Does anyone have some suggestions for educational books on US history that wont bore me to sleep?
Does anyone have some suggestions for educational books on US history that wont bore me to sleep? I feel like I have diffucult time reading anything historical. Thanks everybody?
I do indeed, just give me 1 minute 🙂
Howard Zinn – The People’s History of the United States.
We were both writing at the same time 😉
It must be a pretty good book then ?
That was my first thought as well! Great book!
I don’t know what you consider boring, but one of the best US history books is Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States: both well-informed and well-written… But then again, tastes and colours…
Some of my favourites, related to your enquiry 🙂
Thank you !
@Kiminey you are most welcome, I particularly recommend “Bury my heart at wounded knee”, “empire of the summer moon” and “the last stand” 🙂
@Perry I will read those first 🙂
I actually want to see the rest of your bookshelf now…
@Carmel haha ill tease you with a few sneakpeaks ?
@Perry I like Witchfinders snuck in the pile there…
I’ve not read it… but it looks interesting…
@Perry this looks like my husbands bookshelf…
Thank you… it’s literary voyeurism!!!
@Carmel it’s a damn good read despite the harrowing subject material 😛
@Perry its a topic I find fascinating!!’
I would recommend it then, absolutely 🙂
@Perry I love your collections. I think you would like Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World by Jack Weatherford. It’s on my top ten of all time list.
500 nations, and George catlins: North American Indians are also great
1776 by David McCullough kept me interested. In a totally different vein, The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe is a very interesting history of the early space program, very readable.
The Right Stuff is great!
one of my favorite books ever!
The right stuff – great read
David McCullough is a not-to-be-missed writer. Also recommend you hear him speak —-check out BookTV online. He is so articulate and passionate about our country and its history.
Christy Beckham Yes, I’ve read other books by him, too, and you are absolutely correct. I have never heard him speak, but I will check it out. 1776 made me realize what a brilliant general Washington was.
There is a great series called “What If?” For the history buffs. It’s where scholars consider the alternate outcomes of major events. I found them very thought provoking.
Nathaniel Philbrick’s Mayflower was incredible, and he’s really easy to read. I hadnt even heard of King Philip’s War before I read it, but it was a big deal. The Massachusetts Bay Colony was a big deal in US history, since Boston and Massachusetts were such big deals.
I have read all of David McCullough’s books and they are all good.
Agree…all of them!
Another thought – The Crucible, by Arthur Miller, a play about the Salem witch trials. Although Miller took some poetic license with the characters, some of the dialogue is quoted directly from the actual transcripts of the trials in 1692.
Anything by Frederick Douglas.
Check out Sarah Vowell’s books, such as Assassination Vacation – history with a big dollop of humor.
The best and the brightest by David Halberstam. US Vietnam history. And anything by late Christopher Hitchens.
I have not read Hitchins’s history books. I’ll give them a try. Which would you recommend I start with?
@SteveDepending on your political/religious view point he can annoy and offend very easily with his cynical commentary. This is just a warning that he is not for everyone, but he is definitely entertaining and a brilliant writer. “No one left to lie to”, “the missionary position” good starting point. If you like those, go farther.
@Galina , I’m well aware of him. Thanks
Read Undaunted Courage, can’t remember the author, but I think it’s one of the best books ever about the American story, it’s about Meriwether Lewis, but covers soo much more
Untold history of the United States! Crazy book that’ll give you a new perspective on US history. Also corresponds with the show on Netflix.
Sapiens! Not the conventional history and not constrained to the US, but really refreshing viewpoints and philosophical!
No book suggestions but one historical one: if at all possible, read any histories of the US (or anywhere else) in chronological order to see how events are influenced by their own history and how they affect the world after them. My one quabble with the History Channel is that it destroys the viewer’s sense of why things happen and how they influence following events when a program on the Civil War comes directly after a program on Vietnam or the Trail of Tears.
Peoples History of the United States.
Yes, covers a lot and is easy to read!
Everything Sarah Vowell has written.
I like to glean my history from stories of specific people. So, for example, The Blue Tattoo: The Life of Olive Oatman. I find that books like that are easier for me than an overall history of the US. Hope that’s helpful!
If you want something quick and fact fill but not boring, just to bring you up to snuff read Don’t Know Much About American History by Kenneth Davis. Then you can decide which era or area you would like to read about.
Pick an era you think sounds interesting then look for something specifically from that time. Biography can be entertaining too.
america’s Women by Gail Collins is very interesting
Empire of the Summer Moon by Gwynn’s and Blood and Thunder by Sides are excellent books on the American West. I have also enjoyed Michael and Jeff Shaara books on the American Revolution, Civil War ( Killer Angels ) and WW 2 ( The Steel Wave )
We were soldiers once… And young
Revolution Song by Russell Shorto presents the American Revolution through the eyes of six different individuals. None of them “founding fathers”. Very readable.
Ken Follet’s Century Trilogy
Bill O’Reilly, Jeff Shaara, Brian Kilmeade and Nwet Gingrich have all written excellent books about American History.
Fantasyland by Kurt Andersen.
Hamilton by Ron Chernow is a good biography that is easy to read despite its length. And you’ll learn a lot about the American Revolution.
And “Grant” to learn how political the civil war and its aftermath were.
Chernow is great…so is Jon Meacham.
America’s First Daughter is historical fiction. I learned a lot about history by reading this one.
My Dear Hamilton, same author
Killers of the Flower moon
Second this one!
Howard Zinn people’s history x
The Glory and the Dream by William Manchester. It reads like a novel.
The Son, Fall of Giants, Devil in the White City, Paradise Alley.
These are historical fiction, with the exception of Devil in the White City.
Manhunt is a good nonfiction Civil War read.
Destiny of the Republic
Thank you so much everyone! I cant wait to start reading these
Sons of Mississippi.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2767.A_People_s_History_of_the_United_States
For the big picture, Zinn’s People’s History is the best. You can read it first, or you can read something more specific first, then read the Zinn to put it in the full context. For those more focused books, I recommend Stories of Scottsboro, The Warmth of Other Suns, and Labor of Love Labor of Sorrow.
“My Name is Resolute” is EXCELLENT! ?
Anything by Doris Kearns Goodwin or David McCullough
and David Halberstam
Have you done any genealogical/family history research? I have always loved history but it is much more interesting to me now knowing what events my family participated in. Speaking with other genealogical researchers many of them discovered a true interest in US History once they too discovered their families’ roles in it. That said some of my recommendations are:
The Fifties by David Halberstam
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Doris Kearns Goodwin
Democracy in America by Alexis de Tocqueville
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf Coast by Douglas Brinkley
Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell
Girls Like Us: Carole King, Joni Mitchell, Carly Simon–and the Journey of a Generation by Sheila Weller
The Right Stuff by Tom Wolfe
Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
Becoming Justice Blackmum: Harry Blackmum’s Supreme Court Journey by Linda Greenhouse
Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians who Helped Win the Space Race by Margot Lee Shatterly
Founding Brothers The Revolutionary Generation by Joseph J Ellis
Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation by Cokie Roberts
The Johnstown Flood by David McCullough
The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court by Bob Woodward
The Power Broker: Robert Moses and the Fall of New York by Robert A Caro
The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro
Seabiscuit was a great read! Hidden Figures was pretty good as well. Read The Right Stuff 30 odd years ago, so don’t remember a lot about it. Think I liked the movie better, but the book was so much more informative.
Stealing Secrets by Winkler. It is about female spies during the Civil War.
Burr
I loved Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. It’s about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Also found his book about D-Day really interesting.
Dear Abigail: the intimate lives and revolutionary ideas of Abigail Adams and her two remarkable sisters, by Diane Jacobs.
1776 is good. I also enjoyed Cokie Roberts book Founding Mothers.
ooh, yeah! I liked Cokie Roberts’ sequel, Ladies of Liberty, even better!
Howard Zinn’s “A People’s History of the United States” is a good one.
Anything by Steve Sheinkin. His narrative history books read like thrillers. He also has a series of hysterically funny history books. Written for kids but the humor is ageless and laugh til you cry funny. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2190306.King_George?ac=1&from_search=true
Not a book, but try the podcast “presidential”. One podcast on each of the presidents. Really well done, I learned a lot, and it increased my interest in reading history books.
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn. Often banned because it records ALL our history…..not just the names and dates and accomplishments. Very difficult to read in places since most history books have WHITE washed the truth. A keeper.
Anything by Jeff Shaara.
Anything by Nathaniel Philbrick or Ron Chernow!
Thanks so much everybody !