American history books
recommended by historians
Last updated: September 19, 2024
The best books on 9/11, recommended by Yosri Fouda
Who was Osama bin Laden? How critical was he to the 9/11 attacks on the United States? What happened in the first 100 days at Guantanamo Bay? Who was in charge of the United States when George W Bush went into hiding? What should we make of all the conspiracy theories that have sprung up around the events of that day? Yosri Fouda, the veteran Egyptian investigative reporter, author and TV host talks us through his choice of the best books on 9/11.
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Dreaming of Gold, Dreaming of Home
by Madeline Hsu -
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American Sutra
by Duncan Williams -
3
Empire of Care: Nursing and Migration in Filipino American History
by Catherine Ceniza Choy -
4
Bengali Harlem and the Lost Histories of South Asian America
by Vivek Bald -
5
The Color of Success: Asian Americans and the Origins of the Model Minority
by Ellen Wu
The best books on Asian American History, recommended by Melissa Borja
The best books on Asian American History, recommended by Melissa Borja
Anti-Asian incidents in America are bringing overdue attention to the history of Asian Americans. University of Michigan Professor Melissa Borja recommends five books that illuminate the understudied history of Asian Americans, explain the connection to empire and shine a spotlight on this “coalitional identity.”
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The Stamp Act Crisis: Prologue to Revolution
by Edmund Morgan & Helen Morgan -
2
The Marketplace of Revolution: How Consumer Politics Shaped American Independence
by T.H. Breen -
3
The Ideological Origins of the American Revolution
by Bernard Bailyn -
4
The Radicalism of the American Revolution
by Gordon S. Wood -
5
The Will of the People: The Revolutionary Birth of America
by T.H. Breen
The Best Books on the American Revolution, recommended by T.H. Breen
The Best Books on the American Revolution, recommended by T.H. Breen
The American Revolution began as a war for independence but, by its end, the war had transformed the thirteen colonies into a republic. Historian T.H. Breen recommends the best books which relay the revolutionary impact of the American War of Independence.
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Righteous Discontent: The Women’s Movement in the Black Baptist Church, 1880–1920
by Evelyn Brooks Higginbotham -
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To 'Joy My Freedom: Southern Black Women's Lives and Labors after the Civil War
by Tera Hunter -
3
Ella Baker and the Black Freedom Movement
by Barbara Ransby -
4
Sojourning for Freedom: Black Women, American Communism, and the Making of Black Left Feminism
by Erik McDuffie -
5
Set the World on Fire: Black Nationalist Women and the Global Struggle for Freedom
by Keisha N. Blain
The best books on African American Women’s History, recommended by Keisha N. Blain
The best books on African American Women’s History, recommended by Keisha N. Blain
Black women’s stories are often untold, but their critical role in American society and politics is finally being broadly acknowledged. Black activists today are building upon the legacy of African American women who have been using every open avenue to seek social justice for centuries. And “no matter how many obstacles are erected to impede them,” says award-winning historian Keisha N. Blain, Black women “are unstoppable.”
The best books on Native Americans and Colonisers, recommended by Colin Calloway
There’s a lot more to the story of colonists and Native Americans than the tale of the first Thanksgiving taught in school, says history professor Colin Calloway.
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No Man's Land: Jamaican Guestworkers in America and the Global History of Deportable Labor
by Cindy Hahamovitch -
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Defiant Braceros: How Migrant Workers Fought for Racial, Sexual, and Political Freedom
by Mireya Loza -
3
Managed Migrations: Growers, Farmworkers, and Border Enforcement in the Twentieth Century
by Cristina Salinas -
4
Migrant Citizenship: Race, Rights, and Reform in the U.S. Farm Labor Camp Program
by Verónica Martínez-Matsuda -
5
The Nature of California: Race, Citizenship, and Farming since the Dust Bowl
by Sarah Wald
The best books on Migrant Workers, recommended by Mireya Loza
The best books on Migrant Workers, recommended by Mireya Loza
American society and American history marginalized migrant workers for too long. New scholarship shows that migrant workers were central to America’s cultural and economic development. Mireya Loza, a historian at Georgetown University and author of Defiant Braceros, talks us through the best books about migrant workers—and why their stories are integral to understanding the past and present of United States.
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The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States during Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896
by Richard White -
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Equality: An American Dilemma, 1866-1896
by Charles Postel -
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A Hazard of New Fortunes
by William Dean Howells -
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Passing Strange: A Gilded Age Tale of Love and Deception Across the Color Line
by Martha Sandweiss -
5
The Search for Order, 1877-1920
by Robert Wiebe
The best books on The Gilded Age, recommended by Richard White
The best books on The Gilded Age, recommended by Richard White
America’s Gilded Age, roughly from the end of the Civil War to the First World War, saw the United States go from being a rural, agricultural society to an urban and industrial one. National wealth soared and disparities between rich and poor exploded. Here, historian Richard White talks about how the Gilded Age transformed America and picks out some parallels with our own age that are not hard to see.
The Best Books about First Ladies, recommended by Carl Sferrazza Anthony
From the annexation of Texas to the UN’s Commission on Human Rights, first ladies have played a key role in the history of the United States. Historian Carl Sferrazza Anthony recommends five engaging books about the tumultuous lives of some of the country’s first ladies.
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Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787
by Gordon S. Wood -
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Novus Ordo Seclorum
by Forrest McDonald -
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Plain, Honest Men: The Making of the American Constitution
by Richard Beeman -
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A Revolution in Favor of Government
by Max M Edling -
5
Ratification: The People Debate the Constitution, 1787-1788
by Pauline Maier
The best books on The US Constitution, recommended by Jack Rakove
The best books on The US Constitution, recommended by Jack Rakove
The Pulitzer prize-winning history professor tells us how the Constitution came to be written and ratified and explains why, after more than 200 years, Americans are still so deeply wedded to it.
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America's Congress: Actions in the Public Sphere, James Madison Through Newt Gingrich
by David R Mayhew -
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Disjointed Pluralism: Institutional Innovation and the Development of the U.S. Congress
by Eric Schickler -
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The Field of Blood: Violence in Congress and the Road to Civil War
by Joanne B Freeman -
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Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson, Vol III
by Robert Caro -
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It’s Even Worse Than You Think: How the American Constitutional System Collided with the New Politics of Extremism
Thomas E. Mann & Norman J. Ornstein
The best books on Congress, recommended by Julian E. Zelizer
The best books on Congress, recommended by Julian E. Zelizer
Is Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell just as important as President Trump? Julian E. Zelizer, Princeton historian and CNN Political Analyst, thinks so—and he argues that to understand American politics, you have to understand Congress. He recommends the best books for getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of the Senate and House of Representatives.