David Adams

The study and teaching of Black history is under attack, but scholarship continues to explore, expand, and deepen that history in profound ways. American history. Here are 10 books that prove it.

Hope springs eternal in a season marked by profiles of crusading lawmakers, tributes to female rule breakers, deep dives into landmark protest movements, stories of rescue and survival, and studies of what it means to make amends.

The Irish novelist returns to the Holocaust, and his most successful book, with the sequel to ‘The Boy in the Striped Pajamas.’

The struggle for racial justice takes center stage this season, alongside surveys of Russian history, WWII espionage sagas, studies of white supremacist ideology in U.S. institutions, and tributes to pioneering Black Americans.

Spring brings histories of environmental disasters and journalistic crusades; accounts of epic expeditions to discover the source of the Nile and a lost city in Afghanistan; and portraits of two American political dynasties.

Major themes this season include the 2020 election, threats to democracy and liberal values, the roots of conspiracy thinking, the environmental cost of America’s eating habits, and the ongoing crusade against racial injustice.

Borman’s ‘Crown & Sceptre’ (Atlantic Monthly, Feb.) chronicles the British monarchy’s triumphs, scandals, and changes.

Fall’s histories recover the lost stories of Black pioneers; offer new takes on the Revolutionary War, the Middle Ages, the Ottoman Empire, and U.S. pacifism; and reveal secret CIA missions in Africa and Afghanistan.

Covid-19, SCOTUS, and the Navy SEALs headline this season’s offerings, along with memoirs from rising politicians, rehashes of Trump administration scandals, takedowns of the gun industry, and portraits of inequality in America.