The Divide by Jason Hickel is a good short read on global inequality.

The Making of Global Capitalism by Panitch and Gindin goes into historical detail on the emergence of the modern financial/trade system, but it’s fairly academic and not super exciting.

Late Victorian Holocausts by Mike Davis is an account of the famines and mass social murder overseen by colonial governance in the 19th century.

Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz’s An Indigenous People’s History of the United States is self explanatory.

For books on America’s commitment to defending democracy around the world, pick any one of:

• Washington Bullets by Vijay Prashad
• The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins
• The Shock Doctrine by Naomi Klein
• Killing Hope by William Blum