Books like American Nations

01

A People's History of the United States

Howard Zinn · History

Howard Zinn's A People's History of the United States, first published in 1980, retells American history from the perspective of those who rarely appear in conventional textbooks: Native Americans, enslaved people, industrial workers, women, immigrants, and dissidents of various kinds.

Both dig into american history.

02

The Righteous Mind: Why Good People Are Divided by Politics and Religion

Jonathan Haidt · Psychology

The Righteous Mind is Jonathan Haidt's argument that moral reasoning is not the source of our moral judgments — it's the press secretary for them.

A kindred history read.

03

Strangers in Their Own Land: Anger and Mourning on the American Right

Arlie Russell Hochschild · Politics

Strangers in Their Own Land is Arlie Russell Hochschild's attempt to understand the American Right from the inside — specifically, why working-class white Louisianans who live in a state ravaged by the petrochemical industry vote for politicians who oppose the regulations that might clean it up.

A kindred history read.

04

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

J. D. Vance · Memoir

Hillbilly Elegy is J.

A kindred history read.

05

Democracy in America

Alexis de Tocqueville · History

Democracy in America, published in two volumes in 1835 and 1840, is Alexis de Tocqueville's analysis of the democratic experiment in the United States as a model for what was coming to Europe.

A kindred history read.

06

Agent Zigzag: A True Story of Nazi Espionage, Love, and Betrayal

Ben Macintyre · History

Eddie Chapman was a safecracker, con man, and professional criminal who became Britain's most remarkable double agent during World War II.

Both dig into identity.

07

America's Bank: The Epic Struggle to Create the Federal Reserve

Roger Lowenstein · History

The Federal Reserve was created in 1913, but the story of how it came into existence spans three decades and involves a level of political resistance, financial panic, and legislative maneuvering that makes the eventual outcome seem unlikely in retrospect.

Both dig into politics.

08

Americana

Bhu Srinivasan · History

Americana is Bhu Srinivasan's attempt to tell the history of American capitalism through its defining industries and the entrepreneurs who built them.

Both dig into american history.

09

Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History

Erik Larson · History

Isaac's Storm reconstructs the deadliest natural disaster in American history: the hurricane that destroyed Galveston, Texas, on September 8, 1900, killing somewhere between six and twelve thousand people in a single day.

Both dig into american history.

10

Operation Mincemeat: How a Dead Man and a Bizarre Plan Fooled the Nazis and Assured an Allied Victory

Ben Macintyre · History

In 1943, British intelligence planted a dead man on a Spanish beach carrying fabricated documents designed to convince the Germans that the Allied invasion of southern Europe would target Greece and Sardinia rather than Sicily.

Both dig into identity.

11

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland

Patrick Radden Keefe · History

Say Nothing opens with a scene that sets its register precisely: Jean McConville, a widowed mother of ten, is dragged from her Belfast flat by a gang of masked strangers in December 1972 and never seen alive again.

Both dig into identity.

12

Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America

Ibram X. Kendi · History

Stamped from the Beginning is Ibram X.

Both dig into american history.