Books like Book of Ages by Jill Lepore

A compelling overview of American history through the eyes and experiences of its women, workers, African Americans, Native Americans, immigrants, and the working poor.

Ishmael Beah’s memoir chronicles his harrowing journey from a nine‑year‑old rebel fighter in Sierra Leone’s civil war to a survivor rehabilitated by UNICEF and later a storyteller traveling the United States.

In Tehran, Azar Nafisi secretly hires seven female students each week to read banned Western classics, revealing the personal and political struggles of women under Iran’s revolutionary regime.

Jill Lepore uncovers how Simulmatics Corporation, founded in 1959, pioneered data‑driven political and consumer targeting—serving Kennedy’s campaign, the New York Times, and the Department of Defense—laying groundwork for today’s digital manipulation tools.

David McCullough chronicles the daring brothers who, in 1903, achieved the first human‑powered flight on the Outer Banks of North Carolina, revealing their ingenuity, determination, and the family support that drove their success.

A kid‑friendly biography of Benjamin Franklin, highlighting his achievements as a statesman, inventor, and printer during America’s early years.

Laura Ingraham examines Hillary Rodham Clinton’s political career, arguing that her success reflects compromise and sacrifice rather than empowerment, and explores how this model may limit women’s progress.

Margaret Atwood's Moral Disorder and Other Stories explores the interconnected lives of characters from various generations, showcasing her storytelling gifts and personal insights.

Carmen Bin Ladin, a half‑Swiss, half‑Persian woman, recounts her marriage into the powerful Bin Ladin family, her life under strict Saudi customs, her fight for her daughters and her personal awakening amid the family’s ties to Saudi royalty.

An in‑depth nonfiction examination of Thomas Jefferson’s complex relationships with the women in his life, from early courtships to marriage, flirtations, and the contested partnership with Sally Hemings.

June Jordan’s *Affirmative Acts* is a powerful collection of essays that interrogates America’s social, economic, racial, and political tensions, urging readers to confront injustice and inspire change.

A comprehensive look at history's role and the contributions of women to it.

In her powerful new book, critically acclaimed author Melissa Febos examines the narratives women are told about what it means to be female and what it takes to free oneself from them. When her body began to change at eleven years old, Febos understood immediately that her meaning to other people had changed with it. By her teens, she defined herself based on these perceptions and by the romantic relationships she threw herself into headlong. Over time, Febos increasingly questioned the stories she'd been told about herself and the habits and defenses she'd developed over years of trying to meet others' expectations. The values she and so many other women had learned in girlhood did not prioritize their personal safety, happiness, or freedom, and she set out to reframe those values and beliefs. Blending investigative reporting, memoir, and scholarship, Febos charts how she and others like her have reimagined relationships and made room for the anger, grief, power, and pleasure women have long been taught to deny. Written with Febos' characteristic precision, lyricism, and insight, Girlhood is a philosophical treatise, an anthem for women, and a searing study of the transitions into and away from girlhood, toward a chosen self.