Favorite History Books

[marc]

This is a work in progress:

1. The Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson.  The best one-volume history of the Civil War takes time to explain the events leading up to the war and leaves the reader with a clear idea of why it took place.  Very readable as well.

2. American Sphinx by Joseph J. Ellis.  My only complaint with the book is that it's episodic rather than comprehensive.  I've read a lot about Jefferson, and find this compellingly readable.

3. An Imperfect God by Henry Wiencek.  Underrated story of WAshington's changing attitude toward his slaves.  I loaned my copy to a student a couple of months back, and before he could return it he got sent away to alternative school.  I must get another one.

4. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chertow.  As I said in another thread, if I had read this when I was young,  it would have changed my life.  This book brought me to tears with a sense of real loss.

5. Lincoln by David Donald.  In the beginning of the book, I had doubts, but by the end it was clear that Donald was weaving a tapestry that explained just who Lincoln was.  This book explodes many of the Lost Cause myths not so much by calling them out but by establishing a deeper understanding of the circumstances surrounding them.

6. Undaunted Courage by Stephen Ambrose. You follow the trail with Lewis and Clark and feel as if you've experienced all that they experienced. If you haven't read this and you have any interest in the early days of this country, get up from the computer and go to your bookstore now.  If you order on Amazon choose next-day shipping.

7. John Paul Jones by Evan Thomas. Reads like a high seas adventure story.  Enormously sad ending.

8. The Glory of Their Times by Lawrence Ritter.  Oral history about the early days of baseball. Read it when I was young, picked it up and re-read it last year.

9.Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin.  A bit overpublicized a couple of years ago, but it might have deserved all the attention.  Of course John Bolton says it didn't happen (I was watching the nterview when he said this.) Weird.

10. The Civil War series by Shelby Foote.  The best writer among the CW historians, he identifies with the South but tells a good, fair story.  Also gives West Virginia's place in the war its due, which many fail to do.

11. Benjamin Franklin by Walter Isaacson.  Skip Franklin's self-promoting autobiography and read this thick, thorough book that takes you right into the 18th century.

12. John Adams by David McCullogh.  Too low, really, but it's hard to diffrentiate. Chances are you know about this already.  

13. Reviving the Ancient Faith by Richard Hughes.  Comprehensive and true enough to be branded heretical.

14. Founding Brothers by Joseph Ellis.  Leaves you both understanding and wanting more.

15. To Appomattox: Nine April Days, 1865  by Burke Davis. A fifty-year-old book written by a southern historians who refers to the Confederates as "we" yet admits all that should be admitted.  A beautifully written book.

16.The Path Between the Seas by David McCullogh.  Read this when I was in high school, when it first came out.  Amazing story of the Panama Canal.

17. The Armada by Garrett Mattingly.  Worth it for the opening story about the beheading of Mary Stuart alone.

18. The Princes in the Tower by Alison Weir. Richard III revisionists have left bad comments on Amazon, but after reading this compelling story it was fairly plain not only that Richard killed the princes, but that he was a typical royal of his day who murdered anyone who posed a threat and at times revelled in cruelty.  Very good read.

19. The Frontiersmen and That Dark and Bloody River by Alan Eckherdt.  The history's not quite legit--he reconstructs things he can't possibly know and fills in "facts" without the evidence, but he tells some of the best stories I've ever read.

20. Andrew Jackson: American Lion by Jon Meacham.  I've barely started reading it.  It will likely move up the list after I finish.

[OldDad]

My favorite historian is Paul Johnson.  His books "Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the 1980s" and "A History of the American People" are pretty much indispensable, IMO.

[marc]

fwiw, I'm re-ordering my list some.  I left "Undaunted Courage" off the original, which is unforgivable.  And I'm still not sure "Founding Brothers" is there.

[jiggyfly]

How about William Bennett? Do you like any of his books?

[marc]

I haven't read any of his books. 

[jiggyfly]

He has several, here's a couple that I really liked.

America, The Last Best Hope

Our Sacred Honor

[walker starr]

The True History of The Conquest of Mexico the author Bernal Diaz Del Castillo  approximately 1515 AD  The author was one of the officers of Cortez small army.  I have never read a book that held my interest so intently.  The descriptive details were such as to  cause the reader to almost believe he was witnessing everything as it happened.  (no videos or special effects needed).

[marc]

He has several, here's a couple that I really liked.

America, The Last Best Hope

Our Sacred Honor

I like Bennett. Sometime I may pick one up.  I tend to read books with a more narrow focus, but I checked out Amazon and he has some interesting titles.

btw, I have read some of The Book of Virtues.

[marc]

The True History of The Conquest of Mexico the author Bernal Diaz Del Castillo  approximately 1515 AD  The author was one of the officers of Cortez small army.  I have never read a book that held my interest so intently.  The descriptive details were such as to  cause the reader to almost believe he was witnessing everything as it happened.  (no videos or special effects needed).

Interesting.  I should have included Bartolome de las Casas, who wrote in the same general time period on my list.  "Devestation of the Indians" included some vivid accounts of forced conversions to Christianity, often at the stake.  When asked whether he wanted to go to Heaven one Indian leader asked if the Spanish would be there, and when told they would he responded that he didn't, then, because it would be a terrible place.

The British used de las Casas' work as a propaganda piece against the Spanish. 

[Johnb]

A Fool of God  Life story of Alexander campbell by Louis Cocran

Racoon John Smith  Louis Cocran

Marine Sniper  Story of Carlos Hathcock

Dearly Beloved  Story of Juda P. Bemjamin  (a lawyer, Vice president, sec. of war for the Confederate states. A Jew that did not believe in slavery but stayed with the south.  He also went to England after the war and became a lawyer there and re wrote many of their laws.) 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Everything on your list is American History marc...do you teach that subject?

[marc]

Nope. I teach English.  I do have books about Richard III and The Armada on the list, however. 

[Johnb]

Quote Marc
Nope. I teach English.

And I think of all the times I forget to use spell check or spell a different word and spell check doesn't catch it.  That was my worst subject (I know it shows).  I can't spell and could not diagram a sentence if my life depended on it.  Oh yes and I like to end sentences with a preposition.

[marc]

Nothing wrong with ending a sentence in a preposition unless you're speaking Latin, imho.  And I haven't seen a sentence diagrammed in decades.

Not much bothers me.  I do have slight pet peeves regarding the definition of irony and misplaced apostrophes, but that's about it, and I try not to pay much attention to that on message boards.  I don't expect proper English in this type of format.

Now ending every sentence with ellipses is another matter ...

[Johnb]

Quote marc
I don't expect proper English in this type of format.

Its a good thing cause you won't get it from this redneck.  I just speak American I can't understand those English folks when the talk it like listening to Ozzie Osborn.  They need to lear to speak proper American.

[walker starr]

 

[Wycliffes_Shillelagh]

Now ending every sentence with ellipses is another matter ...

Hmmm....  Now I wonder which poster does that...

[walker starr]

I don`t know how the man in the hat got through without the message.                better ask Doc Suess.  OH Well.                  The   Message that didn`t get through was simply in praise of Bruce Catton`s Civil WAR TRILOGY,  it consisted of MR. LINCOLN`S ARMY, GLORY ROAD, and A STILLNESS AT APPOMATTOX.  The three  ran together it was almost like reading three novels. I really enjoyed them.  Still have them.

[k-pappy]

Six Frigates by Ian Toll

In Christ,
KP

[marc]

I don`t know how the man in the hat got through without the message.                better ask Doc Suess.  OH Well.                  The   Message that didn`t get through was simply in praise of Bruce Catton`s Civil WAR TRILOGY,  it consisted of MR. LINCOLN`S ARMY, GLORY ROAD, and A STILLNESS AT APPOMATTOX.  The three  ran together it was almost like reading three novels. I really enjoyed them.  Still have them.

I need to put Catton's books on my "to read" list.

[Huscarl]

Rise and Fall of the Third Reich

[jgilbert]

Rev. R.L. Dabney's "Life and Campaigns of Lt. Gen. Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson
Any of the Virginia Regimental Series
Donald Pfanz "Gettysburg: Day Two"
David McCollough "1776"

[Ibin Al Nur]

salaam
Beyond Belief
By:
ELAIN PAGAELS.    comes to mind

Al Nur

[NovemberChild56]

In The Beginning (The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture) by Alister McGrath

[turtledove]

My favorite historian is Paul Johnson.  His books "Modern Times: A History of the World from the 1920s to the 1980s" and "A History of the American People" are pretty much indispensable, IMO.

Me, too, I especially appreciated his History of Christianity ; but it has been years since I read it.  I'll check out the  one you mention or maybe both of them.  Thanks. 

[OUmillenium]

1.  A People's History of the United States.  Howard Zinn - yes, he is a socialist
2.  Founding Brothers - Joseph J. Ellis

[jiggyfly]

In The Beginning (The Story of the King James Bible and How It Changed a Nation, a Language, and a Culture) by Alister McGrath

Excellent read! Very enlightening.

[jiggyfly]

The Sacred and Profane History Of The World. 4 volume set by Samuel Shuckford.

I just purchased these a month ago and am just getting down to reading them. I browsed them some and so far I think I will like them. Anyone else here read them?

[Frank_N_Sense]

I doubt anyone here heard of Howard Zinn.........

A People's History of the United States

This is what I am reading right now..

Era of the Crusades
Course No. 390 (36 lectures, 30 minutes/lecture)
Taught by Kenneth W. Harl
Tulane University
Ph.D., Yale University

[ex cathedra]

The bible
author
God

[Frank_N_Sense]

The bible
author
God

LOL...

Great book... Have you read it???

[mordechai]

- "The Historical figure of Jesus": from E. P. Sanders. One of the best book about historical backround of Jesus time

[OUmillenium]

Currently reading Joseph J Ellis, His Excellency and David McCullough, 1776.  About 1/2 way through both.  Lots of overlap, both incredible authors.  Love the detail and depth of research.  Really brings the time period and George Washington to life.

[zoonance]

Church History in Plain Language, 3rd Edition.   Bruce L. Shelley.   Thomas Nelson publishing, 2008.

[Abishai100]

I really like "A People's History of the United States" (1980) by Howard Zinn, because it re-presents historical events through the lens of citizenry reactions, tea baggers, etc. and really draws attention to the actual shaping of populism as if affects modern age individualism.

Critics have suggested that Zinn is trying to formalize romanticism, but I think this book does a decent job in arguing that history is made by the voters and not by the rulers.

Zinn's suggestions I think really explain why and how American society liberally draws on political ideas to create a self-idealization avatar empire which we know as the comic book.