Books like The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz

01

The Devil in the White City

Erik Larson · History

The Devil in the White City tells two stories that unfolded simultaneously in Chicago in 1893.

A kindred history read.

02

Killers of the Flower Moon

David Grann · History

In the 1920s, members of the Osage Nation in northeastern Oklahoma were being murdered.

A kindred history read.

03

Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption

Laura Hillenbrand · Biography

Unbroken follows Louis Zamperini from his juvenile delinquency in Depression-era California to the 1936 Berlin Olympics, where he ran the 5,000 meters at nineteen and briefly caught Hitler's attention.

Both dig into resilience.

04

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

William L. Shirer · History

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich is William Shirer's comprehensive account of Nazi Germany from the early career of Adolf Hitler through the defeat of the Reich in 1945.

Both dig into world war ii.

05

Endurance: Shackleton's Incredible Voyage

Alfred Lansing · History

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton led twenty-seven men into the Weddell Sea on a ship called the Endurance with the goal of crossing Antarctica on foot.

Shares leadership and resilience with The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.

06

Forged in Crisis

Nancy Koehn · History

Nancy Koehn, a historian at Harvard Business School, profiles five historical leaders who were forged — not simply demonstrated — by crisis: Ernest Shackleton, Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass, Dietrich Bonhoeffer, and Rachel Carson.

Shares leadership and resilience with The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.

07

The Hard Thing About Hard Things

Ben Horowitz · Business

The Hard Thing About Hard Things is Ben Horowitz's account of what it actually feels like to run a company through crisis.

Shares leadership and resilience with The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz.

08

Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

Ben Macintyre · History

Eddie Chapman was a safecracker, con man, and professional criminal who became Britain's most remarkable double agent during World War II.

Both dig into world war ii.

09

American Moonshot

Douglas Brinkley · History

Douglas Brinkley's American Moonshot focuses less on the engineering triumph of Apollo 11 than on the political decision that made it possible: John F.

Both dig into leadership.

10

Behind the Beautiful Forevers: Life, Death, and Hope in a Mumbai Undercity

Katherine Boo · History

Behind the Beautiful Forevers is Katherine Boo's account of three years spent in Annawadi, a Mumbai slum built on reclaimed land next to the international airport.

Both dig into resilience.

11

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin

Timothy Snyder · History

Bloodlands is Timothy Snyder's account of the territories between Nazi Germany and the Soviet Union — principally Poland, Ukraine, Belarus, and the Baltic states — where the two regimes' violence overlapped between 1933 and 1945.

Both dig into world war ii.

12

Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World

Jack Weatherford · History

Jack Weatherford's argument is that Genghis Khan has been badly misread by history.

Both dig into leadership.