Basic Books Father’s Day Reading List

A "marvelous" (Economist) account of how the Christian Revolution forged the Western imagination.

"This lively, capacious history of Christianity emphasizes the extent to which the religion still underpins Western liberal values." —New Yorker

From Paleolithic flax to 3D knitting, explore the global history of textiles and the world they weave together in this enthralling and educational guide.

“We are taken on a journey as epic, and varying, as the Silk Road itself… [The Fabric of Civilization is] like a swatch of a Florentine Renaissance brocade: carefully woven, the technique precise, the colors a mix of shade and shine and an accurate representation of the whole cloth.” —New York Times

This unsettling and illuminating history reveals how Germany’s fractured republic gave way to the Third Reich, from the formation of the Nazi party to the rise of Hitler.

"Masterly...While Hitler's First Hundred Days is laden with lessons for contemporary political observers (let alone students of any era of modern political history), Fritzsche is not a prisoner of the moment. He has instead made a substantial contribution to the historical scholarship on Nazi Germany." —New Criterion

An award-winning historian recounts the history of American liberty through the stories of thirteen essential documents.

"Smart...As historian, Mr. Brookhiser understands the varied standards and qualities of the American experience and interprets its growth with skill and understanding. And as journalist, he performs a key service: joining the ideals and episodes together, defining the theme that makes the United States exceptional." —Wall Street Journal

“Epic in its scale, fearless in its scope” (Hampton Sides), this masterfully told account of the American West from a two-time Pulitzer Prize finalist sets a new standard as it sweeps from the California Gold Rush and beyond.

"Lively...[Brands] knows how to write in a popular style that draws us in and holds our interest...[He] also pauses to make some thought-provoking insights, which round out the narrative and present his subject in a fresh light...An engaging, eminently readable introduction." —Wall Street Journal

The definitive history of the Cold War and its impact around the world.

"[An] epic account...One reason Mr. Westad's narrative is so strong is its use of fresh archival sources from across the globe...How Big Was the Cold War? is easy to answer: It was huge, as this book demonstrates, not only because of the perilous stakes but also because of the size of the two main actors. How Deep Was the Cold War? is also easy to answer, and Mr. Westad does that so very well, showing how it reached into so many places in the world that were a long way from the Berlin Wall." —Wall Street Journal

The definitive biography of Napoleon — hailed as “magnificent” by The Economist.

"It is the outstanding merit of Adam Zamoyski's fine new biography, Napoleon: A Life, that he insists on treating his subject as neither a superman nor a monster, but as a creature of his troubled age...Zamoyski gives us...a vivid sense of Napoleon as a protean chancer, outwardly self-confident as any man who ever lived, inwardly always wondering when his 'star' would finally set." —New York Review of Books

The essential history of the extraordinary year in which American democracy and American slavery emerged hand in hand in colonial Virginia.

"Horn's elegant story-telling and plain prose, supported by a wealth of scholarship and knowledge of the founding of Virginia, provide an easily read journey in time as we are introduced to the details of Virginia's early decades." —Roanoke Times

A definitive account of World War II by America’s preeminent military historian.

"An extraordinary array of facts and statistics, [The Second World Wars] offers an account of the fatalism of war." —New Yorker

From an eminent scholar of the American South, the first full-scale biography of Thomas Jefferson since 1970. "Magisterial...perhaps the finest one-volume biography of an American president." —Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post

The first book to bring to life the influential friendship between Malcolm X and Muhammad Ali.

"[An] absorbing and provocative new book... An engrossing and important book." —David Margolick, Wall Street Journal

A groundbreaking history demonstrating that America’s economic supremacy was built on the backs of slaves.

"The overwhelming power of the stories that Baptist recounts, and the plantation-level statistics he's compiled, give his book the power of truth and revelation." —Los Angeles Times

The thrilling and definitive history of World War I in the Middle East.

"A remarkably readable, judicious and well-researched account of the Ottoman war in Anatolia and the Arab provinces." —Mark Mazower, Financial Times

The provocative and authoritative history of the origins of Christian America in the New Deal era.

"A deftly detailed history of Christianity's service to capitalism in the United States." —New Republic

Experience one of the greatest adventure stories of the modern age: The harrowing tale of British explorer Ernest Shackleton's 1914 attempt to reach the South Pole.

"One of the most gripping, suspenseful, intense stories anyone will ever read." —Chicago Tribune

A masterwork of economic and political history, and a radically new perspective on the recent past, The Reckoning compels us to see how accounting is an essential instrument of great institutions and nations-and one that, in our increasingly transparent and interconnected world, has never been more vital.

"The Reckoning demonstrates how financial transparency and accounting--essential for capitalism and our global economy--are linked with political transparence and accountability." —Pittsburgh Tribune-Review

A history of the American Constitution’s formative decades from a preeminent legal scholar.

“Deeply probing, highly readable… insightful, and at times surprising… Amar strongly suggests that America as a whole — through its great national conversation — did more to draft the Declaration of Independence than Jefferson, and more to write the Constitution than Madison…. In addition to educating Americans engaged in discussion about their rich constitutional legacy, the book has a generous spirit that can be a much-needed balm in these troubled times.” —New York Times

The definitive history of the Vikings — from arts and culture to politics and cosmology — by a distinguished archaeologist with decades of expertise.

"A thrilling read....The stereotype of the Viking that we know from history books and popular media is here dismantled and presented anew by Mr. Price in all its wonderful, terrifying complexity and ambiguity. By clarifying the long-reaching effects of Scandinavian influence, Children of Ash and Elm brings a dramatically altered understanding of the Viking Age to a wider international audience." —Wall Street Journal

Move over, Moneyball — this New York Times bestseller examines major league baseball’s next cutting-edge revolution: the high-tech quest to build better players.

"In The MVP Machine, Lindbergh and Sawchik make a convincing, and faith-restoring, case that genuine, unadulterated miracles can happen in baseball."—Washington Post

A fists-up handbook for helping dads help their daughters resist the patriarchy, written by popular feminist dad blogger Mike Adamick.

"[Raising Empowered Daughters is] a leap into the expanse of change, a free fall into courageous conversation." —Mo Tester, host of Parenting is Political