Monday, November 11, 2024

70 of 100: Reading list on American history

I happened on this list on FB, via Katie Couric, and thought I'd add it here, to accompany my earlier post on books about fascism. Because, well, you know. This one is titled simply "The 12 Best Books about American History." I have some reading to do.

The Situation Room: The Inside Story of Presidents in Crisis by George Stephanopoulos
Jailed for Freedom: American Women Win the Vote by Doris Stevens
These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill Lepore (in which she "analyzes whether America has delivered on its original promises of political equality, natural rights, and the sovereignty of the people")
Lies My Teacher Told me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong by James W. Loewen
Mediocre: The Dangerous Legacy of White Male America by Ijeoma Oluo
How to Hide an Empire: A History of tthe Greater United States by Daniel Immerwahr
America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika Lee
A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Women, Race & Class by Angela Y. Davis
Stamped from the Beginning: The Defiintive Hisory of Racist Ideas in America by Ibram X. Kendi
1776  by David McCullough
1491:  New Revelations of tthe American before Columbus by Charles C. Mann

And in the comments, many people mentioned William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, which is not about the US, of course—at least, not yet. I have had that book for decades and never read it (it's one of those immense books), but I see it on the shelf and I might just have to pull it down and get going...



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