Good history books

[journey137]

The thread about bad history books inspired me to write this thread so we can share GOOD history books with each other. Personally I’ve always loathed reading history texts when they were requirements, but when they’re not, I love them. Most of the ones I’ve read were obviously biased and that contributed to me not enjoying them (not to mention they were written like an encyclopedia article – dry as crackers). So, let’s start sharing good history books that aren’t too terribly biased!!

 

[HouseArrest]

I stumbled upon a website awhile ago called Reading Your Way Through History. See what you think.

 

[EmBee]

I loved Howard Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States which means it’s probably biased … but for what it’s worth:

amazon.com/Peoples-History-United-States-1492-Present/dp/0060528370

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[1ke]

Books by:

Warren Carroll
Hilaire Belloc
Regine Pernoud

 

[firstthings]

Gulag by Anne Applebaum - a true story of a terrible evil that claimed 20 million lives and lasted into the 1980s.

The Civil War: A Narrative by Shelby Foote - THE definitive account of the Civil War. Reads like a novel, endlessly fascinating.

Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow - My favorite Fouding Father after reading this. What this man accomplished is incredible. The fact that he is mostly known for being killed in a dual is a tragedy.

In the Heart of the Sea by Nathaniel Philbrank - True story of the whaleship Essex on which the book Moby Dick is based. What these men endured is unfathomable.

I could go on, but I have to work.

 

[Rascalking]

In keeping with The Gulag trend-The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

A Patriots Guide to the United States by Schwiekart and Allen

 

[PoliSciProf]

Consider Modern Times by Paul Johnson. A solid and comprehensive account of 20th century history.Johnson has also written a good one volume accout of the History of Chrisitianity.

David Halbestam: The Fifties. A great survey of cultural and political history of the fifites that Boomers and post-Boomers should enjoy. Also consider Halbestram’s The Coldest Winter, a top down and bottom up account of the Korean War.

James McPherson: The Battle Cry of Freedom. A great book on the civil war era.

I would dissent from a previous poster’s recommendation of Zinn’s Peoples History. His unabashed Marxism is quite distorting. I spend too much of my time in my seminar on American Political Thought correcting his simplistic notions and factual inaccuracies. I just don’t understand how the AHA bestows awards upon him.