Recommendations based on Marie Antoinette: The Journeyby Antonia Fraser

* statistically, based on millions of data-points provided by fellow humans

  1. The Six Wives of Henry VIII

    by Alison Weir
    A historical account of the tumultuous lives of Henry VIII's six wives, their political and religious struggles.

    The tempestuous, bloody, and splendid reign of Henry VIII of England (1509-1547) is one of the most fascinating in all history, not least for his marriage to six extraordinary women. In this ... (Goodreads)

  2. The Life of Elizabeth I

    by Alison Weir
    Biography of the influential 16th-century English queen, detailing her rise to power and rule.

    NEW YORK TIMES, BESTSELLER Perhaps the most influential sovereign England has ever known, Queen Elizabeth I remained an extremely private person throughout her reign, keeping her own counsel and ... (Goodreads)

  3. Mary Queen of Scots

    by Antonia Fraser
    Biography of Mary Stuart, Queen of Scots, and her tumultuous life as a monarch in 16th century Scotland and England.

    She was the quintessential queen: statuesque, regal, dazzlingly beautiful. Her royal birth gave her claim to the thrones of two nations; her marriage to the young French dauphin promised to place a ... (Goodreads)

  4. Cleopatra: A Life

    by Stacy Schiff
    Biography of Cleopatra VII, the last ruler of the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt.

    The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but ... (Barnes & Noble)

  5. Escape

    by Carolyn Jessop
    Autobiography of a woman's struggle to escape an oppressive polygamous cult.

    The dramatic first-person account of life inside an ultra-fundamentalist American religious sect, and one woman’s courageous flight to freedom with her eight children. When she was eighteen years ... (Goodreads)

  6. Zelda

    by Nancy Milford
    Biography of Zelda Fitzgerald, exploring the tumultuous life and times of the iconic figure.

    Zelda Sayre began as a Southern beauty, became an international wonder, and died by fire in a madhouse. With her husband, F. Scott Fitzgerald, she moved in a golden aura of excitement, romance, and ... (Goodreads)

  7. First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers

    by Loung Ung
    An inspiring true story of survival and resilience during the brutal Khmer Rouge regime in Cambodia.

    From a childhood survivor of the Cambodian genocide under the regime of Pol Pot, this is a riveting narrative of war crimes and desperate actions, the unnerving strength of a small girl and her ... (Goodreads)

  8. Hell's Princess: The Mystery of Belle Gunness, Butcher of Men

    by Harold Schechter
    The true story of Belle Gunness, a notorious female serial killer who lured men to their deaths in the early 1900s.

    “A deeply researched and morbidly fascinating chronicle of one of America’s most notorious female killers.” —,The New York Times Book Review,, An Amazon Charts bestseller., In the pantheon of serial ... (Barnes & Noble)

  9. Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance

    by Barack Obama
    An exploration of the Obama family history, tracing the threads of identity and race.

    In this lyrical, unsentimental, and compelling memoir, the son of a black African father and a white American mother searches for a workable meaning to his life as a black American. It begins in New ... (Goodreads)

  10. Eating the Dinosaur

    by Chuck Klosterman
    Collection of essays exploring pop culture, sports, and society through a philosophical lens.

    Chuck Klosterman has chronicled rock music, film, and sports for almost fifteen years. He's covered extreme metal, extreme nostalgia, disposable art, disposable heroes, life on the road, life through ... (Goodreads)

  11. I'm with the Band: Confessions of a Groupie

    by Pamela Des Barres
    Memoir of a rock groupie in the 1960s and 70s, detailing her experiences with famous musicians and the wild lifestyle of the era.

    The stylish, exuberant, and remarkably sweet confession of one of the most famous groupies of the 1960s and 70s is back in print in this new edition that includes an afterword on the author's last 15 ... (Goodreads)

  12. I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer

    by Michelle McNamara
    A true crime book chronicling the author's investigation into the unsolved case of the Golden State Killer.

    A masterful true crime account of the Golden State Killer—the elusive serial rapist turned murderer who terrorized California for over a decade—from Michelle McNamara, the gifted journalist who died ... (Goodreads)

  13. The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary

    by Simon Winchester
    True story of a murderer's contribution to the creation of the Oxford English Dictionary.

    The book tells the story of the making of the, Oxford English Dictionary, (OED) and one of its most prolific early contributors, William Chester Minor , a retired United States Army surgeon . Minor ... (Wikipedia)

  14. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies

    by Jared Diamond
    Tracing the origins of human civilizations through the lens of geography, technology, and biology.

    "Diamond has written a book of remarkable scope ... one of the most important and readable works on the human past published in recent years." Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and a national bestseller: ... (Goodreads)

  15. Eleanor of Aquitaine: A Life

    by Alison Weir
    Biography of a medieval queen and her legacy, exploring her remarkable life and impact.

    In this beautifully written biography, Alison Weir paints a vibrant portrait of a truly exceptional woman and provides new insights into her intimate world. Renowned in her time for being the most ... (Goodreads)

  16. Rosemary: The Hidden Kennedy Daughter

    by Kate Clifford Larson
    An exploration of the life of Rosemary Kennedy, uncovering the heartbreaking story of her family's secret.

    One of, People,’s Top Ten Books of 2015, "[Larson] succeeds in providing a well-rounded portrait of a woman who, until now, has never been viewed in full.",—Boston Globe, “A biography that chronicles ... (Barnes & Noble)

  17. The Prose Edda

    by Snorri Sturluson
    A collection of Norse mythology and legends, including the creation of the world, the gods and goddesses, and the end of the world.

    'What was the beginning, or how did things start? What was there before?', The Prose Edda is the most renowned of all works of Scandinavian literature and our most extensive source for Norse ... (Goodreads)

  18. I Love Everybody

    by Laurie Notaro
    Humorous memoir of one woman's search for self-acceptance, with an irreverent twist.

    Here are more scathingly funny tales from the wild side! Laurie Notaro survived the debauched ride of her twenties and the bumpy road to matrimony. Now she’s ready to take on the thirtysomething ... (Goodreads)

  19. Paris to the Moon

    by Adam Gopnik
    A collection of essays about the author's experiences living in Paris with his family. It explores the city's culture, history, and daily life.

    With singular wit and insight, Gopnik weaves the magical with the mundane in a wholly delightful, often hilarious look at what it was to be an American family man in Paris at the end of the twentieth ... (Goodreads)

  20. The Communist Manifesto

    by Karl Marx
    A treatise on the fundamental principles of communism, and its role in society.

    A rousing call to arms whose influence is still felt today Originally published on the eve of the 1848 European revolutions, The Communist Manifesto is a condensed and incisive account of the ... (Goodreads)

  21. A Room of One's Own

    by Virginia Woolf
    Examining gender roles and societal expectations with an eye to achieving independence and creative freedom.

    A Room of One's Own is an extended essay by Virginia Woolf. First published on the 24th of October, 1929, the essay was based on a series of lectures she delivered at Newnham College and Girton ... (Goodreads)

  22. Green River, Running Red

    by Ann Rule
    True story of serial killer, his victims, and the small town they called home.

    In this provocative and eye-opening classic of investigative journalism, the #1, New York Times, bestselling author and “America’s best true-crime writer” (,Kirkus Reviews,), Ann Rule, explores the ... (Barnes & Noble)

  23. The Last Lion: Winston Spencer Churchill: Alone, 1932-40

    by William Manchester
    Biography of Winston Churchill's courageous leadership during the tumultuous interwar period.

    “The best Churchill biography [for] this generation . . . Even readers who know the basic story will find much that is new.”—,Newsweek,In this powerful biography, the middle volume of William ... (Barnes & Noble)

  24. Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

    by Mary Roach
    Scientific investigations into the possibility of life after death.

    "What happens when we die? Does the light just go out and that's that—the million-year nap? Or will some part of my personality, my me-ness persist? What will that feel like? What will I do all day? ... (Goodreads)

  25. In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler's Berlin

    by Erik Larson
    A family's struggle to cope with the darkness of Nazi Germany, as seen through one man's courage.

    The time is 1933, the place, Berlin, when William E. Dodd becomes America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany in a year that proved to be a turning point in history. A mild-mannered professor from ... (Goodreads)

  26. The Know-It-All: One Man's Humble Quest to Become the Smartest Person in the World

    by A.J. Jacobs
    An exploration of knowledge and the pursuit of wisdom, through an attempt to read the entire Encyclopedia Britannica.

    Part memoir and part education (or lack thereof), The Know-It-All chronicles NPR contributor A.J. Jacobs's hilarious, enlightening, and seemingly impossible quest to read the Encyclopaedia Britannica ... (Goodreads)

  27. Naked

    by David Sedaris
    Collection of humorous essays exploring the absurdities of everyday life.

    Welcome to the hilarious, strange, elegiac, outrageous world of David Sedaris. In Naked , Sedaris turns the mania for memoir on its proverbial ear, mining the exceedingly rich terrain of his life, ... (Goodreads)

  28. Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

    by Ben Macintyre
    A thrilling tale of a double agent during World War II who lives a life of deception and espionage.

    Eddie Chapman was a charming criminal, a con man, and a philanderer. He was also one of the most remarkable double agents Britain has ever produced. Inside the traitor was a man of loyalty; inside ... (Goodreads)

  29. The Sisters: The Saga of the Mitford Family

    by Mary S. Lovell
    A sweeping tale of a powerful family, spanning generations and continents.

    This is the story of a British upper class family splintered by the violent ideologies of Europe between the two World Wars. Jessica was a Communist; Debo became the Duchess of Devonshire; Nancy was ... (Goodreads)

  30. Peter the Great: His Life and World

    by Robert K. Massie
    Biography of the Russian Tsar, tracing his transformation of the country and the world.

    Against the monumental canvas of seventeenth- and eighteenth-century Europe and Russia, unfolds the magnificent story of Peter the Great, crowned at the age of 10. A barbarous, volatile feudal tsar ... (Goodreads)