Find Your Next Book
Answer a few short questions about your preferences, and the finder will suggest titles that match your interests. You can filter by subject, length, and reading time.
Do more with this book catalog
This catalog brings together 98 public-domain works on modern history, with a focus on firsthand accounts. The interactive tools here are meant to help you find a book that fits your interests, compare a few options side by side, or estimate how much time a title might take to read. Each tool draws on the same catalog data, so you can move between them without losing your place.
The collection is organized into four categories: Modern Nations, World Events, Revolutions, and Social History. Many of the titles are personal narratives from the First World War, including accounts by soldiers, nurses, and diplomats. You will also find works on the American Civil War and the American Revolution. Use the tools below to narrow down the list to something you want to read.
98
books in this catalog
4
catalog categories
98
books with reading-time data
Made for this collection
Ways the catalog data becomes useful
Compare Books
See two or more titles side by side, with details like word count, category, and subject. This helps you weigh your options before you commit.
Estimate Reading Time
Each book includes an estimate of how long it will take to read, based on the median reading speed. The tool also shows the length category and reading time category.
Using the Library's Tools Together
The IMDEI Modern History Library holds ninety-eight works on the revolutionary and world-event era, from short personal narratives to multi-volume official histories. Three tools sit at the center of the collection: Book Finder, Compare Books, and Reading Tracker. Each serves a different stage of reading—choosing a title, weighing two or three options, and planning steady progress—and they work best when used in sequence.
Start with Book Finder
Book Finder narrows the catalog by the features that matter most to you: category, length, reading time, chapter rhythm, sentence flow, and subject. For example, if you want a focused study of the American Revolution, the Revolutions category holds ten titles, and you can further filter by the subject headings for Virginia history. The Road to Independence: Virginia 1763-1783 — Reading Notes (id 216) appears in that category with a word count near 47,000, which places it in the medium range—useful to know before you commit.
The finder also lets you set a preference for popular or hidden-gem books. No-preference choices do not penalize a title, so you can leave a criterion unused without worrying that you are missing out. The tool is deliberately flexible: you can start broad and tighten the filters as you see what the catalog offers.
Compare Before You Commit
Once Book Finder returns a promising set, Compare Books lets you examine two or three side by side. The comparison shows word count, estimated reading time, text sections, sentence flow, chapter rhythm, subjects, and page information when available. These metrics are descriptive, not evaluative—they tell you about the shape of the book, not its quality.
For instance, you might compare a 26,000-word personal account with a 113,000-word anthology. The difference in estimated reading time is roughly four hours versus eight hours, which changes how you plan your week. Compare Books makes those differences visible without forcing a judgment.
Track Your Progress
After you choose, Reading Tracker helps you maintain a sustainable pace. It records your current page, total pages, and a daily page goal. If the catalog does not provide a fixed page count, the tracker estimates one by dividing the word count by 250 words per page. You can replace that estimate with the total shown by your own reading app or edition.
The tool calculates remaining time and finish days based on your daily goal. Progress history is stored in your browser, so no account is needed. The default goal is 20 pages per day, which you can adjust to fit your schedule. Using the tracker turns a large history into a manageable series of daily steps.