Books like Massacre at the Palace by Jonathan Gregson

Stephen Hawking explains the fundamental physics of the universe—space, time, cosmology, black holes, and the Big Bang—in clear, accessible language.

Jared Diamond explains how geography, biology, and human ingenuity shaped the world’s unequal societies in his Pulitzer‑winning study of civilization and social evolution.

During World War II, a foster girl in Nazi Germany steals books to share with neighbors and a hidden Jewish man, proving literature’s power to nourish the soul amid darkness.

The Kite Runner follows an unlikely friendship between a privileged boy and the son of his father’s servant amid Afghanistan’s turbulent history, exploring betrayal, redemption, and the father‑son bond.

Sisters Vianne and Isabelle are pulled into the turmoil of World War II, each forging a path of courage and resistance against the Nazi occupation of France.

A spirited young traveler arrives at Emperor Akbar’s court with a tale of a mysterious, enchantress woman whose story travels to Florence, juxtaposing the hedonistic Mughal capital with the sensual High Renaissance city.

Elizabeth and Mary is a dual biography of England’s Elizabeth I and Scotland’s Mary, Queen of Scots, exploring their rivalry, political strategies, and personal dynamics as sisters‑in‑law and rivals for the English throne.

Janice Hadlow’s biography paints King George III as an earnest, family‑driven monarch, revealing his attempts at a loving marriage and stable home amid the turmoil of Hanoverian royalty.

A harrowing portrait of life amid the siege of Sarajevo where everyday survival becomes a moral crucible and the human spirit is tested by war’s relentless cruelty.

A Royal Affair is a captivating biography of King George III of Great Britain, focusing on his sister Caroline and her tumultuous life under her royal duties. It explores the reign of a king known as the mad monarch and reveals the story of his tumultuous siblings and the changing world of monarchy. The book delves into the scandalous stories of King George's brothers and Caroline's affair with a radical doctor, providing a vivid and intimate account of the Georgian world of dynastic marriages and radical ideas.

The book is not written in German, as it now says in your comments, but in the original Latin. It includes all 16 books of Saxo's work. The pdf-format numbers 816 pages, well scanned. The volume was edited by Alfred Holder (1840-1916), a German librarian and philologist.

Examines all aspects of Catherine the Great's life and career, focusing on her role as mother, lover, and ruler during her reign as Empress of Russia from 1762 to 1796. The first authoritative, popular biography of one of the most colorful characters in modern history, Catherin the Great provides a vivid portrait of Catherin as a mother, a lover, and, above all, an extremely savvy ruler. Concentrating on her long reign (1762-96), John T. Alexander examines all aspects of Catherine's life and career: the brilliant political strategies by which she earned the acceptance of a nationalistic elite; her expansive foreign policy; the domestic reforms she used to revamp the Russian military, political structure, and economy; and, of course, her infamous love life. The result of twenty years' research by one of America's leading narrative historians of modern Russia, this truly impressive work offers a much-needed, balanced reappraisal of one of history's most scandal-ridden figures.

The true story of Josiah Harlan, the first American to enter Afghanistan, who trekked the Hindu Kush, raised the U.S. flag, and proclaimed himself Prince of Ghor, inspiring Rudyard Kipling’s classic tale.

Roxelana, a Ruthenian Christian girl who became a captured slave, rose to the unique position of Ottoman queen, wielding diplomatic and administrative influence during Suleiman I’s reign.