There’s no shame in admitting that you might have slept through a few days of American history class in high school. Most history textbooks are so dry the only interesting thing that could emerge from them would be a sudden self-combustion in the middle of class. Thank goodness, then, for writers who thoroughly immerse themselves in the past and vibrantly animate it for modern readers. The books in today’s list bring the past vividly to life and give us a second chance to recall what we couldn’t wait to forget all those years ago in high school.
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 2, 2012
"A direct, engaging approach to Grant's life that would have pleased him."
An unabashed admirer of the great Civil War general portrays the most unlikely, reluctant American hero since George Washington.
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NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 28, 2010
"An impeccable account of the politics, civics and devotion behind the Adams marriage."
The Pulitzer Prize– and National Book Award–winning author presents a vivid and insightful portrait of John and Abigail Adams.
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NONFICTION
Released: March 24, 2008
"A worthy companion to Jay Monahan's Custer, Evan S. Connell's Son of the Morning Star and other standard studies of the famed cavalryman."
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 9, 2007
"A brilliant book, likely to be for some time the last word on how the American map evolved."
A Pulitzer Prize–winner comprehensively documents America's expansion--one audacious land swindle, one gunpoint accession, one bloody conquest after another.
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NONFICTION
Released: May 14, 2007
"Readers of Thomas Fleming's Duel (1999) and Ron Chernow's Alexander Hamilton (2004) might profitably turn to this splendid biography for a necessary and overdue corrective."
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 1, 2002
"A lucid, literate survey of events that transformed the nation, for better and worse."
Historian Brands (
The Strange Death of American Liberalism, 2001, etc.) crafts a rich study of Gold Rush–era America that enfolds the period's bigger-than-life personalities and big ideas.
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