1776

Bibliography of American History

For those interested in learning more about American history, I recommend the following books and web sites.  All the books I have read (at least part of), and I have visited the web sites, and usually linked them to another page on this site.

Books

• Bailey, Thomas A. A Diplomatic History of the American People, Third Edition. New York: Appleton-Century-Crofts, Inc., 1946. (A diplomatic history from a professor at Stanford University.)
• Churchill, Winston S. A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, 4 vols. New York: Dodd, Mead & Company, Inc., 1958 (Concentrates on the history of England, beginning with Celtic and Roman Britain, but also includes much material on American history, from an Englishman's point of view; also includes short sections on Scotland, Canada, and South Africa; ends with the 19th century.)
• Eerdmans' Handbook to Christianity in America.  Edited by Mark A. Noll, Nathan O. Hatch, George M. Marsden, David F. Wells, and John D. Woodbridge. Grand Rapids, Michigan:  William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1983. (A collection of articles and original writings telling the story of Christianity in the United States, both the good and bad.)
• Ferrell, Robert H. American Diplomacy--a History (Revised and Expanded Edition). New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 1969. (A good survey of American diplomatic history, from a professor at Indiana University.)
• McCullough, David G., John Adams. Waterville, ME: Thorndike Press, 2001.
• Johnson, Paul. A History of the American People. New York: HarperCollins, 1997.  (A recent history of the United States written from the perspective a British conservative; tends to concentrate on major events and individuals, rather than simple chronology.)
• Morison, Samuel Eliot. The Oxford History of the American People. New York: Oxford University Press, 1965. (Morison was a naval officer, and was employed as the official naval historian of World War II.  His perspective is also as a Democrat writing in the 1960s.  He includes much information on pre-colonial and colonial America.)
• Schweikart, Larry, and Michael Allen. A Patriot's History of the United States--from Columbus's great discovery to the war on terrorism.  New York: Sentinel (a member of the Penguin Group [USA] Inc.), 2004. (A conservative history written with the purpose of correcting much recent revisionist anti-American histories.)

DVDs

• Benjamin Franklin, A Film by Ken Burns. DVD. United States: Ken Burns, 2022. (Broadcast as a 4 hour miniseries on PBS; gives insight into the character of Franklin and his son.)
• John Adams. DVD. United States: HBO, 2008. (Based on the 2001 book by David McCullough [see above]; gives a different view of how the Declaration of Independence came about.)

Web Sites

• USHistory.org
• ColonialHall.com
• From Revolution to Reconstruction
• FirstLadies.org
• WhiteHouse.gov (history)

• For corrections, additions, suggestions, or comments to this page, please email me: tf_mcq <at> yahoo.com.
• Last updated: October 20, 2009