Too many. Recently read standout books were:

- Inside the Kremlin during the Yom Kippur War - Viktor Levonovič Israėljan. Fascinating and rare look behind the scenes of the Kremlin without the usual self-justification and bias, came across it for a paper. Very refreshing.
- Via Peking back to Manchester: Britain, the Industrial Revolution, and China - Peer Vries. Hopefully a person we'll be hearing more of. An insightful comparison of England and China on the eve of the nineteenth century, as a prelude to more extensive work which he should be releasing this year. An excellent balance to the Pomeranz classic The Great Divergence and very useful for a new look at where the West started pulling out ahead of the rest.
- Global capitalism: its fall and rise in the twentieth century - Jeffry Frieden. Relatively short, easily understandable account of the changing economic situation throughout the twentieth century. Not a substitute for more technical accounts, but an essential companion to keep at least some feeling of context amongst all the technical terms.
- Arabia Felix from the Time of the Queen of Sheba: Eighth Century B.C. to First Century A.D. - Jean-François Breton. Want to know more about South Arabia in the time of EB? A very interesting read, though it shows quite clearly how little is actually known precisely, and that further reading should certainly not limit itself to English accounts. A very helpful start.

Going back a bit further I can certainly recommend:
- Thundering Zeus: the making of Hellenistic Bactria - Frank Holt. Great look-in at numismatics and not only the rise of an independent Hellenistic Bactria, but also how we know what we know.
- The great divergence: China, Europe, and the making of the modern world economy - Kenneth Pomeranz. Essential reading in the debate of the rise of the West. I don't agree with the conclusions of Pomeranz, but it provides a lot of food for thought.
- De historische Mohammed: de Mekkaanse verhalen and De historische Mohammed: de verhalen uit Medina - Johannes J.G. Jansen. A refreshing take on the days of Mohammed and the early Islam. Be warned, not for the politically faint at heart, but all the more interesting for it.
- The Middle East and Central Asia: an anthropological approach - Dale F. Eickelman. Gives a clear view of its subject matter and provides a useful context for further research into the area. Read in combination with A Concise History of the Middle East (very useful for a broad overview of early to early-modern history, but no more than that and a worthlessly biased apologist work on the flaws of Islam and its adherents) by Arthur Goldschmidt it provides a solid base of information.
- A duel of giants: Bismarck, Napoleon III, and the origins of the Franco-Prussian War - David Wetzel. Great account of the build-up of the Franco-Prussian War and the courts responsible for the clash. Marvelously written in the style of old-fashioned diplomatic historical works it's very informative of the characters of the period.