I couldn't find too many new popular history books published in October. I'm not sure why they seem so thin on the ground, perhaps I have overlooked a few?
All of those that I did find look well worth reading though and I have highlighted a few below.
Click the book covers to see a zoomed in image and links to Amazon if you like to buy your books there.
My personal highlights for this month are:
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The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra, by Toby Wilkinson. I'm sure these guys were doing more than just hanging around waiting for the Romans, so I would be interested to find out what they were up to. Book collecting?
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Predator of the Seas: A History of the Slaveship That Fought for Emancipation, by Stephen Taylor. Following the story of a ship that was a slave trading ship until it was converted into a ship policing a ban on the slave trade - there is plenty for me to learn here.
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Humans in Shackles: An Atlantic History of Slavery, by Ana Lucia Araujo. Another one that may have been published to coincide with Black History Month, this book appears to provide a holistic view of the Atlantic slave trade including the huge role that Brazil had to play as a market for slaves, which often gets overlooked.
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Adventures in Time: Nelson, Hero of the Seas, by Dominic Sandbrook. Should be good fun! But I'm confident the author won't gloss over the less glorious episodes in Nelson's career too.