Episode 81: The Best History Books You Read This Year

Welcome back to Drafting the Past, and to the final episode of 2025. This episode is all about you! I asked listeners to call in and share the best history books they read in 2025, and they delivered. We've got history books covering a huge range of subjects. Some were published recently, some as long as 90 years ago. Some are about huge subjects, others about tiny places. We even let one historical novel sneak into the mix. It's a reminder that the Drafting the Past community is awesome, full of thoughtful, smart listeners who love talking about great history writing just as much as I do. In this episode, you'll hear from some of those listeners, and, if you're anything like me, you'll add a bunch of new books to your reading list.

For links to the books we talked about and a complete transcript, visit draftingthepast.com. Sign up for the Drafting the Past newsletter for updates on the show and more.