Books like

Books like Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad

12 books with a reading profile close to Symphony for the City of the Dead: Dmitri Shostakovich and the Siege of Leningrad by M.T. Anderson. Clear-cut; a moderate read.

  1. 1 The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

    The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper

    by Hallie Rubenhold

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    Hallie Rubenhold reconstructs the biographies of Polly Nichols, Annie Chapman, Elizabeth Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly, shifting the historical focus away from their murderer.

  2. 2 Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

    Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

    by Kate Clifford Larson

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    Kate Clifford Larson reconstructs the life of Rosemary Kennedy, the eldest daughter of Joe and Rose Kennedy, who was born with intellectual disabilities.

  3. 3 The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

    The Woman They Could Not Silence: One Woman, Her Incredible Fight for Freedom, and the Men Who Tried to Make Her Disappear

    by Kate Moore

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    In 1860, Elizabeth Packard’s husband committed her to the Illinois State Hospital for the Insane because she challenged his religious authority and asserted her intellectual independence.

  4. 4 The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

    The Zookeeper's Wife: A War Story

    by Diane Ackerman

    history, biography

    Jan and Antonina Zabinski managed the Warsaw Zoo during the 1939 German invasion of Poland.

  5. 5 The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World

    The Escape Artist: The Man Who Broke Out of Auschwitz to Warn the World

    by Jonathan Freedland

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    In April 1944, Rudolf Vrba and Alfréd Wetzler hid in a hollowed-out woodpile for three days before slipping past the outer perimeter of Auschwitz.

  6. 6 Mornings on Horseback

    Mornings on Horseback

    by David McCullough

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    David McCullough chronicles the formative years of Theodore Roosevelt, focusing on the two decades between 1869 and 1886.

  7. 7 A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II

    A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II

    by Sonia Purnell

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    Sonia Purnell chronicles the life of Virginia Hall, an American woman who overcame a prosthetic wooden leg and deep-seated institutional sexism to become a critical operative for the British Special Operations Executive…

  8. 8 Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"

    Barracoon: The Story of the Last "Black Cargo"

    by Zora Neale Hurston

    history, biography

    In 1927, Zora Neale Hurston traveled to Plateau, Alabama, to interview Oluale Kossola, known as Cudjo Lewis.

  9. 9 Careless Love

    Careless Love

    by Peter Guralnick

    history, biography

    This volume documents the final two decades of Elvis Presley’s life, beginning with his 1958 military service in Germany and concluding with his death in 1977.

  10. 10 Roots

    Roots

    by Alex Haley

    history, biography

    Alex Haley reconstructs his family lineage starting with Kunta Kinte, a Mandinka youth abducted from West Africa in 1767 and sold into chattel slavery in Maryland.

  11. 11 Marie Antoinette: The Journey

    Marie Antoinette: The Journey

    by Antonia Fraser

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    Antonia Fraser reconstructs the life of the last Queen of France, moving from her childhood as an Austrian archduchess to her execution during the French Revolution.

  12. 12 A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck

    A Marriage at Sea: A True Story of Love, Obsession, and Shipwreck

    by Sophie Elmhirst

    Also clear-cut · history, biography

    In 1973, Maurice and Maralyn Bailey departed England on a small yacht, seeking an alternative to the stagnant routines of suburban life.

Get picks matched to your own reading on papr.

Get papr

Your library, beautifully understood.

papr turns your books into a reading persona, chapter insights you can listen to, and a quiet way to find people who think like you. Free to join.

Get papr — it's free
Download on the App Store Get it on Google Play