Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire by Gibbons. 2nd time through recently. Read it when I found out the founding fathers were obsessed with it while fighting the revolution. Even if Roman history is mostly fake, it’s sensational. 

Letters from Cortez. Correspondence from Cortez back to Spain during his expeditions in Mexico. Including a fun bit on Charles the 5th not understanding inflation when the gold market is flooded in Europe. 

My favorite two old books from last year.