American history books
recommended by historians
Last updated: September 19, 2024
-
1
Expansionists of 1898: The Acquisition of Hawaiʻi and the Spanish Islands
by Julius William Pratt -
2
Denial of Empire: The United States and Its Dependencies
by Whitney T Perkins -
3
The Tragedy of American Diplomacy
by William Appleman Williams -
4
The New Empire: An Interpretation of American Expansion 1860-1898
by Walter LaFeber -
5
Cuba in the American Imagination: Metaphor and the Imperial Ethos
by Louis A Pérez
The best books on American Imperialism, recommended by A G Hopkins
The best books on American Imperialism, recommended by A G Hopkins
When George W Bush declared that America “has never been an empire,” he elided a half century of colonial rule over its overseas dependencies. But American expansionism has manifested in other forms too, says A G Hopkins, imperial historian and author of a panoramic new work of American history.
The best books on New England, recommended by Mark Peterson
New England: it’s the northeastern-most region of the United States, encompasses six states, is slightly larger than England itself, and half of it is rural, remote Maine. Yale Professor Mark Peterson introduces us to the rich history of New England, going back to its Puritan roots and the Massachusetts Bay Colony.
-
1
The Journal of John Winthrop
by John Winthrop -
2
Black Bostonians: Family Life and Community Struggle in the Antebellum North
by James Oliver Horton and Lois E. Horton -
3
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families
by J. Anthony Lukas -
4
Interpreter of Maladies
by Jhumpa Lahiri -
5
Mapping Boston
by Alex Krieger and David Cobb (editors)
The best books on Boston, recommended by Jane Kamensky
The best books on Boston, recommended by Jane Kamensky
The idea of Boston as “a place of revolutionary fervour because liberty is somehow baked into its bones” is loaded with a “very heavy dose of self-mythologizing,” says American historian Jane Kamensky. Here, the Harvard professor lifts the veil on this quintessential New England city and recommends five books for understanding its history
-
1
What Comes Naturally: Miscegenation Law and the Making of Race in America
by Peggy Pascoe -
2
Whiteness of a Different Color: European Immigrants and the Alchemy of Race
by Matthew Frye Jacobson -
3
Eugenic Nation: Faults and Frontiers of Better Breeding in Modern America
by Alexandra Minna Stern -
4
From the War on Poverty to the War on Crime: The Making of Mass Incarceration in America
by Elizabeth Hinton -
5
The Injustice Never Leaves You: Anti-Mexican Violence in Texas
by Monica Muñoz Martinez
The best books on White Supremacy, recommended by Kathleen Belew
The best books on White Supremacy, recommended by Kathleen Belew
Defined by University of Chicago historian Kathleen Belew, white supremacy is a “broad system of laws, norms and customs that create a society with unequal opportunities for people based on race”. It persists to this day, and has surprising intersections with issues of labor and women’s reproduction. Here, she recommends books for coming to grips with the history of this complex topic.
-
1
Franklin D Roosevelt’s inaugural address, 4 March 1933
by Various authors -
2
John F Kennedy’s inaugural address, 20 January 1961
by Various authors -
3
Laurence Olivier’s Oscar Acceptance Speech (1979)
by YouTube video -
4
Dr Martin Luther King, Jr’s ‘I Have a Dream’ speech, 28 August 1963
by Martin Luther King Jr -
5
Nelson Mandela’s inaugural address as President of South Africa, 10 May 1994
by David Elliot Cohen
The Best Speeches of All Time, recommended by Clarence B Jones
The Best Speeches of All Time, recommended by Clarence B Jones
Which were the best speeches ever made? Clarence B Jones, lawyer, friend and adviser to Martin Luther King Jr—and contributor to the ‘I Have a Dream’ speech—chooses his top five, and explains what is that makes these famous speeches so good.
-
1
Civic Ideals: Conflicting Visions of Citizenship in U.S. History
by Rogers M. Smith -
2
At America's Gates: Chinese Immigration during the Exclusion Era, 1882-1943
by Erika Lee -
3
Impossible Subjects: Illegal Aliens and the Making of Modern America
by Mae M. Ngai -
4
Lift Every Voice: The NAACP and the Making of the Civil Rights Movement
by Patricia Sullivan -
5
The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness
by Michelle Alexander
The best books on Race and the Law, recommended by Kenneth W. Mack
The best books on Race and the Law, recommended by Kenneth W. Mack
Kenneth W. Mack, the Lawrence D. Biele Professor of Law at Harvard University, discusses the warring ideals of egalitarianism and exclusion at the heart of US politics and law, from the founding of the nation up to the present day.
The best books on The Rise and Fall of America, recommended by Patrick Porter
From the Cold War to the post-9/11 world, Professor Patrick Porter looks at America’s destiny and international function. Grappling with geopolitical questions, he looks at whether America’s flirtations with empire can be reconciled with republican ideals.
The best books on Freedom Isn’t Enough, recommended by Yuval Levin
The Founder and Editor of National Affairs Magazine speculates how the founding fathers of Conservatism might have been nervous about Sarah Palin and the Tea Party movement