Marginal Revolution Book Rankings

Tyler and Alex's favorites from Marginal Revolution

How it works: I scraped every post categorized under 'books'. Then extracted book titles and relevant review context from each post. I then submitted a couple million pairs of reviews to an LLM to compare and determine which book review had more positive sentiment. I used these comparisons to fit a Bradley-Terry model which produces these rankings. I racked up a gemini bill so stopped shy of exhaustive 16 million comparisons, so it's not perfect, but roughly accurate.

Genre: British History ×
Showing 120 books in British History
The Beatles: All These Years, volume I
1. The Beatles: All These Years, volume I
BT: 9.28 207 comparisons
biography british history cultural history history +1
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Economists and Societies: Discipline and Profession in the United States, Britain & France, 1890s to 1990s
2. Economists and Societies: Discipline and Profession in the United States, Britain & France, 1890s to 1990s
BT: 8.25 87 comparisons
american history british history comparative studies economics +5
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Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America
3. Can’t Buy Me Love: The Beatles, Britain, and America
BT: 8.06 88 comparisons
american history biography british history economic history +4
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Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet
4. Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet
BT: 7.87 93 comparisons
art history ballet biography british history +3
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Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain
5. Unfinished Empire: The Global Expansion of Britain
BT: 7.31 93 comparisons
british history global history history imperial history
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T
6. The Charles Moore Margaret Thatcher biography, volume 2
BT: 7.26 144 comparisons
biography british history history politics
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T
7. The Anglo-Saxon World
BT: 5.49 171 comparisons
anglo-saxon studies british history european history history +1
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8. The Philosophical Breakfast Club: Four Remarkable Friends Who Transformed Science and Changed the World
BT: 5.19 129 comparisons
biography british history economics history +5
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T
9. The Lunar Men
BT: 5.18 133 comparisons
biography british history economic history european history +4
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10. 1688: The First Modern Revolution
BT: 5.04 163 comparisons
british history economic history european history history +2
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11. Science as Public Culture: Chemistry and Enlightenment in Britain, 1760-1820
BT: 4.94 183 comparisons
british history cultural history enlightenment studies european history +3
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12. God and Gold: Britain, America, and the Making of the Modern World
BT: 4.61 168 comparisons
american history british history cultural history history +4
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13. The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain 1815-1945
BT: 3.98 432 comparisons
british history economic history history imperial history +4
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14. Radical Wordsworth: the poet who changed the world
BT: 3.98 180 comparisons
biography british history cultural history history +1
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15. Brown Face, Big Master
BT: 3.87 180 comparisons
autobiography british history christianity cultural studies +9
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16. A Voyage Around the Queen
BT: 3.74 176 comparisons
biography british history european history humor +2
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17. The Last King of America: The Misunderstood Reign of George III
BT: 3.64 203 comparisons
american history biography british history european history +3
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18. The Struggle for Mastery: The Penguin History of Britain, 1066-1284
BT: 3.43 197 comparisons
british history history medieval history military history +1
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19. Invention of the Modern World
BT: 3.36 205 comparisons
british history colonial history economic history european history +5
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20. Missing: The Need for Closure after the Great War
BT: 3.25 252 comparisons
british history cultural history european history history +3
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21. The Reading Nation in the Romantic Period
BT: 3.23 412 comparisons
book history british history cultural history economic history +3
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22. London Labour and the London Poor
BT: 3.17 240 comparisons
british history economics history labor economics +3
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23. Second City: Birmingham and the Forging of Modern Britain
BT: 3.16 232 comparisons
british history european history history intellectual history +2
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24. Boswell’s Life of [Samuel] Johnson
BT: 2.98 421 comparisons
biography british history classic literature history +2
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25. The Domestic Revolution: How the Introduction of Coal into Victorian Homes Changed Everything
BT: 2.90 239 comparisons
british history economic history european history history +3
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26. The Slain God: Anthropologists and the Christian Faith
BT: 2.81 221 comparisons
anthropology british history history intellectual history +2
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27. A History of Britain Through Books, 1900-1964
BT: 2.80 227 comparisons
british history cultural history european history history +1
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28. Churchill: Walking with Destiny
BT: 2.40 253 comparisons
biography british history european history history +2
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29. What Britain did to Nigeria: A Short History of Conquest and Rule
BT: 2.39 268 comparisons
african history british history colonialism history +2
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30. Britain’s War 1942-1947
BT: 2.29 564 comparisons
british history economics history military history +3
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31. Virtuous Bankers: A Day in the Life of the Eighteenth-Century Bank of England
BT: 2.27 243 comparisons
banking history british history economic history european history +4
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32. Growing Up: Sex in the Sixties
BT: 2.18 267 comparisons
20th century history british history cultural history history +1
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33. Agatha Christie: An Elusive Woman
BT: 2.09 271 comparisons
biography british history history literary biography
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S
34. State of Emergency: The Way We Were: Britain, 1970-1974
BT: 1.93 707 comparisons
british history cultural history economic history european history +4
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35. You Never Give Me Your Money: The Beatles After the Breakup
BT: 1.85 252 comparisons
biography british history music music history
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S
36. Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
BT: 1.76 840 comparisons
17th century history biography british history history +3
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37. Love and Let Die: Bond, the Beatles and the British Psyche
BT: 1.73 571 comparisons
british history cultural history cultural studies film history +2
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38. Island On Fire: The Revolt that Ended Slavery in the British Empire
BT: 1.53 282 comparisons
british history caribbean history history history of slavery +1
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39. Death of a Pirate: British Radio and the Making of the Information Age
BT: 1.47 323 comparisons
british history economics history history of economic thought +4
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40. Poet of Revolution: The Making of John Milton
BT: 1.45 547 comparisons
biography british history european history history +4
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41. The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher: A Shocking Murder and the Undoing of a Great Victorian Detective
BT: 1.43 330 comparisons
british history history mystery narrative non-fiction +3
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42. Shake It Up, Baby! The Rise of Beatlemania and the Mayhem of 1963
BT: 1.36 213 comparisons
1960s history british history cultural history history +2
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43. The Dreadful Monster and its Poor Relations: Taxation, Spending and the United Kingdom, 1707-2021
BT: 1.36 340 comparisons
british history economics european history government spending +6
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B
44. Benjamin Britten: A Life for Music
BT: 1.35 569 comparisons
biography british history cultural history music +1
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45. A Cultural History of the British Empire
BT: 1.34 305 comparisons
british history cultural history globalization history +2
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W
46. Winston's War: Churchill 1940-1945
BT: 1.29 506 comparisons
biography british history european history history +4
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J
47. Jan Morris: life from both sides
BT: 1.26 330 comparisons
biography british history intellectual history literary criticism +1
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F
48. Fascism: 100 questions asked and answered
BT: 1.17 310 comparisons
british history economics european history fascism +4
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49. Lost Futures: The Disappearing Architecture of Post-War Britain
BT: 1.13 351 comparisons
architecture art art history british history +1
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50. The English and Their History
BT: 1.12 921 comparisons
british history english history history
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M
51. Macaulay and Son: Architects of Imperial Britain
BT: 1.12 318 comparisons
biography british history history imperial history +2
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W
52. Walter Raleigh: Architect of Empire
BT: 1.06 644 comparisons
biography british history colonial history economic history +3
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53. Heyday: Britain and the Birth of the Modern World
BT: 1.05 340 comparisons
19th-century history british history global history history +3
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B
54. Britain’s War Machine: Weapons, Resources, and Experts in the Second World War
BT: 1.03 583 comparisons
british history economic history history military history +2
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T
55. The Anarchy
BT: 0.61 306 comparisons
british history colonial history history indian history +1
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56. The Enlightened Economy: An Economic History of Britain 1700-1850
BT: 0.60 1002 comparisons
british history economic history economics history +1
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I
57. Indian Summer: The Secret History of the End of an Empire
BT: 0.48 321 comparisons
british history colonial history history indian history +1
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S
58. She-Wolves: The Women Who Ruled England Before Elizabeth
BT: 0.44 350 comparisons
british history english history history medieval history +2
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A
59. A Strange Business: Making Art and Money in Nineteenth-Century Britain
BT: 0.39 369 comparisons
art history british history cultural history economics +2
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60. No More Champagne: Churchill and His Money
BT: 0.38 337 comparisons
biography british history economics european history +3
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T
61. The New Enclosure: The Appropriation of Public Land in Neoliberal Britain
BT: 0.11 346 comparisons
british history economics history land use +2
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T
62. The Ghost Map: The Story of London’s Most Terrifying Epidemic
BT: 0.07 363 comparisons
british history european history history medical history +3
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I
63. India Conquered: Britain’s Raj and the Chaos of Empire
BT: 0.05 590 comparisons
british history colonialism economic history history +3
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64. Empire, Incorporated: The Corporations that Built British Colonialism
BT: 0.02 335 comparisons
british history business history colonial history history +1
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T
65. The Restless Republic: Britain Without a Crown
BT: -0.01 1274 comparisons
17th-century history british history european history history +1
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B
66. Black and British: A Forgotten History
BT: -0.14 545 comparisons
black studies british history history social history
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67. Hume’s History of England
BT: -0.15 346 comparisons
british history european history history
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G
68. God is an Englishman: Christianity and the Creation of England
BT: -0.17 390 comparisons
british history christianity cultural history english history +2
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D
69. Devil-Land: England Under Siege 1588-1688
BT: -0.17 318 comparisons
british history early modern history english history european history +2
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70. The Rise and Fall of the British Nation: A Twentieth Century History
BT: -0.21 1014 comparisons
20th-century history british history economic history history +2
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71. Life of Johnson
BT: -0.29 380 comparisons
18th-century history biography british history english literature +2
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I
72. Iron, Steam, and Money: The Making of the Industrial Revolution
BT: -0.33 382 comparisons
british history economic history european history history +1
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A
73. Artisans and Machinery
BT: -0.38 373 comparisons
british history economic history economics history +4
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G
74. George Osborne: Austerity Chancellor
BT: -0.47 365 comparisons
biography british history economics european history +2
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T
75. The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science
BT: -0.47 1032 comparisons
british history european history history history of science +1
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E
76. Empire of Guns: The Violent Making of the Industrial Revolution
BT: -0.52 338 comparisons
british history economic history european history history +3
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A
77. Autobiography
BT: -0.55 1443 comparisons
autobiography british history history memoir +1
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C
78. Continental Drift: Britain and Europe from the End of Empire to the Rise of Euroscepticism
BT: -0.55 541 comparisons
british history european history european union history +1
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79. Inventing Freedom: How the English-Speaking Peoples Made the Modern World
BT: -0.62 390 comparisons
british history european history history history of political thought +2
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80. The Anglo-Saxons: A History of the Beginnings of England 400-1066
BT: -0.78 379 comparisons
anglo-saxon history british history english history history +1
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B
81. Between the Waves: The Hidden History of a Very British Revolution 1945-2016
BT: -0.94 546 comparisons
british history european history history politics
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J
82. J.L. Austin: Philosopher & D-Day Intelligence Officer
BT: -1.08 362 comparisons
biography british history intelligence military history +2
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E
83. Eminent Victorians
BT: -1.18 400 comparisons
biography british history european history history
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T
84. The North Will Rise Again: In Search of the Future in Northern Heartlands
BT: -1.18 369 comparisons
british history cultural studies history music +3
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F
85. Fossil Capital: The Rise of Steam Power and the Roots of Global Warming
BT: -1.23 391 comparisons
british history economic history energy history environmental history +3
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B
86. Britain’s Europe: A Thousand Years of Conflict and Cooperation
BT: -1.23 370 comparisons
british history european history history international relations +1
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P
87. Peace, Poverty and Betrayal: A New History of British India
BT: -1.45 749 comparisons
british history colonial history history indian history +1
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B
88. Blood and Roses
BT: -1.57 378 comparisons
british history history medieval history tudor history
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M
89. Margaret Thatcher: An Authorized Biography, from Grantham to the Falklands
BT: -1.62 481 comparisons
biography british history european history history +1
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M
90. Moore: G.E. Moore and the Cambridge Apostles
BT: -1.70 417 comparisons
biography british history intellectual history philosophy
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G
91. Gladstone
BT: -1.76 375 comparisons
biography british history european history history +2
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S
92. Servants: A Downstairs History of Britain From the Nineteenth Century to Modern Times
BT: -1.80 323 comparisons
british history european history history social history
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T
93. The British Industrial Revolution in Global Perspective
BT: -1.81 756 comparisons
british history economic history economics history +1
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E
94. Edmond Halley: Charting the Heavens and the Seas
BT: -1.81 383 comparisons
astronomy biography british history history +2
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B
95. Bagehot: The Life and Times of the Greatest Victorian
BT: -1.82 420 comparisons
biography british history economics european history +2
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T
96. The Most Powerful Idea in the World: A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention
BT: -1.85 374 comparisons
british history economic history economics history +2
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F
97. Frank Ramsey: A Sheer Excess of Powers
BT: -1.90 388 comparisons
biography british history economics intellectual history +2
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B
98. Bodily Matters: The Anti-Vaccination Movement in England, 1853-1907
BT: -1.91 377 comparisons
british history english history history medical history +2
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M
99. Margaret Thatcher: The Authorized Biography, Herself Alone, volume three
BT: -1.94 398 comparisons
biography british history history political biography +1
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M
100. Margaret Thatcher: At her Zenith: In London, Washington, and Moscow, vol.2 of the biography, 1984-1987
BT: -1.98 377 comparisons
biography british history european history history +2
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P
101. Prometheus Shackled: Goldsmith Banks and England’s Financial Revolution after 1700
BT: -1.99 394 comparisons
british history economic history economics european history +2
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A
102. A Terribly Serious Adventure: Philosophy and War at Oxford 1900-1960
BT: -2.02 369 comparisons
biography british history european history history +3
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A
103. Arts & Minds: How the Royal Society of Arts Changed a Nation
BT: -2.03 370 comparisons
british history cultural history history institutional history
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104. Legacy of Violence: A History of the British Empire
BT: -2.11 747 comparisons
british history european history history imperial history
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C
105. Calculated Values: Finance, Politics, and the Quantitative Age
BT: -2.24 383 comparisons
british history economics european history finance +4
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106. Liverpool and the Unmaking of Britain
BT: -2.28 373 comparisons
british history history social history transportation history +1
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E
107. Erasmus Darwin: Sex, Science, and Serendipity
BT: -2.35 328 comparisons
18th century history biography british history history +1
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I
108. Inside Thatcher’s Monetarism Experiment: The Promise, The Failure, The Legacy
BT: -2.40 384 comparisons
british history economics european history history +2
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109. Time of My Life
BT: -2.71 334 comparisons
autobiography british history british politics history +2
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T
110. The Road to Wigan Pier
BT: -2.71 369 comparisons
british history cultural criticism non-fiction political philosophy +2
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T
111. The Decline of Magic: Britain in the Enlightenment
BT: -2.85 374 comparisons
british history enlightenment european history history +3
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T
112. The “Conspiracy” of Free Trade: The Anglo-American Struggle over Empire and Economic Globalization, 1846-1896
BT: -3.07 367 comparisons
american history british history economic history economics +4
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M
113. Mellon vs. Churchill: The Untold Story of Treasury Titans at War
BT: -3.09 329 comparisons
american history biography british history economic history +2
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F
114. Friends Until the End: Edmund Burke and Charles Fox in the Age of Revolution
BT: -3.19 348 comparisons
biography british history european history history +1
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A
115. An Economic History of the English Garden
BT: -3.42 316 comparisons
british history economics gardening history +1
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116. Sylvia Pankhurst: Natural Born Rebel
BT: -4.08 240 comparisons
biography british history european history history +2
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T
117. The End of Enlightenment: Empire, Commerce, Crisis
BT: -4.12 253 comparisons
british history european history history intellectual history +2
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W
118. Wolf Hall: A Novel
BT: -4.39 133 comparisons
british history fiction historical fiction literary fiction
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T
119. Till Time’s Last Sand: A History of the Bank of England, 1694-2013
BT: -4.44 197 comparisons
banking british history economics european history +2
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B
120. Britain Begins
BT: -4.57 143 comparisons
archaeology british history history prehistory
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