History on Substack
The top 100 History writers on Substack's Bestsellers and Rising boards, with moves between my reads, follower counts, who's gaining recommendations and who recommends them. Boards read once a day.
Board read · moves compare with the read at Oct 31 19:47 UTC
- Writers on the two boards
- 162
- Median followers, Bestsellers
- 19,968
- Smallest on the board
- 1,861
- Wade Burleson, #67
- New recommendations, 30 days
- 595
- to writers whose main category this is
Rising in History: new recommendations
Writers in this category who picked up the most new recommenders in the last 30 days. A new recommendation puts a writer in front of another publication's readers.
The Culturist
441k followers · #3 History Bestsellers
This Day In History
447k followers · #65 History Bestsellers
Mythology: Gods and Monsters
148k followers · #29 History Rising
Adam Tooze
256k followers · #2 History Bestsellers
Books Behind Borders
87k followers · #48 History Bestsellers
Lucy Worsley
94k followers · #9 History Bestsellers
Cool Stories About History
7.5k followers · #12 History RisingNew recommenders per week, last 12 weeks; the orange bar is this week to date. Same scale in every panel. Dated by Substack; only recommendations still live. Outlined weeks are incomplete: Substack lists only a publication's 50 newest recommenders, so for busy writers older weeks can't be counted, and a 30-day count marked + is a floor.
Bestsellers
Substack ranks Bestsellers by paid subscribers. Followers are my daily reading.
Climbed most since Oct 31: Hush Kit new at #45, Dr Lacey Bonar Hull #97 to #84, Holly A Brown #47 to #39, Curtis Yarvin #9 to #7, Andrew Lownie #29 to #27.
| # | Move | Writer | Followers | Recommended by | Paid | Watch |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 0 |  Darryl CooperThe Martyr Made Substack |
212,422 | 52 +4 | Tens of thousands | |
| 2 | 0 |  Adam ToozeChartbook |
255,973 | 73 +20 | Tens of thousands | |
| 3 | 0 |  The Culturist@culturist |
441,082 | 77 +32 | Thousands | |
| 4 | 0 |  Jemar Tisby, PhDFootnotes by Jemar Tisby |
96,044 | 64 +8 | Thousands | |
| 5 | 0 |  Kahlil GreeneHistory Can't Hide from Kahlil Greene |
100,473 | 61 +4 | Thousands | |
| 6 | 0 |  Niall FergusonNiall Ferguson's Time Machine |
129,742 | 58 +5 | Thousands | |
| 7 | ▲2 |  Curtis YarvinGray Mirror |
92,552 | 58 +6 | Thousands | |
| 8 | ▼1 |  Jermaine FowlerThe Humanity Archive |
73,975 | 53 +7 | Thousands | |
| 9 | ▼1 |  Lucy WorsleyMy Life in the Past |
94,163 | 58 +14 | Thousands | |
| 10 | 0 |  James LucasBeauty is truth |
99,504 | 53 +11 | Thousands | |
| 11 | 0 |  Hussein Aboubakr MansourThe Abrahamic Metacritique |
19,034 | 54 +3 | Thousands | |
| 12 | 0 |  Brown History@brownhistory |
98,881 | 52 +5 | Thousands | |
| 13 | 0 |  Raymond Ibrahim@raymondibrahim |
22,701 | 52 +10 | Thousands | |
| 14 | 0 |  Michael OrenClarity with Michael Oren |
35,222 | 58 +2 | Thousands | |
| 15 | 0 |  Melissa BrodskyThe Lioness Writes |
12,039 | 50 +9 | Thousands | |
| 16 | 0 |  Dr. Heather LynnThe H Files |
15,504 | 50 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 17 | 0 |  Conundrum ClusterThe Conundrum Cluster |
5,937 | 52 | none shown | |
| 18 | 0 |  Robertas Petrauskas@robertaspetrauskas |
17,327 | 51 | 100+ badge | |
| 19 | 0 |  Colin GorrieDead Language Society |
102,021 | 54 +32 | 100+ badge | |
| 20 | 0 |  Kirby Sommers@kirbysommers |
10,819 | 50 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 21 | 0 |  James FellSweary History with James Fell |
87,325 | 55 | Thousands | |
| 22 | 0 |  LondonistLondonist: Time Machine |
108,604 | 58 +5 | Thousands | |
| 23 | 0 |  Ancient Origins UNLEASHED@ancientoriginsunleashed |
274,583 | 58 +6 | Thousands | |
| 24 | ▲1 |  Greg OlearPREVAIL by Greg Olear |
89,225 | 57 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 25 | ▼1 |  Dan JonesHistory, Etc |
47,054 | 58 +8 | 100+ badge | |
| 26 | 0 |  Jillian HessNoted |
64,298 | 65 +4 | Thousands | |
| 27 | ▲2 |  Andrew LownieThe Lownie Report |
18,618 | 53 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 28 | ▼1 |  kamilkazani@kamilkazani |
16,765 | 50 | 100+ badge | |
| 29 | ▼1 |  Michael HoffmanMichael Hoffman's Revelation of the Method |
11,765 | 52 +1 | none shown | |
| 30 | 0 |  Peter TurchinCliodynamica by Peter Turchin |
18,764 | 52 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 31 | 0 |  Big SergeBig Serge Thought |
51,452 | 54 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 32 | 0 |  Shaun UsherLetters of Note |
114,304 | 60 +5 | none shown | |
| 33 | 0 |  Katja HoyerZEITGEIST |
15,567 | 52 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 34 | 0 |  Sam DalrympleTravels of Samwise |
26,849 | 50 +9 | 100+ badge | |
| 35 | ▲1 |  The American Tribune@theamericantribune |
15,381 | 54 +4 | 100+ badge | |
| 36 | ▼1 |  Tad Stoermer@tadstoermer |
18,511 | 52 | Thousands | |
| 37 | ▲1 |  The Double Gun Journal@doublegunjournal |
7,493 | 23 | 100+ badge | |
| 38 | ▼1 |  ALTFEL by Madalin Ionescu@madalinionescu |
13,585 | 50 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 39 | ▲8 |  Holly A BrownMedieval Musings |
16,043 | 54 +11 | 100+ badge | |
| 40 | ▼1 |  Brooke Teegarden@letsnotdate |
31,605 | 53 +5 | Thousands | |
| 41 | ▼1 |  Carlyn BecciaThe Grim Historian |
21,453 | 51 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 42 | ▼1 |  EmmaPast Life, Present Cleavage |
9,054 | 26 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 43 | ▼1 |  Kevin M. LevinCivil War Memory |
22,811 | 53 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 44 | ▼1 |  The Habsburg Way@habsburgway |
19,554 | 60 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 45 | 0 |  Hush Kit@hushkit |
4,287 | ? | none shown | |
| 46 | ▼2 |  Shawn GrowsThe Insane Archive |
22,141 | 36 +4 | 100+ badge | |
| 47 | ▼1 |  Aymenn Jawad Al-TamimiAymenn’s Monstrous Publications |
6,948 | 51 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 48 | 0 |  Books Behind BordersMaddie (Books Behind Borders) |
87,468 | 50 +15 | Thousands | |
| 49 | 0 |  David RomanA History of Mankind |
66,776 | 56 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 50 | ▲3 |  Zoomer Historian@zoomerhistorian |
16,887 | 47 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 51 | ▼1 |  Timothy Garton AshHistory of the Present |
70,515 | 59 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 52 | ▼1 |  Anton HowesAge of Invention, by Anton Howes |
87,481 | 60 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 53 | ▼1 |  Jason CrawfordThe Roots of Progress |
113,239 | 63 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 54 | 0 |  Marco Polo@marcopolo501c3 |
44,854 | 51 | 100+ badge | |
| 55 | ▼32 | Ancient Origins UNLEASHED@ancientoriginsunleashed |
274,583 | 58 +6 | Thousands | |
| 56 | 0 |  Julie MontaguGilded Heiresses |
16,735 | 29 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 57 | ▲1 |  Anthony WestgateThe Reversion |
8,752 | 50 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 58 | ▲2 |  Nick BryantHistory Never Ended |
8,259 | 30 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 59 | ▼2 |  Rutger Bregman@rutgerbregman |
42,409 | 52 +5 | 100+ badge | |
| 60 | ▼1 |  Martin CherrettWorld War II Today |
13,247 | 51 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 61 | 0 |  Hymie RubensteinREAL Indigenous Report |
6,430 | 51 | 100+ badge | |
| 62 | 0 |  artlustArtlust |
14,067 | 51 +8 | 100+ badge | |
| 63 | ▲1 |  Dan GardnerPastPresentFuture |
25,344 | 57 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 64 | ▼1 |  Historical Snapshots@historicalsnapshots |
54,327 | 53 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 65 | ▲2 |  This Day In History@historytruth |
446,689 | 52 +25 | 100+ badge | |
| 66 | ▼1 |  Samuel JamesBanned Histories of Race in America |
3,955 | 40 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 67 | ▼1 |  Wade BurlesonWade Burleson at Istoria |
1,861 | 18 | 100+ badge | |
| 68 | 0 |  TMHThe Memory Hole |
38,943 | 50 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 69 | 0 |  The Golden Thread@goldenthread |
4,935 | 38 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 70 | 0 |  Secret History Of The World@secrethistoryoftheworld |
52,730 | 39 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 71 | 0 |  Aly SalemTHE HEGELIAN DISPATCH |
9,673 | 45 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 72 | ▲2 |  weird medieval guysweird medieval guys |
122,694 | 53 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 73 | 0 |  The Western Spirit@thewesternspirit |
38,423 | 45 +9 | 100+ badge | |
| 74 | ▼2 |  Helen CastorThe H Files by Helen Castor |
9,351 | 51 +4 | 100+ badge | |
| 75 | 0 |  M. E. RothwellCosmographia |
30,300 | 64 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 76 | ▲1 |  Annette LaingNon-Boring History |
28,578 | 56 | 100+ badge | |
| 77 | ▼1 |  Casey PiketMiami History |
5,568 | 27 | 100+ badge | |
| 78 | 0 |  Good Shepherd CollectiveThe Call |
2,504 | 19 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 79 | 0 |  Charlotte vs Tyranny@charlottevstyranny |
9,559 | 34 | 100+ badge | |
| 80 | ▲2 |  Nick EstesRed Scare |
7,286 | 51 +6 | 100+ badge | |
| 81 | ▼1 |  Rose & Scroll@roseandscroll |
8,782 | 32 | 100+ badge | |
| 82 | ▼1 |  Olivia StarlingDear Women |
16,326 | 30 +4 | none shown | |
| 83 | 0 |  Janice FiamengoThe Fiamengo File |
14,447 | 54 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 84 | ▲14 |  Dr Lacey Bonar HullThe Historian's Desk |
11,477 | 37 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 85 | ▼1 |  Yonah EZionism Today |
3,631 | 40 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 86 | ▼1 |  Daniele BolelliDaniele’s Substack |
24,790 | 52 | 100+ badge | |
| 87 | ▼1 |  William HogelandHOGELAND'S BAD HISTORY |
15,378 | 53 | 100+ badge | |
| 88 | ▼1 |  Alexis CoeStudy Marry Kill |
13,640 | 52 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 89 | ▼1 |  Jeff RichBurning Archive |
10,605 | 51 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 90 | ▲1 |  Molly McKewGreat Power |
14,744 | 51 | 100+ badge | |
| 91 | ▼1 |  ThinkingWest@thinkingwest |
33,346 | 50 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 92 | ▼3 |  Seth AbramsonProof |
167,157 | 56 +4 | Thousands | |
| 93 | ▲3 |  John NelsonBehind the Gospels |
12,553 | 54 +2 | 100+ badge | |
| 94 | ▼2 |  PINK THREADSPINK THREADS by Elisabeth Griffith |
2,804 | 27 | 100+ badge | |
| 95 | 0 |  Stirling Archaeology@stirlingarchaeology |
3,885 | 20 | none shown | |
| 96 | ▼3 |  Alexandra HudsonCivic Renaissance with Alexandra Hudson |
67,897 | 52 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 97 | 0 |  Lindsay Winslow Brown@risingfromthered |
4,981 | 13 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 98 | ▼4 |  Ben TuminSkipped History |
19,593 | 52 +1 | 100+ badge | |
| 99 | 0 |  Beth Allison BarrMarginalia with Beth Allison Barr |
29,019 | 54 +3 | 100+ badge | |
| 100 | 0 |  Bruce Ivar GudmundssonThe Tactical Notebook |
19,968 | 54 +1 | 100+ badge |
The top 20 on every read
Rank on each read of the Bestsellers board. Darker is higher. A gap means the writer was outside the top 100 on that read.
| Writer | Oct 3107:00 | Oct 3113:00 | Oct 3119:47 | Nov 621:50 | Move |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Darryl Cooper | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 |
| Adam Tooze | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| The Culturist | 3 | 3 | 3 | 3 | 0 |
| Jemar Tisby, PhD | 4 | 4 | 4 | 4 | 0 |
| Kahlil Greene | 5 | 5 | 5 | 5 | 0 |
| Niall Ferguson | 6 | 6 | 6 | 6 | 0 |
| Curtis Yarvin | 9 | 9 | 9 | 7 | ▲2 |
| Jermaine Fowler | 7 | 7 | 7 | 8 | ▼1 |
| Lucy Worsley | 8 | 8 | 8 | 9 | ▼1 |
| James Lucas | 10 | 10 | 10 | 10 | 0 |
| Hussein Aboubakr Mansour | 11 | 11 | 11 | 11 | 0 |
| Brown History | 12 | 12 | 12 | 12 | 0 |
| Raymond Ibrahim | 13 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 0 |
| Michael Oren | 14 | 14 | 14 | 14 | 0 |
| Melissa Brodsky | 15 | 15 | 15 | 15 | 0 |
| Dr. Heather Lynn | 16 | 16 | 16 | 16 | 0 |
| Conundrum Cluster | 17 | 17 | 17 | 17 | 0 |
| Robertas Petrauskas | 18 | 18 | 18 | 18 | 0 |
| Colin Gorrie | 19 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 0 |
| Kirby Sommers | 20 | 20 | 20 | 20 | 0 |
History starts on Oct 31, 2026. Each day adds a column.
Who recommends History writers
Publications with the most live recommendations pointing at writers whose main category is History. If you write in this category, these are the readers' lists worth being on.