Books on U.S. History

Explore national history with this collection of study guides for fiction and non-fiction texts covering events, key figures, and viewpoints that have shaped the United States over the centuries. A sampling of topics within this collection includes the Puritans, Indigenous peoples, the successes and failures of the country's founders, U.S. presidents, war, the Great Depression, the Civil Rights Movement, and more.

Publication year 2018

Genre Biography, Nonfiction

Themes Nation, Race

Tags Race & Racism, US History, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Biography

Rising Out of Hatred: The Awakening of a Former White Nationalist (2018) is a biography of disavowed white nationalist Derek Black, authored by Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eli Saslow.Derek is a former white nationalist wunderkind. Derek is the son of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard and Stormfront online hate group creator, Don Black, and the godson of former Ku Klux Klan Grand Wizard, white supremacist politician, and notorious public figure, David Duke. Derek’s parents remove... Read Rising Out of Hatred Summary

Publication year 1934

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal, The Past, Friendship

Tags Relationships, Classic Fiction, American Literature, Education, Education, US History, Italian Literature, World History

Edith Wharton wrote “Roman Fever” near the end of a career that spanned more than five decades. Like many of her works, this 1934 short story investigates the social norms of affluent people from the US, considering the forms of violence these norms tolerate and even encourage. Spare in setting and restricted in action, the story shifts between the present and the past as it depicts a love triangle’s long reverberations. As the Roman backdrop... Read Roman Fever Summary

Publication year 2023

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Self Discovery, Fathers, Politics & Government, Truth & Lies

Tags Politics & Government, US History, World History, Biography, Religion & Spirituality

Publication year 1974

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Sociology, Science Fiction, US History, Anthropology, Anthropology, World History, Religion & Spirituality

Salem Possessed: The Social Origins of Witchcraft is an academic work focusing on the Salem witch trials. First published by Harvard University Press in 1974, the book offers an alternative explanation for the phenomenon of witch hysteria and its special relevance to the town of Salem, Massachusetts. The book was well-received by critics for its unique approach to this familiar material. It falls into the nonfiction categories of popular culture, social sciences, and U.S. history... Read Salem Possessed Summary

Publication year 2007

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags Race & Racism, Education, Education, US History, World History

Saltwater Slavery: A Middle Passage from Africa to American Diaspora by author and history professor Stephanie E. Smallwood is a work of historical nonfiction that recreates the trade of enslaved people through the eyes of enslaved African people. Published in 2007, it won the 2008 Frederick Douglas Book Prize, awarded to the best book written in English regarding slavery or abolition. The book seeks to expand the current understanding of the Atlantic trade of enslaved... Read Saltwater Slavery Summary

Publication year 1995

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Religion & Spirituality

Tags Religion & Spirituality, US History, Southern Literature, Journalism, Southern Gothic, World History, Biography

Dennis Covington’s Salvation on Sand Mountain: Snake Handling and Redemption in Southern Appalachia is a work of non-fiction, originally published in 1995. The narrative begins when Covington starts reporting on Glenn Summerford’s trial for the attempted murder of his wife, Darlene, by rattlesnake bite. Brother Glenn is a preacher in a snake-handling church in Scottsboro, Alabama, which is close to Covington’s home in Birmingham. Glenn is pleading that his wife tried to commit suicide and had... Read Salvation on Sand Mountain Summary

Publication year 1999

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Loyalty & Betrayal

Tags Animals, Sports, US History, World History, Biography

Seabiscuit is a 1999 nonfiction book written by Laura Hillenbrand about the rise to fame and racing glory of an American racehorse named Seabiscuit. In the depths of the Great Depression, Seabiscuit rose from obscurity to international fame, and became a symbol of hope for many Americans. Born in 1933, he was owned by the Wheatley Stable, which had the famous James “Sunny Jim” Fitzsimmons as its trainer. Fitzsimmons found Seabiscuit to have speed, but... Read Seabiscuit Summary

Publication year 1987

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race

Tags US History, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, World History, Education, Education

Separate Pasts: Growing Up White in the Segregated South (1998) is a memoir by the American author and historian Melton A. McLaurin, who describes coming of age as a white person in the segregated South. McLaurin was born in 1941 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, and grows up in the nearby town of Wade. The memoir takes place in the small town of Wade during the 1950s and focuses on the racism he witnessed at both individual... Read Separate Pasts Summary

Publication year 1989

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Self Discovery, Family, Shame & Pride, Hate & Anger, War, Coming of Age

Tags Historical Fiction, American Civil War, Coming of Age, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, US History, Military & War, World History

Publication year 1970

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Community, Gender Identity, Colonialism

Tags Historical Fiction, Action & Adventure, US History, Children`s Literature, World History, Classic Fiction

Scott O’Dell’s children’s novel Sing Down the Moon (1970) is a work of historical fiction focusing on a mid-19th-century Navajo teen girl who calls herself Bright Morning. She and her people live as shepherds and farmers in Canyon de Chelly in Arizona. Bright Morning faces a series of trials in the novel: First, she is taken captive and sold into slavery; after she escapes home, white soldiers force her people to leave their village and... Read Sing Down the Moon Summary

Publication year 2008

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags US History, Race & Racism, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government

Written by American journalist Douglas Blackmon, Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans from the Civil War to World War II (2008) is a thorough account of the forms of slavery perpetuated by economic disempowerment in the South after the Civil War up to World War II. The book addresses themes like The Intentional Revival of Slavery, The Toxic Mix of White Mythology and Naïve Racism, and Challenges of Confronting the Past. Slavery... Read Slavery by Another Name Summary

Publication year 1968

Genre Essay Collection, Nonfiction

Themes Nation, Appearance & Reality, Literature

Tags Arts & Culture, US History, American Literature, Vietnam War, Journalism, World History, Classic Fiction, Biography

Slouching Towards Bethlehem is Joan Didion’s 1968 collection of essays that document her experiences living in California from 1961 to 1967. It is her first collection of nonfiction (many of the pieces originally appeared in The Saturday Evening Post) and is hailed as a seminal document of culture and counterculture in 1960s California. Didion’s style was part of what Tom Wolfe called “New Journalism,” which emphasized the search for meaning over the reporting of facts... Read Slouching Towards Bethlehem Summary

Publication year 1998

Genre Novella, Fiction

Themes War, Fear, Coming of Age

Tags Historical Fiction, American Civil War, Military & War, Mental Illness, Children`s Literature, Education, Education, US History, World History

Gary Paulsen’s young adult novel Soldier’s Heart: Being the Story of the Enlistment and Due Service of the Boy Charley Goddard in the First Minnesota Volunteers highlights a young soldier’s experience in the Civil War. Many of the novel’s plot events are based on historical records, as is the novel’s main character Charley, who is based on the actual soldier Charley Goddard. However, Paulsen takes liberties within the story and notes that parts of the... Read Soldiers Heart Summary