BookRank

Best History books

The 16 highest-rated History books, scored from 4.6K reader ratings.

Show single booksShow series
16 results
By year of first publication, 1656–2021. The busiest stretch is 2000–2049, with 9. Select a bar to narrow the list.
  1. Empire of Pain
    1
    8.88.8 / 10
    Empire of PainPatrick Radden Keefe360 ratings
  2. First They Killed My Father
    2
    8.48.4 / 10
    First They Killed My FatherLoung Ung66 ratings
  3. A People's History of the United States
    3
    8.38.3 / 10
    A People's History of the United StatesHoward Zinn367 ratings

Why Empire of Pain is #1

Empire of Pain (Patrick Radden Keefe) scores 8.8/10 from 360 ratings — 0.4 points ahead of First They Killed My Father in second place.

The score is a weighted average across 3 independent rating sources. A title with few ratings is pulled toward the category average, so a handful of enthusiastic reviews cannot outrank a book that thousands of readers have judged. Method →

  1. The Gene: An Intimate History
    The Gene: An Intimate HistorySiddhartha Mukherjee · 2016169 ratings
    8.38.3 / 10
  2. Twelve years a slave
    Twelve years a slaveSolomon Northup · 1853NYT bestseller72 ratings
    8.28.2 / 10
  3. 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
    1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before ColumbusCharles C. Mann · 2005228 ratings
    8.28.2 / 10
  4. The Dawn of Everything
    The Dawn of EverythingDavid Graeber · 2021NYT bestseller173 ratings
    8.28.2 / 10
  5. The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat
    The Man Who Mistook His Wife for a HatOliver Sacks · 1985567 ratings
    7.97.9 / 10
  6. The Ascent of Money
    The Ascent of MoneyNiall Ferguson · 200898 ratings
    7.87.8 / 10
  7. A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court
    A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's CourtMark Twain · 1889217 ratings
    7.87.8 / 10
  8. Hit Refresh
    Hit RefreshSatya Nadella · 2017NYT bestseller72 ratings
    7.77.7 / 10
  9. The Book of Tea
    The Book of TeaOkakura Kakuzō · 190672 ratings
    7.67.6 / 10
  10. The Crying of Lot 49
    The Crying of Lot 49Thomas Pynchon · 1966437 ratings
    7.67.6 / 10
  11. 1Q84
    1Q84Haruki Murakami · 2010NYT bestseller896 ratings
    7.57.5 / 10
  12. The Buried Giant
    The Buried GiantKazuo Ishiguro · 2015NYT bestseller387 ratings
    7.57.5 / 10
  13. Julius Caesar
    Julius CaesarWilliam Shakespeare · 1656Filmed 2012451 ratings
    7.57.5 / 10

Frequently asked questions

What is the best History book?

Empire of Pain (Patrick Radden Keefe) — 8.8/10 from 360 ratings, in the snapshot of September 21, 2026.

How many History books are ranked here?

16, published between 1656 and 2021, scored from 4.6K reader ratings in total.

Which title here has the most ratings?

1Q84 (Haruki Murakami) — 896 ratings and 7.5/10, which puts it at #14 on this list.

How is the score calculated?

A raw average rewards obscurity: five readers who loved a book would outrank a classic held by a hundred thousand. We use a Bayesian weighted average that pulls every title toward the category mean until enough readers have voted.

How often it updates

Ratings are re-fetched every 3 months and stored as a dated snapshot, which is how the trend arrows and “biggest risers” are calculated.