Of Plymouth Plantation
1651 · 256 pages
Plymouth's governor kept the record of his colony year by year, calling the coast a hideous and desolate wilderness. The early chapters carry the founding myth, the closing ones turn to lament.
★ 5.8
The Books canon
Sourced and shelved.
Every book chosen by hand and annotated for why it matters.
Browse all 1,178 books or filter by subject, era, place, and author.
Browse all 1,178 books or filter by subject, era, place, and author.
History of the Franks
594 · 710 pages
Gregory, bishop of Tours, is the reason sixth-century Gaul is visible at all. He records Clovis splitting a soldier's skull over a looted vase, queens ordering assassinations, and miracles at the saints' tombs.
★ 6.4
A History of the Crusades
1951 · 336 pages
Runciman tells the Crusades from Constantinople looking west, and the men in armor come off badly. Three volumes of grand narrative build toward his verdict: one long act of intolerance in God's name.
★ 6.9
Ecclesiastical History of the English People
731 · 400 pages
In a Northumbrian monastery in 731, Bede gave the English an origin story, telling their conversion through scenes like the sparrow that flies through a warm hall and back out into the dark.
★ 7.3