The Vault Library
The books behind the stories
Every video on the channel starts with a real source. These are the 27 books we would hand you if you wanted the whole story. Watch the short version, then read the long one.
As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. "Get the book" opens the book's Amazon page; Kindle and Audiobook open search results so you can pick the edition. Buying for someone else? See the gift guide.
Start here
The books behind the four most-watched stories on the channel.
The Ark Before Noah
They drilled into the boat-shaped mound on Mount Ararat. The first ark was round.
Misquoting Jesus
20 facts about the historical Jesus most people were never taught.
Titanic Survivor
She survived the Olympic, the Titanic and the Britannic.
Nuclear Folly
The Soviet officer who refused to fire, and the day the world almost ended.
Listen instead
Nearly every book here is on Audible.
An Audible membership turns the long version of a story into your commute, your run or the drive home. Pick any title from the shelves below, and cancel whenever you like.
Lost at sea, and the ones who made it back
Shipwrecks, mutinies, and the handful who walked away.
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Titanic Survivor
She survived the Olympic, the Titanic and the Britannic.
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Sultana
America's deadliest maritime disaster, and almost nobody remembers it.
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Batavia's Graveyard
They survived the shipwreck. Then one survivor murdered 125 of them.
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Ghost Ship
The Mary Celeste, found sailing the Atlantic with no one aboard.
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Erebus: The Story of a Ship
129 men sailed into the Arctic. None came back.
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When I Fell From the Sky
She fell two miles from a plane and walked out of the Amazon.
Cold War and declassified
The files the governments hoped you would never read.
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Nuclear Folly
The Soviet officer who refused to fire, and the day the world almost ended.
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Nagasaki: Life After Nuclear War
The man who survived Hiroshima, then went home to Nagasaki.
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Midnight in Chernobyl
The Elephant's Foot, the deadliest object on Earth.
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Poisoner in Chief
MKUltra, and the scientist who fell from a 13th-floor window.
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Body of Secrets
Operation Northwoods, the plan the Joint Chiefs signed off on.
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The Plutonium Files
The secret human experiments of the atomic age.
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The Infiltrator
The agent who went undercover inside Escobar's bank.
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Last Call
Prohibition, and the alcohol the government poisoned.
Read the whole shelf
A Kindle Paperwhite, for the readers who binge.
Glare-free screen, weeks of battery, and every book on this shelf one tap away. Carry the whole Vault Library in your pocket.
Unsolved
Cases still open, ciphers still unread.
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Dead Mountain
Nine hikers, the Dyatlov Pass, and a tent cut open from the inside.
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Roanoke: Solving the Mystery of the Lost Colony
A whole colony vanished and left one word behind.
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The Unknown Man
The Somerton Man: no name, and a code nobody has cracked.
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The Code Book
The Copiale cipher, unreadable for 250 years.
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A Time to Dance, a Time to Die
The Dancing Plague of 1518.
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Dark Tide
The Boston molasses flood that killed 21 people.
The ancient and medieval world
Rome, Judea and the Middle Ages, without the textbook varnish.
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Misquoting Jesus
20 facts about the historical Jesus most people were never taught.
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The Ark Before Noah
They drilled into the boat-shaped mound on Mount Ararat. The first ark was round.
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The Fires of Vesuvius: Pompeii Lost and Found
Vesuvius, and the man whose brain turned to glass.
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Cleopatra: A Life
Cleopatra lived closer to the Moon landing than to the pyramids.
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Caligula: A Biography
The emperor who declared war on the ocean.
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The Time Traveler's Guide to Medieval England
You wouldn't last 24 hours in medieval Europe.
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The Lost City of Z
El Dorado, the city of gold that never existed.
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As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Book links open each title's Amazon page; prices and availability are set by Amazon. The Audible and Kindle links are affiliate links too.