Eve Gerber

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.

Around the world, people were taken aback when the populist candidate, a real estate developer and reality TV show star called Donald Trump, was elected as the 45th President of the United States. Here Tony Schwartz, Trump’s co-author on his bestselling book, The Art of the Deal, talks us through how that happened and why Trump is so mesmerising, even to those who oppose him.

Despite the large number of brands, most Americans buy their beer from just two companies. Consumer choice in the new digital economy is hardly better. Economist Jason Furman, chair of the Council of Economic Advisers under Barack Obama and now a professor at Harvard, recommends books to better understand market competition.

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.

How many suffragists can you name? Feminist historian Susan Ware, author of a new history of the American women’s suffrage movement, urges us to remember how important suffrage was in the fight for women’s rights, on the cusp of its US centennial—and reveals the story of women getting the right to vote didn’t just begin at Seneca Falls.

In an era of Trumpism and fake news, the word ‘fascist’ is thrown around with increasing ease and little attention paid to its origins and history. Ruth Ben-Ghiat, political commentator and historian at New York University, recommends the best books for understanding fascism’s history and recognizing it today.

Can we cultivate qualities like grit, tenacity and kindness? How about habits of the successful—hard work, perseverance and productivity? Angela Duckworth, bestselling author of Grit and founder of the Character Lab at the University of Pennsylvania, recommends five books, including a title that graces every CEO’s shelf.

To understand American politics, you have to understand Congress, argues Julian E. Zelizer, Princeton historian and CNN political analyst. He recommends the best books for getting to grips with the nuts and bolts of the Senate and House of Representatives.

From Jane Austen to James Baldwin, the best love stories in literature recommended by Jenny Davidson, novelist, historian and Professor of English and Comparative Literature at Columbia University.

With the help of a good anthology and a heaping dose of American classics, anyone can be converted to being a lover of poetry. Elisa New, Harvard scholar and host of the PBS series Poetry in America, recommends her favorite American poets, from Emily Dickinson to Elizabeth Bishop.