Books like

Books like The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45

12 books with a reading profile close to The Pianist: The Extraordinary Story of One Man's Survival in Warsaw, 1939–45 by Władysław Szpilman. Deep, inward-looking and contemplative; a moderate read.

1

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

by Eugene B. Sledge

Also deep · history, memoir

Eugene B.
2

The Nazi Officer's Wife: How One Jewish Woman Survived the Holocaust

by Edith Hahn Beer

Also inward-looking and contemplative · history, memoir

In 1942, Edith Hahn, a Jewish law student from Vienna, escaped deportation by assuming the identity of a Christian woman named Grete Denner.
3

War's Unwomanly Face

by Svetlana Alexievich

Also deep and inward-looking · history, memoir

Svetlana Alexievich interviewed hundreds of Soviet women who served in the Red Army during World War II as snipers, tank drivers, pilots, and field surgeons.
4

Life of Black Hawk, Ma-ka-tai-me-she-kia-kiak

by Black Hawk

history, memoir

In this 1833 autobiography, Sauk leader Black Hawk recounts his military life and the territorial disputes leading to the Black Hawk War.
5

I'm Still Here: Black Dignity in a World Made for Whiteness

by Austin Channing Brown

Also inward-looking · history, memoir

Austin Channing Brown narrates her life navigating predominantly white religious and corporate organizations, beginning with the story of how her parents chose her name to ensure she would reach the interview stage of e…
6

Unorthodox: The Scandalous Rejection of My Hasidic Roots

by Deborah Feldman

Also inward-looking · history, memoir

Deborah Feldman details her youth within the Satmar Hasidic community in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, a world defined by strict gender roles and the trauma of the Holocaust.
7

First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

by Loung Ung

Also inward-looking · history, memoir

In 1975, five-year-old Loung Ung lived a comfortable life in Phnom Penh as the daughter of a high-ranking government official.
8

Black Boy

by Richard Wright

Also deep and inward-looking · history, memoir

Richard Wright’s memoir documents his youth in the Jim Crow South and his eventual migration to Chicago.
9

Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl

by Harriet Ann Jacobs

Also deep and inward-looking · history, memoir

Harriet Ann Jacobs writes under the pseudonym Linda Brent to chronicle her life as an enslaved woman in North Carolina.
10

Infidel

by Ayaan Hirsi Ali

history, memoir

Infidel follows Ayaan Hirsi Ali’s life from her childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya to her career as a Dutch parliamentarian.
11

Homage to Catalonia

by George Orwell

history, memoir

George Orwell recounts his personal involvement in the Spanish Civil War, specifically his time serving within the POUM militia on the Aragon front and in Barcelona.
12

Assata: An Autobiography

by Assata Shakur

history, memoir

Assata Shakur recounts her life as a member of the Black Panther Party and the Black Liberation Army, structured around her 1973 arrest on the New Jersey Turnpike and subsequent imprisonment.

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