I will choose “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson - This book explores a wide range of scientific topics, including the history of the universe, Earth, and humanity, in an entertaining way.
My two favorite history books are:
Eyewitness to History - It’s a collection of hundreds of first-hand accounts of historical events dating back to ancient times. Great reading. This is a great gateway history book, as the variety of topics kind of helps a budding history buff figure out exactly where their interests lie.
A People’s History of the United States - It’s the history of the US written from the perspective of the losers, so if you were raised in an American public school, there are a lot of new things you will learn.
As to some specific subjects, “The Tragedy of the Templars” by Michael Haag was a really interesting and easy to follow account of the creation of the knights Templar and an introductory account of the crusades who/why/when/how and I think a great jumping off point to almost any direction after that concerning that period of time.
“The Norman Conquest” and “The Anglo-Saxons”by Marc Morris are point by point based histories of England before and after 1060 AD, it’s very thorough but read carefully will teach you from the ground up what happened and a lot you never knew. Fascinating facts about the English language before and after Normans flooded the place.
“Henry VIII and the Men who Made him” by Tracey Borman is not your usual six wives etc etc portrait of Henry but a look into the people and forces that shaped him and the decisions he made. Highly recommend because that set me off into reading so much about Cromwell and becoming a Cromwell apologist/enthusiast.
“Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford was so interesting, it’s a fairly short book about who the Mongols were and what they really accomplished beyond the flat descriptor that they were only killers and barbarians. This one I can’t recommend enough since it has so many talking points about the Mongols beyond the normal tropes.
I probably have more on my shelves I’ve read if anyone is interested:)
Anything by Tony Horwitz or David McCullough.
The Prize: The Epic Quest for Oil, Money, and Power
from Wikipedia:
Daniel Yergin’s history of the global petroleum industry from the 1850s through 1990.
Written by one of the foremost U.S. authorities on energy, it is a major work in the field, replete with enough insight to satisfy the scholar and sufficient concern with the drama and colorful personalities in the history of oil to capture the interest of the general public. Though lengthy, the book never drags in developing its themes: the relationship of oil to the rise of modern capitalism; the intertwining relations between oil, politics, and international power; and the relationship between oil and society in what Yergin calls today’s age of “Hydrocarbon Man”.
The Story of Civilization, by Will Durant. I could not finish it, but planning to.
PS. “A Short History of Nearly Everything” by Bill Bryson - I love this book. I read it couple of years ago and enjoyed it.
Oh, another fun one is Legends, Lies, and Cherished Myths of World History by Richard Shenkman. It’s both fun AND informative.
