What history books would you recommend?

The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Edward Gibbon (1776)

It's many volumes but I never considered not finishing.

Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay (1841)

Reading that helped me understand the NFT craze and how these things get going and usually end

The 11 volume set “The Story of Civilization” by Will and Ariel Durant

You can find it on audiobook.

This will bring you up to speed from the dawn of pre-civilization through the era of Napoleon.

The only volume I might recommend skipping is 6, “The reformation”. It is a depressing tomb of everyone killing each other over their idea of God. You get enough of an idea of what happened from 5 and 7.

For Middle East, Lawrence In Arabia by Scott Anderson.

For computing history, Art of Unix Programming by Eric S. Raymond.

For inspirational American stories, David McCullough (1933-2022) is peerless. The Wright Brothers nearly brought me to tears.

People's History of the United States, Howard Zinn

Anne Frank's Diary