Post: #1

Since there are a lot of well read members here, thought I'd as for a book recommendation.

Am looking for a book focusing on US History. From at least Columbus to the 1950's. More comprehensive than something like "US History for Dummies", but really don't need anything encyclopedic.

Have recently been reading the Nassim Taleb books, and one of his points is that in writing (and presumably reading) history you should avoid "narrative" accounts and try to stick with just the bare facts. But this approach sounds far too boring. I'd rather just read a book that uses a narrative and keep in mind that the facts are presented through the filter of the authors bias.

Ideally looking for one book, rather than separate books by different authors covering certain periods.

Thanks in advance for any input.

Post: #2

I'm currently reading America: Pathways to the Present. I don't know how much it costs, as I received it in my junior year of high school. It's pretty fucking big though(1000+ pages). It should have everything you're looking for(it goes as far back as 1519 all the way up to modern America)


EDIT: I'm guessing this is a really old edition since I can't find it anywhere. Amazon has it but some of the prices are outrageous. Your local library might have it.

Post: #3

   

Post: #4

I was about to post that ^^

Post: #5

Other than what Tuth mentioned, I cant really think of anything so comprehensive. Thats a broad fucking time period youre talking about.

I will suggest David McCullough's 1776 as a great introductory book.

Post: #6

The American Pageant, it's comprehensive and detailed as fuck....

http://www.apnotes.net/ap.html

Post: #7

+1 on People's history by Zinn

Post: #8

James Michener is always good, although he doesn't fit your desire to have a single book. If you were to read one of his, in regards to key American history, Chesapeake is the one you should go for.

I like Michener's framing, he uses a handful of characters and looks at their progeny through the years. In this way you get the basic historical facts, which are flavoured by each family's particular point of importance. It's a pretty heavy read, clocking in near a thousand pages depending on format.

I found Chesapeake gave the civil war an honest treatment, showing how strange the divisions were even within single states, or for that matter, extended families. As it is centred in the D.C. area it has a good perspective in terms of nation building as well.

I also really liked Texas and Caribbean. Not so focused on pure American history (Texas delves into Mexican history), but they still give deep insight into the regions surrounding the US, which ultimately helped form it into what it is now.

Post: #9

The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History by Thomas E. Woods, Jr.
http://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorr...0895260476

Post: #10

Avoid Zinn.

There are a lot of good choices. The American Pageant is a typical history textbook that's not that comprehensive. I also like Survey of American History, by Alan Brinkley.

Also, anyone who says that history should avoid narrative and stick to facts is a certifiable idiot. History is (largely) interpretation of facts. Orion and I have been going back and forth on WWI for the last three days. He and I are using the same facts, but we're approaching with different interpretations.

Post: #11

Empire of Wealth: The Epic History of American Economic Power

By John Gordon Steele

Great American history book. The premise is about how the US became the first "empire" to do so primarily through economics instead of military conquest. It's not politically slanted at all and actually fascinating. JG Steele is a noteworthy historical writer. I've given away at least 12 copies of this book to friends and family and everyone comes back raving

Post: #12

Thanks to everyone who contributed their recommendations. Much appreciated. After looking into the suggestions briefly I'm thinking that "The People's History" approaches US history from the left/progressive angle, "The Politically Incorrect History of the US" from a right/conservative angle and "The American Pageant" from a more or less neutral perspective (or at least it seems to piss off people on both "sides").

Just another word on "narrative" accounts of history. I wouldn't read one without a narrative. I don't really care much that it is written with biases, even if they are not my own. I pretty much assume everything written that is not boring has substantial bias. I do understand Taleb's point though about the dangers of narrative in history. His "thing" is basically that in life in general what we think is predicable is in fact either not predictable at all, or only weakly so, and that this trips us up. With history he is concerned that making a story of it confuses us re the "arrow of time/causation". We re-invent history as we write it and make important events seems more predicable than they were when actually happening. You know, hindsight being 20/20. But personally this does not bother me much. I'd rather just keep this in mind when reading, rather than trying to create meaning myself from very bare facts.

Post: #13

Thomas Woods of the Mises Institute wrote The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History

http://www.amazon.com/Politically-Incorr...an+history

Post: #14

I know this book suggestion is very far from a comprehensive guide to American history but is both historical in nature and relevant to personal growth but try looking at George Washington's Leadership Lessons by James C Rees. It covers a lot of the period of the War of Independence and the foundation of the American state.