Herodotus, The Histories, Oxford University Press, 1998.

In The English Patient, the title character's only possession is a copy of The Histories by Herodotus. Herodotus, who lived during the 5th century b.c., is widely regarded as the father of the study of history. The Histories records the customs and practices of peoples of what is today known as the Middle East; the book also covers various wars between the Greeks and Persians.

Keegan, John, The Second World War, Penguin Books, 1990.

A chronology of World War II, this one-volume history also includes chapters specifically devoted to the details of such components as weapons production and espionage.

Kipling, Rudyard, Kim, W.W. Norton, 2002.

First published in 1901, Kim is the British author Rudyard Kipling's masterpiece novel. Set in British colonial India, it is the story of an Indian-born British boy who lives among the native people of India...