a Lost World. Princeton Univ. Mar. 2023. 928p. tr. from German by Rodney Livingstone. ISBN 9780691183749. $39.95.

Stapinski, Helene & Bonnie Siegler. The American Way: A True Story of Nazi Escape, Superman, and Marilyn Monroe. S. & S. Feb. 2023. 384p. ISBN 9781982171667. $28.99.

Steinberg, Jonny. Winnie and Nelson: Portrait of a Marriage. Knopf. May 2023. 576p. ISBN 9780525656852. $35.

Stille, Alexander. The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune. Farrar. Jun. 2023. 432p. ISBN 9780374600396. $30.

Whitaker, Mark. Saying It Loud: 1966—The Year Black Power Challenged the Civil Rights Movement. S. & S. Feb. 2023. 400p. ISBN 9781982114121. $28.99.

White, Ralph. Getting Out of Saigon: How a 27-Year-Old Banker Saved 113 Vietnamese Civilians. S. & S. Apr. 2023. 320p. ISBN 9781982195175. $28.99.

Williams, Kidada E. I Saw Death Coming: A History of Terror and Survival in the War Against Reconstruction. Bloomsbury. Jan. 2023. 384p. ISBN 9781635576634. $30.

Zimmerman, James M. The Peking Express: The Bandits Who Stole a Train, Stunned the West, and Broke the Republic of China. PublicAffairs: Perseus. Apr. 2023. 352p. ISBN 9781541701700. $30.

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