Books like

Books like The Johnstown Flood

12 books with a reading profile close to The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough. Outward-looking and clear-cut; a moderate read.

1

The Longest Day: June 6, 1944

by Cornelius Ryan

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Cornelius Ryan reconstructs the D-Day invasion by weaving together hundreds of individual accounts from Allied and German soldiers, as well as French civilians.
2

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic

by Tom Holland

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Tom Holland chronicles the collapse of the Roman Republic, beginning with the rise of Sulla and concluding with the establishment of the principate under Augustus.
3

In the Kingdom of Ice: The Grand and Terrible Polar Voyage of the USS Jeannette

by Hampton Sides

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

In 1879, Lieutenant George De Long led the USS Jeannette toward the North Pole, fueled by the incorrect scientific theory of an Open Polar Sea.
4

Kon-Tiki

by Thor Heyerdahl

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Thor Heyerdahl documents his 1947 expedition to prove that ancient South Americans could have settled Polynesia.
5

We Were Soldiers Once... and Young: Ia Drang - The Battle that Changed the War in Vietnam

by Harold G. Moore

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Lieutenant General Harold G.
6

Ten Days in a Mad-House

by Nellie Bly

Also clear-cut · history, narrative

In 1887, journalist Nellie Bly feigned insanity to secure a commitment to the Women’s Medical College on Blackwell’s Island.
7

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements

by Sam Kean

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Sam Kean organizes the history of the world through the chemical elements, moving beyond the sterile rows of the periodic table to reveal the human chaos behind scientific discovery.
8

The Rape of Nanking: The Forgotten Holocaust of World War II

by Iris Chang

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Iris Chang chronicles the 1937 massacre of Chinese civilians and prisoners of war by the Imperial Japanese Army following the fall of Nanking.
9

Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture

by Ross King

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

In 1418, the architects of Florence faced a structural crisis: the massive central opening of the Santa Maria del Fiore cathedral remained uncovered, as no known building method could support a dome of such scale withou…
10

The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War

by Erik Larson

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

Erik Larson chronicles the five months between Abraham Lincoln’s election and the surrender of Fort Sumter.
11

13 Hours: The Inside Account of What Really Happened In Benghazi

by Mitchell Zuckoff

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

On September 11, 2012, Islamic militants attacked a United States State Department mission and a nearby CIA Annex in Benghazi, Libya.
12

Hitler's Gift

by Jean Medawar, David Pyke

Also outward-looking and clear-cut · history, narrative

In 1933, the Civil Service Law stripped Jewish academics of their positions, dismantling Germany’s global dominance in science and physics.

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