AP World Book List



Period 1 (3500 - 500 BCE)
Ancient Foundations:
  • The History of the Ancient World by Susan Wise Bauer 
Period 2 (500 BCE - 500 CE)
Christianity:
  • Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch (PERIODS 2-7)
Early Americas:
  • The Ancient Maya: New Perspectives by Heather McKillop (PERIODS 2-3)
  • A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya by David Freidel (PERIODS 2-3)
Greece:
  • A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans fought the Peloponnesian War by Victor Hansan
  • Spartans by Paul Cartledge
Han China:
  • The Establishment of the Han Empire and Imperial China by Grant Hardy and Anne Behnke Kinney
Persia:
  • Persian Fire: The First World Empire and the Battle for the West by Tom Holland
  • The Zoroastrian Tradition by Farhang Mehr
Religion:
  • A History of God by Karen Armstrong
  • The Battle for God by Karen Armstrong
Rome:
  • Carthage must be destroyed by Richard Miles 
  • Ancient Rome by Simon Baker 
  • The Fall of the Roman Empire by Peter Heather 
  • Rome: An Empires Story by Greg Woolf 

Period 3 (500 - 1000 CE)
Arab World:

  • The Caliph's Splendor: Islam and the West in the Golden Age of Baghdad by Benson Bobrick

Charlemagne:
  • Charlemagne by Derek Wilson
Crusades:
  • There will be wolves by Karleen Bradford
Islam:(*these books cover Period 2- 7)
  • The Crisis of Islam by Bernard Lewis
  • What Went Wrong by Bernard Lewis
  • Islam and the West by Bernard Lewis
  • The End of Modern History in the Middle East by Bernard Lewis
  • The Middle East: A Brief history of the last 2,000 years by Bernard Lewis
  • The Arabs in History by Bernard Lewis
  • In the Shadow of the Sword: The Birth of Islam and the Rise of Global Arab Empire by Tom Holland
  • Destiny Disrupted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes by Tamim Ansary 
  • The Great Arab Conquests: How the spread of Islam changed the world we live in by Hugh Kennedy 
  • Islam: A Short History by Karen Armstrong
Japan
  •  A Year in the Life of a Shinto Shrine by John Nelson
Mayans (period 2 and 3):
  • A Forest of Kings: The Untold Story of the Ancient Maya by David Freidel
  • Ancient Maya: New Perspectives by Heather McKillop
Silk Road:
  • Silk Road: Monks, Warriors, and Merchants by Luce Boulnis and Helen Loveday
  • Life Along the Silk Road by Susan Whitfield
  • When Asia Ruled the World by Stewart Gordon 
Tang Dynasty:
  • China's Golden Age: Everyday Life in the Tang Dynasty by Charles Benn 
Women in China:
  • The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
  • Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China by Jung Chang
  • The Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See 

Period 4 (1000 - 1500 CE)
Byzantium:
  • The Surprising Life of a Medieval Empire by Judith Herrin (PERIODS 3-4)
Exploration:
  • Uncovering the New World Columbus created by Charles C. Mann(PERIODS 4-5)
  • The Colombian Exchange: Biological and Cultural Consequences of 1492 by Alfred W. Crosby (PERIODS 4-5)
  • The Last Crusade: the Epic Voyages of Vasco da Gama by Nigel Cliff (PERIODS 4-5)
  • 1491 by Charles Mann(PERIODS 4-5)
  • Holy War by Nigel Cliff (PERIODS 4-5)
  • Marco Polo by Laurence Bergeen 
Middle Ages:
  • Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett 
  • 1215: The Year of the Magna Carta by Danny Danziger and John Gillingham (PERIODS 3-4)
  • A World Lit Only by Fire: the Medieval Mind and the Renaissance:Portrait of an Age by William Manchester   (PERIODS 3-4)
  • The Thirty Years War by C.V. Wedgwood and Anthony Grafton
  • Charlemagne by Derek Wilson  (PERIOD 3)
  • The Age of Feudalism by Timothy Levi Biel  (PERIODS 3-4)
  • The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade by Susan Wise Bauer (PERIODS 3-4)
  • Joan by  Donald Spoto
  • Holy Roman Empire by James Bryce (PERIODS 3-4)
Mongols:
  • The Blue Wolf: A Novel of the Life of Chinggis Khan by Joshua A. Fogel
  • The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of the Genghis Khan rescued his Empire by Jack Weatherford
  • Russia and The Golden Horde by Charles J. Halperin
Plague:
  • Years of Wonder: A novel of plague by Geraldine Brooks
  • The Great Mortality: An Intimate History of the Black Death, the Most Devastating Plague of All Time by John Kelly
Rome:

  • Basilica: the Splendor and the Scandal: Building St. Peter's by R.A. Scotti (PERIODS 3-5)

Turks:

  • Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World by Justin Marozzi


Period 5 (1500 - 1800)

Inquisition:
  • Incantation by Alice Hoffman

Exploration

  • Over the Edge of the World by Laurence Bergeen
  • Conquistador by Buddy Levy
  • Columbus: the four voyages by Laurence Bergeen
Ming Dynasty:
  • The Examination by Malcolm Bosse
  • Green Mountains, White Cloud: a novel of love in the Ming Dynasty by Francois Cheng
  • Stories Old and New: a Ming Dynasty Collection by Feng Menglong, Shuhui Yang, Yunqin Yang
Gunpowder Empires:
  • Seraglio by Janet Wallach (PERIODS 5-6)
  • The Mughal Throne by Abraham Eraly
Qing Dynasty:
  • Snow Flower and the Secret Fan by Lisa See
  • Wild Swans: 3 Daughters of China by Jung Chang
  • Peony in Love by Lisa See
  • Sandalwood Death: a novel by Mo Yan
  • Change by Mo Yan 
Reformation:
  • The Reformation: How a Monk and a Mallet Changed the World by Stephen Nichols
  • The Reformation by Diarmaid MacCulloch
  •  John Calvin: Pilgrim and Pastor by Robert Godfrey
  • Here I Stand: A Life of Martin Luther by Roland Bainton
Scientific Revolution:
  • Ingenious Pursuits: Building the Scientific Revolution  by Lisa Jardine
  • The Invention of Air by Steven Johnson
  • The Clockwork Universe: Isaac Newton, the Royal Society, and the Birth of the Modern World by Edward Dolnick
  • Candide and Philosophical Letters by Voltarie (PERIODS 5-6)
Slavery:
  • Roots by Alex Haley
  • African Voices of the Atlantic Slave trade  by Anne Bailey 
  • Bury my Chains by Adam Hoscshild

Tokugawa Period

  • The Samurai by Shusaku Endo


Witch Trials:

  • The Last Witch of Langenburg: Murder in a German Village  by Thomas Robisheaux
  • There will be wolves by Karleen Bradford


Period 6 (1750 - 1914)
France and Napoleon:
  • Innocent Soldier by Josef Holub
French Revolution:
  • The Days of the French Revolution by Christopher Hibbert 
  • Madame Tussaud: A Novel of the French Revolution by Michelle Moran
  • Fatal Purity by Ruth Scurr
  • Citizens: a Chronicle of the French Revolution by Simon Schama
Imperialism:
  • The Washing of the Spears: A History of the Rise of Zulu nation under Shaka and its fall in the Zulu war of 1879 by Donald Morris
  • The Scramble for Africa: White Man's Conquest of the Dark Continent from 1876 to 1912  by Thomas Pakenham
  • The Covenant by John Michener (PERIODS 6-7)
Latin America:
  • The Pinochet File: A declassified dossier on atrocity and accountability by Peter Kornbluh
Modernization and Absolutism:
  • Peter the Great: his life and world  by Robert Massie

Revolution:
  • The Age of Revolution: 1789-1848 by Eric Hobsbawn

Haitian Revolution:

  • Avengers of the New World by Laurent DuBois

 

Period 7 (1914 - present)
Afghanistan:
  • Meena, Heroine of Afghanistan: The Martyr Who Founded RAWA, the Revolutionary Association of the Women of Afghanistan by Melody Ermachild Chavis
  • Bookseller of Kabul by Asne Seierstad
  • Kite Runner by Khaleed Hosseini
  • Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaleed Hosseini
  • Swallows of Kabul by Yasmina Khadra
African Independence:
  •  Pan Africanism; the idea and the movement  by P. Olisanwuche Esedebe
African Problems:
  • The Shadow of the Sun by Ryszard Kapuscinski
  • The Long Way Home by Ishmail Beah
  • Girl Soldier  by Faith J.H. McDonnell and Grace Akallo
  • Dafur Diaries by Jen Marlowe and Aisha Bain
  • The Teeth may smile but the Heart does not forget by Andrew Rice
  • They poured fire on us from the sky by Benson Deng
  • Lost boy, lost girl: escaping civil war in Sudan by  John Bul Dau 
  • Justice on the grass: Three Rwandan journalists, their trial for war crimes and a nation's quest for redemption by Dina Temple-Raston
  •  We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families by Philip Gourevitch
  • Machete Season: the Killers in Rwanda Speak by Jean Hatzfeld
  • When Victims become killers: colonials, Nativism and the Genocide in Rwanda by Mahmood Mamdani
  • Leg to Tell Discovering God amidst The Rwandan Genocide by Immaculatte Ilibaza
  • Life laid Bare: the Survivors of Rwanda by Jean Hatzfeld
  • Land of the Thousand Hills..My life in Rwanda by Roasamond Halsey Carr
  • Bishop of Rwanda by John Rucyahana
  • The Antelope’s Strategy by Jean Hatzfield
  • Over a Thousand Hills I walk with you by Hanna Jansen
  • Rainbows End by Lauren ST. John
  • A Human Being that night by Pumla Gobodo Madikizel
  • The Power of One by Bryce Courtenay
  • Country of my Skull by Antijie Krog
  • Cry the Beloved Country by Alan Paton
  • Long Walk to Freedom by Nelson Mandela
  • Dry White Season by Andre Brinke
  • Biko cry Freedom by Donald Woods
  • God grew tired of us; a memoir by Bul Dau and John Sweeney
  • Infidel by Ayann Hirsi Ali
Communism:
  • Comrades by Robert Service (PERIODS 6-7)
  • Borderland: A Journey through the History of Ukraine by Anna Reid (PERIODS 6-7)
  • The Harvest of Sorrow: Soviet Collectivization and the Terror-Famine by Robert Conquest
  • Natasha's Dance: A cultural history of Russia by Orlando Figes (PERIODS 6-7)
  • The Whisperers: A private life in Stalin's Russa by Orlando Figes 
  • Gulag: A history  by Anne Applebaum 
  • Stalin: The court of the red tsar  by Simon Montefiore
  • The Russian Revolution by Richard Pipes (PERIODS 6-7)
  • The Long Walk: the true story of a trek to freedom: movie tie-in by Slavomir Rawicz
  • Nicholas and Alexandra by Robert Massie (PERIODS 6-7)
Current Religious Issues:
  • The Chosen by Chan Potok
General:
  • A History of the World in 100 Objects by Neil MacGregor
  • Civilization: The west and the rest  by Niall Ferguson
  • Cutting for Stone by Abraham Verghese 

Hitler:
  • In the Garden of Beasts by Erik Larson
  • The Boy who Dared by Susan Campbell Bartoletti
Holocaust:
  • Briar Rose byJanet Yolen 
  • A Lucky Child: a memoir of surviving Auschwitz as a young boy by Thomas Buergenthal
  • Without End
  • The Lost Wife by Alyson Richman 
  • The Berlin Boxing Club by Robert Sharenow
  • The Zookeepers Wife: A War Story by Diane Ackerman
Middle East:
  • Bullet of Palestine  by Howard Kaplan
  • Princess Sultana's  daughters by Jean Sasson
  • Princess Sultana's Circle by Jean Sasson 
  • My name is Iran by Davar Ardalan
  • Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafasi
  • Zoya's Story by Zoya with John Follain and Rita Cristofari
  • Lipstick Jihad by Azadeh Moaveni
  • Persian Girls: a memoir by Nahid Rachlin
  • Guests of the Ayatollah by Mark Bowden
  • Price of Honor by Jan Goodwin
  • Not without my daughter by Bett Mahmoody
  • Searching for Hassan; an American family's journey home to Iran by Terrence Ward
  • Daughter of Persia: a women's journey from her father's harem through the Islamic Revolution by Sattareh Farman
  • Behind the veil by Lydia Laube
  • From Beirut to Jerusalem by Thomas Friedman
  • Longitudes and Latitudes by Thomas Friedman
  • Prisoner of Tehran by Marina Nemat 
Terrorism:
  • Bin Laden; the man who declared war on America by Yossef Bodanski
  • Taliban by Ahmed Rsashi
  • Holy War inside the secret world of Osama Bin Laden by Peter Bergen
  • Den's of lions; memories of seven years by Terry Anderson
  • Soldiers of God by Robert Kaplan
Traditional Societies:
  • Facing the Lion: Growing up Maasai on the African Savanna  by Joseph Lekuton and Herman Viola
  • Crooked Rib by Nuruddin Farah
  •  The Forest People  by Colin Turnball
  • Facing Mount Kenya by Jomo Kenyatta
World Problems:
  • The Devil came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur by Brian Steidle and Gretchen Steidle Wallace
  • Dancing in the Glory of Monsters: The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War by Jason Stearns
  • A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park

World War I:
  • Europe's Last Summer: Who Started the Great War in 1914?  by David Fromkin 
  •  The Land without End
  • The Knock at the door: a journey through the darkness of the Armenian genocide by Margaret Ajemian 
  • A Shameful Act by Taner Akcam
  • Vergeen by Mae Merdarian 
World War II:
  • City of Thieves  by David Benioff 
  • Blood Lands: Europe between Hitler and Stalin by Timothy Snyder
  • Sarah's Key  by Tatiana de Rosnay 
  • The Whisperers: Private life in Stalin's Russia by Orlando Figes
  • Between Shades of Grey  by Ruta Sepetys
  • When my name was Keoko by Linda Sue Park 

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