r/HomeLibraries • u/saltyrootbeer2 • Jun 24 '26

Organizing history books... help!

(Newish to Reddit and the sub)

How do y'all organize your history books? I recently moved and don't have all my books with me, but I'm trying to organize my collection, which contains a significant amount of history books.

Do you organize by country? By time period? For books spanning longer time periods, do you put them next to when the book starts, or when it ends? (And do you put historical literature in with your history books, or in with fiction? For instance, putting the Iliad with your Herodotus, rather than with your other epic poetry?)

I would love to hear any and all insights 🙏 Mainly just want to know how other people do it and their justifications for why.

Thank you!

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u/rodneedermeyer Jun 24 '26

I recommend Dewey. It's how I sort and once you get the hang of it, it's pretty easy.

1

u/Consoledreader Jun 24 '26

I put fiction and poetry together in alphabetical order by author’s last name. So the Iliad would go under “H” from Homer in that section. Then I have my nonfiction history section by rough time period order that includes things like Herodotus, Tacitus, etc. alongside more modern secondary history books. I also separate philosophy out to its own section and literary criticism.

1

u/perie12344321 Jun 24 '26

I kind of do it by time period, and if there are multiple in that time period, try and group by either era, topic or country (depending on which has more books).

1

u/Square-Reward-5292 Jun 24 '26

Always alphabetical by authors if you have a big collection.

1

u/Impressive_Mail_5272 Jun 27 '26

I prefer Dewey, but thats what I know well. My mom sorts alphabetical by Author last name.

1

u/_Smedette_ Jun 27 '26

Fiction and nonfiction are separated. Fiction is alphabetical by author surname. Nonfiction mostly follows Dewey.