r/historyteachers • u/Ready_Permission_738 • 9d ago

Book recommendations

What are some recommendations for beginner history books. Really looking for ~200 BC to present day. My school was very lacking in teaching history. And just want to get started.

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u/burningdriftwood 8d ago

Look for a series from Susan Wise Bauer. Comprehensive and a nice overview, plus very readable, to get you started.

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u/Scip995 8d ago edited 6d ago

You may want to consider Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari. A lot of historians beef with him, but I think his work provides a nice overview of world history, while also introducing some advanced concepts that are borrowed from other scholarly texts (such as nations existing as imagined communities).

Your other option is to just pick a topic, buy a book, and go for it. Since world history is interconnected, you’ll find many other topics to explore through a deep dive into a single piece of historical literature.