History

We recommend starting with Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari — it covers the entire sweep of human history in an engaging, narrative style that requires no prior knowledge. It is the single best introduction to historical thinking for exam preparation. If you prefer a more focused narrative, The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson blends history with storytelling in a format that is highly readable and builds comprehension stamina naturally.

History reading helps in three distinct ways: it builds background knowledge across a vast range of topics so you rarely encounter an unfamiliar RC passage subject; it develops long-form comprehension — the ability to follow a sustained argument across many paragraphs; and it sharpens evidence evaluation, since historians constantly weigh sources and acknowledge competing interpretations. All three are directly tested in RC sections across CAT, GRE, and GMAT.

Elementary: Narrative history written for a general audience — engaging stories with minimal assumed knowledge. Intermediate: Broader scope and more analytical framing, with some specialist vocabulary. Advanced: Dense, multi-layered historical arguments drawing on primary sources and scholarly debate. Master: Academic historiography demanding deep prior knowledge of the period and familiarity with competing historical interpretations.

Read the full book whenever possible. History books reward sustained reading — context accumulates, arguments develop across chapters, and the significance of events only becomes clear over time. A review gives you the main thesis; the book gives you the evidence and the reasoning. Our reviews help you prepare and consolidate; the mastery quiz then tests whether you can engage with the historical arguments at exam depth.

History books tend to be longer than other genres — many run to 400–600 pages. At 1 hour of reading per day, most titles take 2–4 weeks, with sweeping works like Sapiens or Guns, Germs, and Steel taking a little longer. We recommend treating each book as a sustained reading project rather than a quick sprint — the depth of comprehension you build from careful, unhurried reading is exactly what exam RC sections reward.

Yes. Our quizzes are modelled on CAT, GRE, and GMAT question patterns — testing inference, author’s tone, main idea, vocabulary in context, and logical structure. For history titles, we place particular emphasis on identifying the author’s central argument, evaluating the use of evidence, and understanding how specific events connect to broader historical themes — the exact skills tested by the most demanding RC passages on these exams.