I'm currently making my way through The Third Reich Trilogy as an audiobook and it is hands down the best researched, most in-depth piece of history I've ever read / listened to.

Evans must have spent half his life in primary sources and uses that research to great effect. The book includes many diary and newspaper extracts from the time for example (including liberal use of Goebbels diary) and goes into detail in all sorts of areas that paint a very clear picture of everyday life in Germany at the time.

It's long (around 90 hours audio or over 2000 pages) but I have learned so much from it.

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[–] dgdft@lemmy.world 4 points 3 days ago

Best General-ed goes to A History of the Popes by O’Malley. It’s a great throughline that touches on a massive swath of western history and adds depth to common narratives of the church. (You can probably skip it though if you’re the type who already has strong opinions on the Council of Calcedon or papal investiture.)

Best Prose goes to The Power Broker by Caro. Too much ink spilled on that one for me to do it justice, but suffice it to say it’s a widely-cited nominee for greatest all-time nonfiction works.

Best Insight goes to Hamalainen’s Comanche Empire. I don’t have enough praise for this one: It’s the story of the Comanches from ~1600-1900, but has wider insights that tie into empire and culture on a global level. Highly recommend as a paired reading with McCarthy’s Blood Meridian.