10 Books to Expand Your View of American History

It’s the Fourth of July! A day for grilling and fireworks and uncomplicated celebration! But when the music stops and the campfires have all burnt out, we’re left with a quiet introspection. What is America beyond this single day?  What do freedom and independence mean today when so many are still fighting for it? What does it mean to be proud of your country while reckoning with its whole and complex history?

This fourth of July, here are ten non-fiction books to broaden your view of America and what it means to be American. From vivid biographies of iconic figures to essays on identity and immigration, this list is a kaleidoscopic view of the American experience. Whether telling old stories in a new way, or unearthing long buried secrets, these authors remind us that there are as many ways to be American as there are, well, Americans. And while we can’t include 331.9 million books on this list, here are ten to get you started.

Intimidated by non-fiction? Missing the cozy embrace of your novels already? Have no fear, journalist Tony Horwitz is here to give you facts so fascinating, you’ll swear they’re fiction. What do you know of American history after Christopher Columbus, but before the Revolutionary war? Not much, well, you’re not the only one. Part history book, part travel guide, A Voyage Long and Strange guides readers through the incredible stories of the vikings, conquistadors and more, who roamed the mysterious new world in search of myths and legends.

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Few biographies can claim to have initiated one of the most famous and successful Broadway musicals of all time, but this one can! Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ron Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton is as sweeping and exciting as live theater––without the lines for the bathroom. In his time, Hamilton was an eccentric genius whose ideas, while accepted today, were at the time wildly controversial. “To repudiate his legacy,” Chernow writes, “is, in many ways, to repudiate the modern world.”

And when you’re done you can listen to the Hamilton Original Soundtrack!  “How does a bastard, orphan, son of a whore and a Scotsman dropped in the middle of a forgotten spot in the Caribbean by providence, impoverished, in squalor grow up to be a hero and a scholar?”

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One of America’s most respected historians tells the story of the Declaration of Independence, and the individuals who marched alongside George Washington in this celebrated work that brings history to life. McCullough brings readers so close to the drama and the action of this storied period of our nation’s history, you’ll practically be able to count Washington’s whiskers.

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In this New York Times Bestseller, Clint Smith explores how the United States memorializes slavery and the Civil War through trips to historical sites, monuments, and landmarks. Smith treats these heavy topics with tremendous care, while also refusing to look away from the uncomfortable truths of our nation’s history. From Thomas Jefferson’s home at Monticello, to Whitney Plantation (one of the only former plantations dedicated to commemorating the lives of those who were enslaved there) Smith leads readers on a national tour unlike any other.

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From 1916 to 1970, nearly six million African Americans migrated from the South to Northern cities, seeking economic opportunity and freedom from racist Jim Crow laws. In this National Book Critics Circle Award winner and New York Times bestselling book, Wilkerson tells the story of the Great Migration through focusing on the lives, hopes, and dreams of three individuals.

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We all think we know Dr. Martin Luther King Jr, but how well do we really? Aside from “Letter From a Birmingham Jail” and his iconic “I have a Dream” speech, MLK jr. was a powerful, complicated man, whose beliefs were far more radical, and according to the US government at the time, far more dangerous than history has remembered. In the first King biography in over thirty years, and the first to include recently declassified FBI files, Jonathan Eig takes on the man who has been both mythologized and sanitized byAmerican history, and returns him to full form.

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Take a look out your window, what do you see? Have you ever wondered why your neighborhood looks the way it does, or how your neighbors became your neighbors when others did not? In this powerful account, Rothstein debunks the myth that American cities are racially divided through individual preference and prejudice, and unearths the disturbing truth of how cities came to be segregated through local, state, and federal laws. Not only a profoundly important book, but the most interesting text on housing policy you will ever read.

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Have you ever wondered why the richest country in the world has so many poor people? Acclaimed sociologist Matthew Desmond certainly has. In this compelling and well-researched new book, Desmond confronts class disparities head-on, delivers concrete answers as to why poverty remains such a persistent issue in America, and presents original ideas for what you, dear reader, can do about it.

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This powerful memoir tells the story of Qian Julie Wang, who arrived in the US from China at seven years old, and her parents, former professors turned sweatshop workers who struggle to build abetter life for their child. A story that both continues and complicates the narrative of the American dream, Wang reveals the profound pains and moments of small, exquisite joy in the life of a poor, undocumented family living in the United States.

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In this collection of 26 essays, immigrants to the United States reflect on living between cultures, languages, and countries, and what it means to be American. Heartbreaking and hilarious in equal measure, this transformative book examines the immigrant experience in both its stunning diversity and surprising universality.

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We hope this list gives you an opportunity for learning, reflection, and a broadened perspective this fourth of July, and of course, don’t forget to have fun, soak up the sun and wear sunscreen too!