The last five years of world history have been nothing if not...eventful. When living in interesting times, there's nothing better for maintaining a sense of perspective than taking a look back at the past.
When looking at the most popular recent histories and biographies, readers have been engrossed in a huge variety historical accounts, from the last days of Chernobyl to a harrowing account of murder in 1970s Northern Ireland to the shocking history of 19th-century surgery.
Below are Goodreads members' 40 most popular histories and biographies of the last five years. These books are ranked in order of total reader reviews, and all of the books on this list have at least a 3.5-star average rating.
