« more discussions

• 

  Best 20th century history titles-recommendations?

  I have been a multi-year quest to fill in my woeful US history knowledge. I have made it through the civil war, and am looking for recommendations on good books that cover periods of history, key events, and biographies from the late 19th century and 20th century.
  What should I be sure to read?

  Tom C started this discussion 10 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  smartelle 

  Well, for the early paet of the 20th century, if you don't mind dipping into fiction to at least get a sense of the flavor of the times, try John Dos Passos's USA trilogy. Then try Nick Salvatore's biography of Eugene Debs, James Chase's 1912, Wallace Chessman's bio of Theodore Roosevelt, any of Arthur Link's work on Woodrow Wilson. And as always, the pertinent chapters from Howard Zinn's A People's History... for starters. :-)

  posted 10 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  jerry-book 

  There are good biograhies out there on TR, Truman, FDR, and Woodrow Wilson. My fav on Truman is Mcculough. Theodore Rex by Mooris is interesting. I have not read one on Wilson but you could try Brand. Jean Smith's book on FDR may be the best on him. Try Stokesbury on WWI. Ackerman's book on Garfield, the Dark House is good. The Brooklyn Bridge by McCullough, I liked. Robert Moses by Caro, on the building of New York City is great.

  posted 10 months ago. ( reply )

  show 1 reply

  • 

    Kate MacDonald 

    McCulough's Truman is one of my all-time favorites. I often relay the story of Bess's idea of the perfect Old Fashioned!
    
    

    posted 10 months ago. ( reply )

• Karen T removed this reply 10 months ago.

  • 

    Karen T 

    Blood and Thunder by Hampton Sides is a great read...1840', Polk, Kit Carson, John Freemont....

    posted 10 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  David H 

  The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt and Theodore Rex were both great reads. Also Nothing Like it in the World by Ambrose was pretty interesting.

  posted 9 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  William T 

  The Taylor Brach trilogy on entitled America in the King Years is my recommendation. It gives a good description of the life of MLK but also provides ample "behind the scenes" descriptions of what is going on in the white house. The last volume also gives a lot of details about the escalation of the war in Vietnam

  posted 9 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  Max J. 

  - Robert Dallek's JFK biography is a must-read.
  - Anything by John Lewis Gaddis to cover the Cold War (especially: "Strategies of Containment" if you want in-depth, "The Cold War: A New History" for less detail but great narrative).
  - James Mann's "Rise of the Vulcans" is a great group biography that covers recent policy very well.
  - David Halberstam's "The Best and the Brightest" does the same for Vietnam. Not a good history of the war itself but gets into policy like no other.
  - "Charlie Wilson's War" is great entertainment and an interesting story, but not a lot else.

  posted 8 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  David H (edited)

  Another title I just remembered is "A Rumor of War" by Philip Caputo. It is a gripping and informative look at the Vietnam War.

  posted 7 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  deactivated member 

  Try "Big Trouble" by Anthony Lukas

  posted 7 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  Daniel Q 

  Martin Gilbert's History of the Twentieth Century, a ridiculously over-ambitious project, is nevertheless a great way to set out the basic structures, chronologies, & issues for yourself. It covers the Whole World, but in the 20th C., our country was concerned with the globe in ways no other country has ever been. There is a long and a concise version. It reads a little like the 20th Century was a journalist's beat, and this book that journalist's insanely long article. Lots of zeroing in on individual stories to help keep your interest up while supporting the matter at hand.
  
  One obvious bias is his native country, the UK. It comes up just *slightly* more often than you would expect for a work of global scope, as does his beloved Winston Churchill.
  
  In other books (he's written a very great number of them), Gilbert covers the 1st & 2nd World Wars and the Holocaust in much the same way.

  posted 6 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  seachase22 

  For Vietnam, "Fire In The Lake" by Fitzgerald.

  posted 6 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  Sara K 

  How about 'The Devil in the White City"? It is on my TBR list, but from the comments (in another discussion thread) it sounds like it would be a good read.

  posted 6 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  deactivated member 

  Almost anything by Michael Beschloss, though The Crisis Years: Kennedy and Krushchev, 1960-1963 is hard to beat.
  Franklin D Roosevelt And The New Deal by William Leuchtenburg is still maybe the best one-volume account of the topic.
  I agree with Max J. on John Lewis Gaddis, esp. The Cold War: A New History.
  Parting the Waters, American in the King Years by Taylor Branch.
  America's Longest War by George Herring.

  posted 6 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  Don K. 

  I think it is difficult to think of US history separate from world history. For example, David Yergin's book The Prize is a history of oil not a history of the United States; but I think The Prize is very helpful in understanding US history in the late 19th century and throughout the 20th century.
  
  For a purely American biography, I would recommend Robert Caro's three volume biography of Lyndon Johnson, particularly the second volume, Lyndon Johnson Master of the Senate.
  
  For an entertaining look at a very un-entertaining period of the twentieth century, I would recommend Timothy Egan's book, The Worst Hard Time. The Worst Hard Time describes the beginnings of the perfect storm that led to the Great Depression ... a collapse of farm prices ... followed by an extended drought ... followed by farm foreclosures ... followed by a banking collapse ... followed by the collapse of the stock market ... followed by the Great Depression.

  posted 6 months ago. ( reply )

  show 1 reply

  • 

    jerry-book 

    I also liked the Worst Hard Time, just read it.

    posted 5 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  In Like Flynn (edited)

  American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer ~ Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin

  [edit]

  Just finished reading Vietnam: The definitive oral history told from all sides ~ Christian G. Appy, and it was superb, so I would highly recommend it!

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  Tom G 

  A favorite author of mine is Geoffrey Perret, who is now focusing on biographies- Ike, MacArthur, Lincoln, JFK, but his first books were
  America in The Twenties
  Days of Sadness, Years of Triumph (on 1939-45)
  Dream of Greatness (1945-63)
  
  He's a wonderful writer with a good eye for the telling detail. And he's writing for the layman, telling you a marvelous story through characters who re-appear as time goes on.
  
  

  posted 3 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  John (edited)

  Hi Tom,
  
  I recently started the 22-volume Annals of America (Vol 1 1493-1754; Discovering a New World). To hit your sweet spot you would want to read volumes 12-21. It is a collection of historical letters and documents. For example Vol. 12 (1895-1904; Populism, Imperialism, and Reform) and includes writings from Henry Cabot, Booker T. Washington, and Theodore Roosevelt to name only a few. These are first person accounts, not interpretations and I am finding it fascinating reading. Due to the way they are organized you can easily find the documents relating to what you are interested in reading about most. Also, being that you are interested in the 19th and 20th centuries the language shouldn't pose the problems the earlier volumes can.
  
  Cheers
  
  John
  
  

  posted 2 months ago. ( reply )

• 

  Sam A 

  I really recommend, The Elementary Common Sense of Thomas Paine: An Interactive Adaptation for all Ages. The author, a fifth-grade teacher, took four really important founding documents, and adapted them for reading levels age 11 and up. The original documents are included as well. The book is also illustrated with really funny cartoons that clarify certain key elements in the documents. For educators, it has 12 really good activities; but you can also download the blackline masters for free from the website. The website also has a really entertaining colonial police sketch artist game where kids can make a unique wanted poster of King George III in 1775.

  posted 1 month ago. ( reply )

• 

  Matt F 

  This will get you from the 20's through the 50's
  
  - New World Coming by Nathan Miller (covers the 1920's)
  - Freedom from Fear by David Kennedy (covers the Depression, New Deal, and WWII)
  - The Fifties by David Halberstam
  
  All these books have great range and a very well written and engaging. Biographies like those mentioned about are great, but the focus is narrow.
  

  posted 9 days ago. ( reply )

• To reply to this discussion, please sign in or join now.

Return to top