Douglas Preston's 6 favorite books about historical discoveries

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Douglas Preston’s previous nonfiction book, "The Lost City of the Monkey God," was a No. 1 best-seller. The veteran thriller writer’s latest work, "The Lost Tomb," is a collection of true stories about buried treasure, murder and other archaeological mysteries.

'A Land So Strange' by Andrés Reséndez (2007)

In 1528, three shipwrecked Spaniards and an enslaved African began walking from Florida to Mexico City. One of them wrote a chronicle of the nine-year journey that paints an unforgettable portrait of North America at the dawn of its transformation, and Reséndez’s book enriches that account. Buy it here. 

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'Conquest' by Hugh Thomas (1993)

Cortés’ conquest of the Aztec Empire makes for utterly gripping — if horrifying — reading. The epic struggle between Cortés and Montezuma became a defining moment in North American history, setting the stage for much that followed, including the Spanish exploration and conquest of what became the American Southwest. Buy it here. 

'Blood and Thunder' by Hampton Sides (2006)

At the center of the struggle between the Navajo people and the encroaching Americans was trapper and scout Kit Carson. He spoke five Indian languages and had undeniable sympathy for Native people — yet he was instrumental in the forced removal of the Navajo people from their lands. Sides’ beautifully written book presents a nuanced view of this controversial figure. Buy it here.

'Empire of the Summer Moon' by S.C. Gwynne (2010)

Eight-year-old Cynthia Ann Parker was captured and adopted by the Comanches in 1836, later marrying a chief. Her son, Quanah Parker, became the Comanches’ last chief, leading a fierce battle against the Americans. The book tells the fascinating, tragic story of mother and son in parallel with the rise and eventual surrender of the Comanche people. Buy it here. 

'Black Elk Speaks' by John G. Neihardt (1932)

An Oglala Lakota man, Black Elk witnessed his people’s first encounters with the Europeans, then war, then their confinement on a South Dakota reservation. His story is an indelible elegy to a vanished way of life. Buy it here.

'109 East Palace' by Jennet Conant (2005)

Here is a different history of the West and another kind of conquest: the making of the atomic bomb. Of all the books about the Manhattan Project, this is my favorite, a rich, detailed picture of what life was really like in Los Alamos — not just for scientists, but for the spouses and others who labored in secrecy to produce the ultimate weapon. Buy it here. 

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