American History

A study of the history of America.

The date of the start of the history of the United States is a subject of debate among historians. Older textbooks start with the arrival of Christopher Columbus in 1492 and emphasize the European background, or they start around 1600 and emphasize the American frontier. In recent decades American schools and universities typically have shifted back in time to include more on the colonial period and much more on the prehistory of the Native peoples.

It Girl
The Sisters of Book Row
Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age
Magnitude
You Can't Catch Us: Lady Bird Johnson's Trailblazing 1964 Campaign Train and the Women Who Rode with Her
Indigenous Citizens: Native Americans' Fight for Sovereignty, 1776-2025
Hollywood vs. Nazis: How the Movie Studios Took On Nazis Infiltrating Los Angeles
The Westerners: Mythmaking and Belonging on the American Frontier
End of Days: Ruby Ridge, the Apocalypse, and the Unmaking of America
American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology
We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America
Throne of Grace: A Mountain Man, an Epic Adventure, and the Bloody Conquest of the American West
The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution
Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery
To Catch a Fascist: The Fight to Expose the Radical Right
Wayward Girls
It Girl
The First Ladies
Young Man in a Hurry: A Memoir of Discovery
We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America
The Second Life of Mirielle West
The Jackal's Mistress
Give Her Credit: The Untold Account of a Women's Bank That Empowered a Generation
A Fever in the Heartland: The Ku Klux Klan's Plot to Take Over America, and the Woman Who Stopped Them
Code Name: Pale Horse: How I Went Undercover to Expose America's Nazis
Firestorm - The Great Los Angeles Fires and America's New Age of Disaster
The Small and the Mighty: Twelve Unsung Americans Who Changed the Course of History, from the Founding to the Civil Rights Movement
The Boxcar Librarian
The Children's Blizzard
Crow Mary
Band of Brothers by Stephen E. AmbroseBlack Hawk Down by Mark BowdenUnbroken by Laura HillenbrandWe Were Soldiers Once... and Young by Harold G. MooreLone Survivor by Marcus Luttrell
Best Non-fiction War Books
2,197 books — 2,516 voters
John Adams by David McCullough1776 by David McCulloughTeam of Rivals by Doris Kearns GoodwinA People’s History of the United States by Howard ZinnBury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
Best American History Books
2,205 books — 2,592 voters

Unbroken by Laura HillenbrandBand of Brothers by Stephen E. AmbroseThe Longest Day by Cornelius RyanAn Army at Dawn by Rick AtkinsonWith the Old Breed by Eugene B. Sledge
Best World War II History (nonfiction)
689 books — 505 voters
The Great Gatsby by F. Scott FitzgeraldThe Catcher in the Rye by J.D. SalingerA Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty  SmithBreakfast at Tiffany’s and Three Stories by Truman CapoteExtremely Loud & Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer
Tales of New York City
1,711 books — 1,279 voters

The Killer Angels by Michael ShaaraGone with the Wind by Margaret MitchellBattle Cry of Freedom by James M. McPhersonThe Civil War by Shelby FooteCold Mountain by Charles Frazier
Best American Civil War Books
1,018 books — 1,005 voters

1776
John Adams
Alexander Hamilton
A People’s History of the United States: 1492 - Present
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln
The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
Washington: A Life
Destiny of the Republic: A Tale of Madness, Medicine and the Murder of a President
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation
Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus
Undaunted Courage: The Pioneering First Mission to Explore America's Wild Frontier

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