The best books on samurai and feudal Japan include Samurai: The World of the Warrior, The Book of Five Rings, Musashi, Shōgun, The Tale of the Heike and Samurai William.

The best books on the Meiji Restoration include The Making of Modern Japan, Emperor of Japan, A Modern History of Japan, The Last Samurai by Mark Ravina, Breaking Open Japan and Kokoro.

The best books on the Opium Wars include The Opium War by Julia Lovell, Imperial Twilight, The Opium War Through Chinese Eyes, Sea of Poppies, The Search for Modern China and Empress Dowager Cixi.

The best books on the British Raj include Inglorious Empire, The Anarchy, Raj by Lawrence James, The Ruling Caste, A Passage to India and The Jewel in the Crown.

The best books on the Mughal Empire include The Mughal Empire by John F. Richards, The Last Mughal, Emperors of the Peacock Throne, The Baburnama, Daughters of the Sun and The Twentieth Wife.

The best books on the Wars of the Roses include The Wars of the Roses by Dan Jones, Lancaster and York, Blood Sisters, Bosworth, The Daughter of Time and The Sunne in Splendour.

The best books on the Hundred Years’ War include Trial by Battle by Jonathan Sumption, Agincourt by Juliet Barker, The Perfect King, Joan of Arc by Helen Castor, Froissart’s Chronicles and Azincourt.

The best books on the Plague of Justinian include Justinian’s Flea, The Fate of Rome, Plagues upon the Earth, Plague and the End of Antiquity, The Wars of Justinian and Justinian by Peter Sarris.

The best books on the Kennedy family include The Fitzgeralds and the Kennedys, The Patriarch, JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, Rosemary, Bobby Kennedy and True Compass.

The best books on the Donner Party include The Best Land Under Heaven, The Indifferent Stars Above, Ordeal by Hunger, Desperate Passage, Unfortunate Emigrants and The Hunger.