đ» Cornell History unofficial reading list, fall 2026
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Freshman level
Introduction to the Ottoman Empire HIST 1561
- A Short History of the Ottoman Empire by Renée Worringer
- The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk
African American History from 1865 HIST 1595
- Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction & Beyond in Black America, 1945-2006 by Manning Marable
U.S. History through Literature HIST 1770
- Quicksand by Nella Larsen
- âïž Hiroshima by John Hersey
- âïž The Fire Next Time by James Baldwin (my highlights)
- Borderlands / La Frontera: The New Mestiza by Gloria AnzaldĂșa
- The Office of Historical Corrections by Danielle Evans
Recreating the Caribbean: Migration & Identity in Contemporary Caribbean History HIST 1976
- A Concise History of the Caribbean by B.W. Higman
American History from 1500 to 1800 HIST 1985
- American Colonies: The Settling of North America by Alan Taylor
Sophomore level
From the New Deal to the Age of Reagan HIST 2220
- The Rise of Conservatism in America, 1945-2000 by Story & Laurie
- Backlash: The Undeclared War Against American Women by Susan Faludi
- The Great Exception: The New Deal and the Limits of American Politics by Jefferson Cowie
- My Soul is Rested: The Story of the Civil Rights Movement in the Deep South by Howell Raines
- Rivethead: Tales from the Assembly Line by Ben Hamper
- Lyndon B. Johnson and American Liberalism by Bruce Schulman
- Suburban Warriors: The Origins of the New American Right by Lisa McGirr
Plague, Prisons & Print in 18th-century London HIST 2259
- A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe
- The Beggarâs Opera by John Gay
- The Smoke of London: Energy and Environment in the Early Modern City by William M. Cavert
- Hubbub: Filth, Noise & Stench in England, 1600-1770 by Emily Cockayne
Histories of the African Diaspora HIST 2317
- The Americans Are Coming!: Dreams of African American Liberation in Segregationist South Africa by Robert Trent Vinson
- Jah Kingdom: Rastafarians, Tanzania & Pan-Africanism in the Age of Decolonization by Monique A. Bedasse
- All That She Carried: The Journey of Ashleyâs Sack, a Black Family Keepsake by Tiya Miles
From Terra Incognita to Territories of Nation-States: Early American History in Two Dozen Maps HIST 2391
- Mapping the Nation: History & Cartography in 19th-Century America by Susan Schulten
- How to Lie with Maps by Mark Monmonier
Medicine & Healing in China HIST 2562
- Chinese Medicine & Healing by Hinrichs & Barnes
- Early Chinese Medical Literature: The Mawangdui Medical Manuscripts by Donald Harper
Ancient Greek History HIST 2650
- A Brief History of Ancient Greece: Politics, Society & Culture by Pomeroy et al.
American Political Thought HIST 2655
- The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. Du Bois
- Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
- The Federalist by Hamilton et al.
- American Political Thought by Kramnick & Lowi
- Lincoln: Political Writings & Speeches
The American Revolutionary Era HIST 2665
- American Revolutions: A Continental History, 1750-1804 by Alan Taylor
The History & Politics of Modern Egypt HIST 2672
- Ordinary Egyptians: Creating the Modern Nation through Popular Culture by Ziad Fahmy
- Modern Egypt: The Formation Of A Nation State by Arthur Goldschmidt Jr.
Sex, Drugs & Experimenting with Democracy in 1960s & 1970s America HIST 2680
- America Divided: The Civil War of the 1960s by Isserman & Kazin
Mughal India & the Early Modern World, c. 1500-1800 HIST 2749
- A Short History of the Mughal Empire by Michael H. Fisher
- The Empires of the Near East & India: Source Studies of the Safavid, Ottoman & Mughal Literate Communities by Hani Khafipour
- The Baburnama: Memoirs of Babur, Prince & Emperor
Ten Technologies That Shook the World? HIST 2881
- Trinity: A Graphic History of the First Atomic Bomb by Jonathan Fetter-Vorm
- Technology Matters: Questions to Live With by David E. Nye
Junior level
Remembering Socialism: Literature & Film After the End of History HIST 3012
- Free: A Child & a Country at the End of History by Lea Ypi
- Omon Ra by Victor Pelevin
- The Girl from the Metropol Hotel: Growing Up in Communist Russia by Ludmilla Petrushevskay
- Red Plenty by Francis Spufford
- The Ministry of Pain by Dubravka Ugresic
Women, War & Peace in Europe, 1900-1950 HIST 3662 (su26)
- A History of Fascism, 1914â1945 by Stanley G. Payne
- An Interrupted Life: The Diaries of Etty Hillesum 1941-43
- Behind the Lines: Gender & the Two World Wars by Higonnet et al.
- Changing Lives: Women in European History Since 1700 by Bonnie G. Smith
- Fascism and the Right in Europe 1919-1945 by Martin Blinkhorn
- Letters From Westerbork by Etty Hillesum
- Lives & Voices: Sources in European Womenâs History by DiCaprio & Wiesner
- Partisan Diary: A Womanâs Life in the Italian Resistance by Ada Gobetti
- Testament of Youth by Vera Brittain
- Women in 20th-Century Europe by Ann Taylor Allen
Monsoon Kingdoms: Pre-Modern Southeast Asian History HIST 3950/6950
- A History of Early Southeast Asia: Maritime Trade & Societal Development, 100â1500 by Kenneth R. Hall
- Southeast Asia in the Age of Commerce, 1450-1680: v.2, Expansion & Crisis by Anthony Reid
Senior level
Intro. to Historical Research HIST 4000
- Silencing the Past: Power & the Production of History by Michel-Rolph Trouillot
- Tackyâs Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War by Vincent Brown
- Firsting & Lasting: Writing Indians out of Existence in New England by Jean M. OâBrien
- American Lucifers: The Dark History of Artificial Light, 1750â1865 by Jeremy Zallen
Contesting Identities in Modern Egypt HIST 4091
- Sacred Language, Ordinary People: Dilemmas of Culture & Politics in Egypt by Niloofar Haeri
- Ordinary Egyptians: Creating the Modern Nation through Popular Culture by Ziad Fahmy
- Karnak Café by Naguib Mahfouz
- A Border Passage: From Cairo to America â A Womanâs Journey by Leila Ahmed
- Industrial Sexuality: Gender, Urbanization & Social Transformation in Egypt by Hanan Hammad
- An Incurable Past: Nasserâs Egypt Then and Now by MĂ©riam N. Belli
- Egypt in the Future Tense: Hope, Frustration, and Ambivalence before & after 2011 by Samuli Schielke
- Identifying with Nationality: Europeans, Ottomans & Egyptians in Alexandria by Will Hanley
- Nile Nightshade: An Egyptian Culinary History of the Tomato by Anny Gaul
Contesting Votes: Democracy & Citizenship Throughout U.S. History HIST 4203
- The Second Founding: How the Civil War & Reconstruction Remade the Constitution by Eric Foner
Environmental Justice: Past, Present, Future HIST 4262
- Discourse on Colonialism by Aimé Césaire
- The Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler
- Toxic Bodies: Hormone Disruptors & the Legacy of DES by Nancy Langston
- As Long as Grass Grows: The Indigenous Fight for Environmental Justice, from Colonization to Standing Rock by Dina Gilio-Whitaker
- The Commons in History: Culture, Conflict & Ecology by Derek Wall
- The Poisoned City: Flintâs Water & the American Urban Tragedy by Anna Clark
- Climate Futures: Reimagining Global Climate Justice by Bhavnani et al.