To really get my interest the book should be narrative driven (I enjoy the style of The Atlantic and The New Yorker). I’m fond of biographies but it depends on the person.
I’d also like the book(s) to be as balanced as possible as I’d like to be informed by a neutral perspective.
by nomadicquandaries
7 Comments
America’s Hidden History by Kenneth C. Davis was a really good book and an eye opener.
*Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln*
, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2199.Team_of_Rivals](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2199.Team_of_Rivals)
Non-fiction, but reads like a political soap opera. Steven Spielberg used this as the basis for his film *Lincoln*, starring Daniel Day-Lewis, although the film has a MUCH narrower focus than this book.
Some of my favorites:
*A history of America in ten strikes* by Erik Loomis
*How to hide an empire* by Daniel Immerwahr
*Not a nation of immigrants* by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz
There’s not really any such thing as a neutral history book. They’re all written with an enormous amount of bias, with most possible perspectives omitted entirely. That said, I think these three books provide a decent overview of American history from a variety of perspectives.
EDIT: If you’re not already using them, library apps like Libby and CloudLibrary are a great way to trial many books for free until you find what works for you.
These truths by Jill Lepore
The Dead Are Arising by Les Payne
You might enjoy “1776” by David McCullough [https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1067](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/1067) for a narrative-driven account of US history that offers a balanced and neutral perspective.
I’d recommend Rick Perlstein’s series on the history of conservatism: *Before The Storm, Nixonland, The Invisible Bridge,* and *Reaganland*. They’re very much narrative-driven and while Perlstein leans left he’s definitely not afraid to criticize the left and does a good job of fairly explaining the beliefs of the conservative movement.