Industrial Age Booklist

World History > Prehistory | Early Civilization | Classical Age | Early Medieval | High Middle Ages | Renaissance | Enlightenment | Age of Revolutions | Industrial Age | Modern Age

Book recommendations pertaining to the Industrial Age (1840-1899).

1840s | 1850s | 1860s | 1870s | 1880s | 1890s

1840s

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Rebel Queen	Moran, Michelle	2015	YA A	Industrial Age	1840–1919	Asia	India Great Britain	Queen Lakshmi	F	N
You Wouldn't Want to Be an American Pioneer	Morley, Jacqueline	2012	LE MG	Industrial Age	1840-1859	North America	United States	Westward Expansion	NF	PB
A World of Her Own: 24 Amazing Women Explorers and Adventurers	Ross, Michael Elsohn	2014	YA A	Industrial Age	1840-2010	North America	United States	Explorers	NF Bio	B
The Last American Aristocrat: The Brilliant Life and Improbable Education of Henry Adams	Brown, David S.	2020	A	Industrial Age	1838-1918	North America	United States	Henry Adams Gilded Age	NF Bio	N
Women of the Frontier: 16 Tales of Trailblazing Homesteaders, Entrepreneurs, and Rabble-Rousers	Miller, Brandon Marie	2013	YA A	Industrial Age	1841–1868	North America	United States	Westward Expansion Prairie Life	NF Bio	B
You Wouldn't Want to be a Victorian Mill Worker	Malam, John	2007	LE MG	Industrial Age	1842	Europe	Great Britain	Victorian Era	NF	PB
Juba!: A Novel	Myers, Walter Dean	2016	UMG	Industrial Age	1842-1854	North America	United States	Dance William Henry Lane	F Bio	CB
Charlotte Mason: The Teacher Who Revealed Worlds of Wonder	Gore, Lanaya	2022	UMG A	Industrial Age	1842-1923	Europe	Great Britain	Education Charlotte Mason Victorian Era	NF	PB
Mr. Dickens and His Carol	Silva, Samantha	2020	YA A	Industrial Age	1843	Europe	Great Britain	Charles Dickens	NF	B
The Man Who Invented Christmas	Standiford, Les	2011	YA A	Industrial Age	1843	Europe	Great Britain	Charles Dickens Victorian Era	NF	B
Nory Ryan's Song	Giff, Patricia Reilly	2000	MG	Industrial Age	1845	Europe	Ireland	Irish Potato Famine	F	CB
The Gods of Gotham	Faye, Lyndsay	2012	YA A	Industrial Age	1845	North America	United States	New York City Irish Immigration NYPD	F	B
Seven for a Secret	Faye, Lyndsay	2014	YA A	Industrial Age	1846	North America	United States	New York City Slavery NYPD	F	B
The Snow Fell Three Graves Deep	Wolf, Allan	2020	YA A	Industrial Age	1846–1847	North America	United States	Westward Expansion Donner Party	F	N
The Indifferent Stars Above	Brown, Daniel James	2015	YA A	Industrial Age	1846–1847	North America	United States	Westward Expansion	NF	B
Donner Dinner Party	Hale, Nathan	2013	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1846–1847	North America	United States	Westward Expansion Donner Party	NF Bio	GN
Hunger: A Tale of Courage	Napoli, Donna Jo	2019	MG	Industrial Age	1846	Europe	Ireland	Irish Potato Famine	F	CB
What Miss Mitchell Saw	Barrett, Hayley	2019	LE	Industrial Age	1847	North America	United States	Astronomy Women in Science	NF	PB
The Fatal Flame	Faye, Lyndsay	2015	YA A	Industrial Age	1847	North America	United States	New York City NYPD	F	B
The Birchbark House	Erdrich, Louise	2002	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1847	North America	United States	Ojibwe Nation Indigenous Americans Plagues	F OV	CB
The California Gold Rush: An Interactive History Adventure	Raum, Elizabeth	2016	MG	Industrial Age	1848–1855	North America	United States	Westward Expansion California Gold Rush	NF	CB
The Underground Abductor	Hale, Nathan	2014	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1849-1860	North America	United States	Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad Escaped Slaves	NF Bio	GN
The Ballad of Lucy Whipple	Cushman, Karen	1996	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1849	North America	United States	Westward Expansion California Gold Rush	F	CB

1850s

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Lyddie	Patterson, Katherine	1995	UMG	Industrial Age	1843-1846	North America	United States	Mill Girls	F	CB
Rebels of the Heavenly Kingdom	Patterson, Katherine	1995	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1850-1865	Asia	China	Taiping Rebellion	F	CB
The Game of Silence	Erdrich, Louise	2005	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1850	North America	United States	Ojibwe Nation Indigenous Americans	F OV	CB
Maggie's Door	Reilly Giff, Patricia	2005	UMG	Industrial Age	1850-1859	Europe North America	Ireland United States	Immigration	F	N
The Corpse Queen	Herrman, Heather M.	2021	YA A	Industrial Age	1850	North America	United States	Grave Robbers Women in Science	F	N
The Turning Point: 1851 - A Year That Changed Charles Dickens and the World	Douglas-Fairhurst, Robert	2022	YA A	Industrial Age	1851	Europe	Great Britain	Charles Dickens Victorian Era	NF	B
Bound for Oregon	Van Leeuwen, Jean	1996	MG	Industrial Age	1852	North America	United States	Oregon Trail Westward Expansion	F	CB
The Porcupine Year	Erdrich, Louise	2010	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1852	North America	United States	Ojibwe Nation Indigenous Americans	F OV	CB
Vincent and Theo: The Van Gogh Brothers	Heiligman, Deborah	2019	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1852-1891	Europe	France	Van Gogh	NF	CB
Commodore Perry in the Land of the Shogun	Blumberg, Rhoda	2003	UMG	Industrial Age	1852-1854	Asia	Japan	Trade	NF	PB
Orphan Trains: An Interactive History Adventure	Raum, Elizabeth	2011	MG	Industrial Age	1854–1929	North America	United States	Westward Expansion Orphan Trains	NF	CB
History Smashers: The Underground Railroad	Messner, Kate	2022	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1854	North America	United States	Underground Railroad Escaped Slaves	NF Bio	B
Eliza's Freedom Road: An Underground Railroad Diary	Nolen, Jerdine	2017	MG	Industrial Age	1854	North America	United States	Underground Railroad Escaped Slaves	F	CB
Two Miserable Presidents: Everything Your Schoolbooks Didn't Tell You About the Civil War	Sheinkin, Steve	2015	YA UMG	Industrial Age	1856-1865	North America	United States	Abraham Lincoln American Civil War	NF	B
She Caught the Light: Williamina Stevens Fleming: Astronomer	Lasky, Kathryn	2021	LE	Industrial Age	1857-1911	North America	Scotland United States	Science Space Williamina Fleming	NF Bio	PB
Day of Tears	Lester, Julius	2007	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1859	North America	United States	Phillis Wheatley Slavery Atlantic Slave Trade	F	ER

1860s

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Elijah of Buxton	Curtis, Christopher Paul	2009	UMG	Industrial Age	1860	North America	United States Canada	Slavery Underground Railroad	F	CB
You Wouldn't Want to Work on the Railroad	Graham, Ian	2013	LE MG	Industrial Age	1860-1869	North America	United States	Westward Expansion Building	NF	PB
The Detective's Assistant	Hannigan, Kate	2015	UMG	Industrial Age	1860	North America	United States	Pinkerton Detectives	F	CB
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Victorian Miner	Malam, John	2014	LE MG	Industrial Age	1860	Europe	Great Britain	Victorian Era	NF	PB
Pink and Say	Polacco, Patricia	1994	LE MG	Industrial Age	1860-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	F	PB
Blood and Germs: The Civil War Battle Against Wounds and Disease	Jarrow, Gail	2020	UMG	Industrial Age	1860-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War Medicine	NF	B
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Pony Express Rider	Ratliff, Tom	2013	LE MG	Industrial Age	1860-1861	North America	United States	Westward Expansion	NF	PB
Henry's Freedom Box	Levine, Ellen	2007	LE	Industrial Age	1860-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War Underground Railroad	NF Bio	PB
Nurse, Soldier, Spy: The Story of Sarah Edmonds, a Civil War Hero	Moss, Marissa	2016	LE MG	Industrial Age	1860-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War Sarah Edmond	NF Bio	PB
In the Footsteps of Crazy Horse	Marshall III, Joseph	2015	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1860-1877	North America	United States	Lakota Nation Indigenous Americans	F OV	CB
March	Brooks, Geraldine	2005	YA A	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War Abolition	F	N
Little Women	Alcott, Louisa May	1868	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	F	N
This Republic of Suffering	Faust, Drew Gilpin	2008	YA A	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	Death American Civil War	NF	B
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Civil War Soldier	Ratliff, Thomas	2013	LE MG	Industrial Age	1861–1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	NF	PB
The Bloody Country	Collier, James Lincoln Collier, Christopher	2005	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	F	CB
Cixi: Evil Empress of China?	Price, Sean	2009	YA UMG	Industrial Age	1861-1908	Asia	China	Boxer Rebellion	NF Bio	CB
Bull Run	Fleischman, Paul	1995	MG	Industrial Age	1861	North America	United States	American Civil War	F	CB
Fields of Fury: The American Civil War	McPherson, James M.	2002	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	NF	PB
Big Bad Ironclad!	Hale, Nathan	2012	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	NF	GN
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Nurse During the American Civil War	Senior, Kathryn	2010	LE MG	Industrial Age	1861–1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	NF	PB
Guts & Glory: The American Civil War	Thompson, Ben	2015	UMG	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	NF	CB
The Boys' War	Murphy, Jim	1993	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1861-1865	North America	United States	American Civil War	NF	CB
Fingersmith	Waters, Sarah	2002	A	Industrial Age	1862	Europe	Great Britain	LGBTQ+ Victorian Era	F	N
Last of the Name	Parry, Rosanne	2019	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1863	North America	United States	American Civil War Irish Immigration NYC Draft Riots	F	CB
97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement	Ziegelman, Jane	2010	A	Industrial Age	1863-1935	North America	United States	Food	NF	B
Crossing Ebenezer Creek	Bolden, Tonya	2018	YA A	Industrial Age	1864	North America	United States	American Civil War Sherman's March	F OV	CB
March Towards The Thunder	Bruchac, Joseph	2009	UMG	Industrial Age	1864	North America	United States	American Civil War Abenaki Nation	F	N
Making Our Way Home: The Great Migration and the Black American Dream	Imani, Blair	2020	YA A	Industrial Age	1865-1979	North America	United States	Great Migration	NF	CB
All Different Now: Junteenth, the First Day of Freedom	Johnson, Angela	2014	LE	Industrial Age	1865	North America	United States	American Civil War Emancipation	NF OV	PB
Chickadee	Erdrich, Louise	2013	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1866	North America	United States	Ojibwe Nation Indigenous Americans	F OV	CB
Makoons	Erdrich, Louise	2013	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1866	North America	United States	Ojibwe Nation Indigenous Americans	F OV	CB
You Wouldn't Want to Live in a Wild West Town	Hicks, Peter	2013	LE MG	Industrial Age	1866-1879	North America	United States	Westward Expansion	NF	PB
Gold Mountain	Yee, Betty G.	2022	YA A	Industrial Age	1867-1869	North America Asia	United States China	Westward Expansion Chinese Immigration Transcontinental Railroad	F	N
Dragon's Gate	Yep, Lawrence	1993	UMG	Industrial Age	1867	North America	United States China	Transcontinental Railroad Chinese Immigration	F OV	N
The Story of Marie Curie	Katz, Susan B.	2020	MG	Industrial Age	1867-1934	Europe North America	Poland United States	Chemistry Women in Science	NF	CB
Coolies	Yin Soentpiet, Chris	2003	LE MG	Industrial Age	1867	North America	United States China	Transcontinental Railroad Chinese Immigration	F OV	PB
Grigory Rasputin: Holy Man or Mad Monk?	Itzkowitz, Norman	2008	YA UMG	Industrial Age	1869-1916	Asia	Russia	Russian History	NF Bio	CB
Major Impossible	Hale, Nathan	2018	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1869	North America	United States	Grand Canyon	NF Bio	GN

1870s

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Brothers	Yin Soentpiet, Chris	2006	LE MG	Industrial Age	1870	North America	United States China	Chinese Immigration	F OV	PB
The Great Fire	Murphy, Jim	2006	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1871	North America	United States	Fires	NF	CB
Sweep: The Story of a Girl and Her Monster	Auxier, Jonathan	2020	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1874	Europe	Great Britain	Child Labor Victorian Era	HF	CB
Water Street	Reilly Giff, Patricia	2008	UMG	Industrial Age	1875	North America	United States	New York City	F	N
You Wouldn't Want to Be a Worker on the Statue of Liberty	Malam, John	2017	LE MG	Industrial Age	1875-1886	Europe North America	France United States	Monuments	NF	PB
Lincoln's Grave Robbers	Sheinkin, Steve	2018	YA	Industrial Age	1875-1876	North America	United States	Abraham Lincoln	NF	N
Abina and the Important Men: A Graphic History	Getz, Trevor R.	2016	YA A	Industrial Age	1876	Gold Coast	Ghana	Slavery	NF Bio	GN
My Calamity Jane	Hand, Cynthia Ashton, Brodi Meadows, Jodi	2020	YA A	Industrial Age	1876	North America	United States	Calamity Jane	HF Bio	N
Wheels of Change: How Women Rode the Bicycle to Freedom	Macy, Sue	2017	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1876-1902	North America	United States	Women's Suffrage Bicycles	F	PB
Women of Steel and Stone: 22 Inspirational Architects, Engineers, and Landscape Designers	Lewis, Anna M.	2014	YA A	Industrial Age	1876-1980	North America	United States	Building	NF Bio	B
One Big Open Sky	Cline-Ransome, Lesa	2024	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1879	North America	United States	Westward Expansion	F P	CB

1880s

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
Immigrant Kids	Freedman, Russell	1995	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1880-1920	North America	United States	Immigration	NF	PB
You Wouldn't Want to be a Victorian Schoolchild	Malam, John	2014	LE MG	Industrial Age	1880-1889	Europe	Great Britain	Victorian Era	NF	PB
Linnea in Monet's Garden	Bjork, Christina	1985	LE MG	Industrial Age	1880	Europe	France	Monet	F	PB CB
Prairie Lotus	Park, Linda Sue	2020	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1880	Dakota Territory	United States	Prairie Life	F	CB
What the River Knows	Ibañez, Isabel	2023	YA A	Industrial Age	1880	Africa	Egypt	Egyptology Archaeology Cleopatra	HF	N
You Wouldn't Want to be a Victorian Servant	MacDonald, Fiona	2016	LE MG	Industrial Age	1880-1889	Europe	Great Britain	Victorian Era	NF	PB
Dread Nation	Ireland, Justina	2018	YA	Industrial Age	1880	North America	United States	Reconstruction LGBTQ+	HF	N
Inventing Victoria	Bolden, Tonya	2020	YA A	Industrial Age	1880	North America	United States	Reconstruction	F OV	CB
Deathless Divide	Ireland, Justina	2020	YA	Industrial Age	1880	North America	United States	Reconstruction	HF	N
The Prairie Thief	Wiley, Melissa	2013	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1880-1889	North America	United States	Prairie Life	HF	CB
Mornings With Monet	Rosenstock, Barb	2021	LE	Industrial Age	1880	Europe	France	Monet	NF	PB
Rodzina	Cushman, Karen	2003	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1881	North America	United States	Westward Expansion Orphan Trains	F	CB
My Dear Henry: A Jekyll and Hyde Remix	Bayron, Kalynn	2023	YA A	Industrial Age	1883-1885	Europe	Great Britain	Victorian Era LGBTQ+ Retelling	F	N
The Legend of Auntie Po	Khor, Shing Yin	2021	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1885-1886	North America	United States	Logging Town Chinese Immigration Tall Tales and Legends LGBTQ+	F OV	GN
King Leopold's Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa	Hochschild, Adam	1999	YA A	Industrial Age	1885-1908	Africa	Belgium Congo	Congo Free State Leopold II	NF Bio	N
History Smashers: Women's Right to Vote	Messner, Kate	2020	UMG MG	Industrial Age	1885-1920	North America	United States	Women's Suffrage Voting	NF Bio	B
Alice Paul and the Fight for Women's Rights	Kops, Deborah	2017	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1885-1920	North America	United States	Women's Suffrage Voting	NF Bio	B
A Curious Beginning	Raybourn, Deanna	2015	A	Industrial Age	1887	Europe	Great Britain	Victorian Era Women in Science	F	N
Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings	Faye, Lyndsay	2009	A	Industrial Age	1888–1891	Europe	Great Britain	Jack the Ripper Whitechapel Murders	F	N
The Last Days of Night	Moore, Graham	2016	YA A	Industrial Age	1888-1896	North America	United States	Technology Thomas Edison George Westinghouse Nikolas Tesla Gilded Age	F	N
Maud: A Novel Inspired by the Life of L.M. Montgomery	Fishbane, Melanie J.	2017	YA A	Industrial Age	1889-1892	North America	Canada	L.M. Montgomery	F Bio	N

1890s

Book Title	Author	PubDate	Reading Age	Time Period	Time Frame	Geographic Area	Country	Topic	Genre	Format
A Slip of a Girl	Reilly Giff, Patricia	2021	MG	Industrial Age	1890	Europe	Ireland	Irish Land Wars	F	N
These Shallow Graves	Donnelly, Jennifer	2015	YA A	Industrial Age	1890	North America	United States	Gilded Age	F	N
The Devil in the White City	Larson, Erik	2016	A	Industrial Age	1890-1895	North America	United States	Gilded Age Chicago World's Fair	F	N
Ellis Island: An Interactive History Adventure	Burgan, Michael	2014	MG	Industrial Age	1892-1954	North America	United States	Immigration	NF	CB
Angel Island: Gateway to Gold Mountain	Freedman, Russell	2016	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1892-1940	North America	United States China	Chinese Immigration	NF	B
Jackaby	Ritter, William	2015	YA A	Industrial Age	1892	North America	United States	Gilded Age	F HF	N
The Sherlockian	Moore, Graham	2011	YA A	Industrial Age	1893-1901	Europe	Great Britain	Victorian Era	F	N
The American Heiress	Goodwin, Daisy	2010	A	Industrial Age	1893	Europe	Great Britain	Downton Abbey	F	N
The City Beautiful	Polydoros, Aden	2021	YA A	Industrial Age	1893	North America	United States	Gilded Age Jewish Immigration Chicago World's Fair	F	N
The Klondike Gold Rush	Shepherd, Donna Walsh	1998	MG UMG	Industrial Age	1896	North America	United States	Westward Expansion Alaska Gold Rush	NF	PB
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary	Winchester, Simon	2005	YA A	Industrial Age	1896	Europe	Great Britain	Oxford English Dictionary	NF	N
Broken Song	Lasky, Katheryn	2005	UMG	Industrial Age	1897	Russia	Russia	Russian Pogroms Immigration Jewish History	F	CB
Audacity	Crowder, Melanie	2016	UMG YA	Industrial Age	1898-1950	North America	United States	Gilded Age Activism	F	N
The Golem and the Jinni	Wecker, Helene	2013	YA A	Industrial Age	1899	North America	United States	Immigrants Gilded Age Jewish History	HF	N

Disclosure: History Book By Book is reader-supported. When you buy books we recommend using Amazon or Bookshop links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission (at no additional cost to you).

List of abbreviations:

Reading Age	Genre	Format
LE = lower elementary MG = middle grade (8-12 yrs.) UMG = upper-middle grade (11-14 yrs.) YA = young adult (14+) A = adult (18+)	NF - non fiction F = fiction Bio = biography HF = historical fantasy AH = alternate history OV - own voices M = mythology S = spine book	PB = picture book GN = graphic novel ER = early reader CB = chapter book B = book (NF) N = novel M = memoir