The Beauty and the Sorrow

Englund tells the First World War through twenty ordinary participants — a German schoolgirl, a Belgian pilot, an Italian infantryman, a Danish soldier in the German army — assembled from their diaries and letters rather than from strategy.

Why it’s on the list: Named in the replies to @typesfast asking for the best history book you’ve read — a crowd-sourced list Kyle recovered by hand and saved.

The year given is the English edition; the Swedish original appeared earlier and its date was not verified here.

Where I saw it: In the replies to @typesfast asking “What’s the best history book you’ve read?” (June 5, 2025). Kyle recovered the reply list by hand and saved it to his “Books To Read” Apple Note; the full transcribed list lives on What’s the best history book… (tweet).

Connections

• What’s the best history book… (tweet) — the thread this came out of; the full recovered list lives there.
• World War I — the war the book covers.