I asked history blogger and author Tony Valerino to help me select books to celebrate 250 years of American History.
Obviously, hundreds of books fit the criteria and would have been excellent choices.
History matters and recording historical events accurately helps us learn from our mistakes and build on our successes.
With Tony’s help, I narrowed it down to fifteen nonfiction titles covering many of the good, bad, and ugly periods of American History. I encourage you to celebrate our 250th anniversary by learning the unvarnished history of the United States.
Common Sense by Thomas Paine – Start with the book that inspired colonists to support the causes of freedom and independence instead of remaining loyal to a monarchy that refused to address their needs. Paine spoke to the common man and our founding fathers listened when they signed the Declaration of Independence in 1776.
The Radicalism of the American Revolution by Gordon S. Wood was awarded the Pulitzer Prize. Wood examines the events that made the American Revolution. He looks beyond independence from England to examine the transformation of this fledgling country from a society of landowners into a democratic one which expanded the rights of men beyond anything its founding fathers could have anticipated.
Pivotal Moments That Shaped America: History of the U.S. From the Boston Tea Party to the War on Terror by Tony Valerino- If you want to read a balanced account of U.s, history, this is the book you seek. Valerino begins with the Boston Tea Party and leads us through actual revolution, wars, western expansion, the Industrial Revolution, women’s suffrage, the civil rights movement, the Vietnam era, and the cultural revolution to the war on terror.
Heaven’s Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal by Jack Kelly – Kelly explores the transformative impact of the Erie Canal on America from its opening in 1825 to 1844. Find out about the groups who cheered and the groups who jeered, and how they altered history.
Frederick Douglass: Prophet of Freedom by David W. Blight – explore the life of Frederick Douglass. He escaped a life of enslavement and went on to become one of the major literary figures of his time. This book was also awarded the Pulitzer Prize.
Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and the War Years By Carl Sandburg – Considered the definitive biography of Abraham Lincoln, Sandburg explores Lincoln’s early years, how they affected his life and worldview as a man and as a president.
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown – Brown explores the systematic destruction of American Indians during the second half of the 19th century. Using council records, firsthand accounts, and autobiographies, Brown tells the stories of strong chiefs, their battles, broken promises and treaties, the loss of freedoms and the stifling of Indian culture.
The President and the Assassin: McKinley, Terror, and Empire at the Dawn of the American Century by Scott Miller – The United States’ journey to become an industrial powerhouse left many people behind and impacted several countries. Leon Czolgosz, a first-generation Polish immigrant, and factory worker felt he, his family, and his fellow workers were being exploited. His proposed solution to the problem led to the assassination of President McKinley but did nothing to change world affairs or improve worker’s lives.
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism by Doris Kearns Goodwin – Goodwin explores the Progressive era of U.S. politics, the friendship and estrangement of Teddy Roosevelt and William Howard Taft, and the political rise of democrat Woodrow Wilson.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration by Isabel Wilkerson -Wilkerson tells the often-ignored story of over six million Black citizens who fled the South for the North and West in search of a better life and new opportunities from World War I to 1970.
American Midnight: The Great War, a Violent Peace, and Democracy’s Forgotten Crisis by Adam Hochschild – America during and after the Great War was a hotbed for oppression, censorship, racial violence, and vigilantism. Hochschild explores the individuals and groups fanning the flames and the brave men and women who fought to restore balance, order, and justice.
Infamy: The Shocking Story of the Japanese American Internment in World War II by Richard Reeves – Reeves provides an authoritative account of the more than 120,000 Japanese Americans who were forced into internment camps during the duration of World War II because of an executive order signed by President Franklin Roosevelt.
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II by Sonia Purnell – In her meticulously researched biography of Virginia Hall, the first Allied woman deployed behind enemy lines, Purnell tells the story of Hall’s heroism and persistence and the spy networks that helped defeat Hitler and end the war.
We tell Ourselves Stories in Order to Live: Collected Nonfiction by Joan Didion – Didion’s seven nonfiction works are in this collection covering events from the 1960s to 2003.
Flight 93: The Story, The Aftermath, and the Legacy of American Courage on 9/11 by Tom McMillan – I reviewed this book and interviewed the author. I was impressed by his meticulous attention to detail and his ability to remain factual while telling this incredibly emotional story with compassion and reverence. This is a book that stays with you, and I can think of no better tribute to the passengers and crew members of Flight 93.