History written as literature is a popular genre, providing the reader with knowledge of the past in the context of fine writing. American novelist, screenwriter, playwright, and actor Truman Capote created this new way of looking at actual events in his true-crime novel In Cold Blood in 1966.

The following books are among the best examples of this style. Some are recognized as historical fiction and some as nonfiction, but all are written with the style and flair that these well-established writers bring to a subject. Each covers a different and significant period and place in time. Reading them not only allows us to engage with the past, but also gives us the opportunity to reflect on its effect on our daily life and decisions.

Revolution, by Arturo Pérez-Reverte (2022)
“All my life I heard at home the story of that friend of my great-grandfather, a mining engineer, who worked in Mexico in the midst of the revolution. That remote memory has brought me closer to my own relationship with adventure and has led me to write this story. It is a novel of initiation and learning and is, in some way, my own biography of youth. It is my Golden Arrow.” Arturo Pérez-Reverte

Revolution is among the 30-some Pérez-Reverte (1951 – ) novels that readers devour every year. His popularity seems easy to grasp. Since we all suspect that truth is stranger than fiction, his preferred genre, historical fiction, resonates with people of all classes and cultures worldwide. Pérez-Reverte combines plot and characterization to perfection, often including a dollop of humor.

The Revolution in question here is our own Mexican Revolution (1910-1921) in the time of Zapata and Pancho Villa. The focus is not simply on fighting and war, but rather on finding a treasure consisting of 15,000 twenty-peso Maximilian gold coins that had been stolen from a bank in Ciudad Juárez in 1911.

One reader praises the breadth of the book: Pérez-Reverte “takes us through important episodes such as the capture of Ciudad Juárez, the Ten Tragic Days, the battles of Zacatecas and Celaya. The narrative is so good that one is transported in places and times to understand a process as complex as the Mexican Revolution. Highly recommended reading.”

Pérez-Reverte is Spanish, born in Cartagena, Spain, and while many of his novels concern Spain and the Mediterranean, his books are read in more than 50 countries. As you celebrate the Mexican Revolution this November 20, crack open this important read!

Age of Revolutions: Progress and Backlash from 1600 to the Present, by Fareed Zakaria (2024)
Most of us recognize Zakaria (1964 – ) as the face of CNN’s popular show Fareed Zakaria GPS (Global Public Square). You may also have read his popular column in The Washington Post or seen his profile on the jacket of his books. Zakaria inspires trust, and his faithful admirers look to him for guidance in our complicated world.

This significant book covers five centuries of history to explain the world’s current state of affairs. It advises us to understand how the French Revolution, the Industrial Revolution, and the American Revolution affect our current situation.

Evelyn Waugh wrote in Brideshead Revisited: “We possess nothing certainly except the past.” And it is this from which we must learn, although it doesn’t appear we are doing a very good job of it.

Another Day of Life, by Ryszard Kapuściński (Polish edition 1976, English translation 1987)
There is nothing more satisfying than discovering an author whose creations spark curiosity about the conditions of other cultures. For years the Polish journalist, writer, poet, and essayist Kapuściński (1932-2007) gave us a wealth of knowledge and, more importantly, a glimpse into the suffering of “the other.”

He could also be correctly crowned the king of revolutions, having reported in his lifetime on 27 revolutions, mostly in Africa and the Middle East.

In 1975 Kapuscinski reported on the civil war following independence in Angola. His book Another Day of Life describes the “sloppy, dogged and cruel war.” An animated film was made from the book. Both book and movie demonstrate the abysmal effect of war on the populations that suffer through them.

Kapuscinski is best known for The Emperor: Downfall of an Autocrat (1978), the story of the 40-plus year reign of Haile Selassie in Ethiopia. Observations related to Kapuscinski by those who worked for Selassie or lived during his rule describe a man who lived like a king among the neglected population that served him.

In another gem, the story of the infamous Shah of Iran is told in his best-selling Shah of Shahs (1992), which assesses the reign of the Shah of Iran and his exit from the country.

In Ryszard Kapuściński, the Nobel Prize committee once again missed the opportunity to recognize an important writer who traveled and reported on world areas in the turmoil of revolution.

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe (2019)
The Irish Revolutionary Army dominated the world news for years in the 1980s and 90s, though its many factions and rumors of the era can be confusing. Through a main story and its accompanying sidebars in this marvelously crafted piece of literature, Radden Keefe sets up and describes this era from a variety of perspectives, via the citizens involved as well as the hidden nuances that make up this history.

The true and brutal action begins on the first page with the kidnapping of Jean McConville, a mother of ten wee weans in Belfast, Ireland, in 1972. From there the story expands into a narrative that includes an explanation of the seemingly endless conflicts in Ireland.

Recognizable major players are highlighted in this long history of clashes between Catholics and Protestants, as well as the presence of the British government in the north of the island. Through the actions of Gerry Adams, Bobby Sands, and Dolours Price, the story of the various factions is told.

Radden Keefe (1976 – ) is well regarded for his accurate account of pertinent historical eras and the people behind the history. The book was named one of the top ten books of 2019 by both The New York Times Book Review and The Washington Post. It won the 2019 National Book Critics Circle Award for nonfiction. Radden Keefe knows how to take facts and weave a story of grand proportion that kept this reader on the very edge of her seat.

Radden Keefe’s Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty (2021) received well-deserved attention more recently, as did the book-based Netflix series Painkiller (2023); both tell the story of how the pharmaceutical industry created a nationwide opioid addiction for its own profit.

¡VIVA LA REVOLUCIÓN!