America 250

Books celebrating the tapestry of American experiences for the Semiquincentennial

Updated May 28, 2026
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African American poetry : 250 years of struggle & song
Young, Kevin
Paper Book
Taking the measure of the tradition in a single indispensable volume, African American Poetry: 250 Years of Struggle and Song sets a new standard for a genuinely deep engagement with Black poetry and its essential expression of American genius.
And there was light : Abraham Lincoln and the American struggle
Meacham, Jon
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Jon Meacham chronicles the life of Abraham Lincoln, charting how--and why--he confronted secession, threats to democracy, and the tragedy of slavery to expand the possibilities of America. "Meacham has...
Cuba : an American history
Ferrer, Ada
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE PULITZER PRIZE IN HISTORY WINNER OF THE LOS ANGELES TIMES BOOK PRIZE IN HISTORY "Full of...lively insights and lucid prose" (The Wall Street Journal) an epic, sweeping history of Cuba and its complex ties to the United States--from before the...
History matters
McCullough, David G.
Paper Book
In this posthumous collection of thought-provoking essays--many never published before--Pulitzer Prize-winning historian and bestselling author David McCullough affirms the value of history, how we can be guided by its lessons, and the enduring legacy of American ideals. ...
An indigenous peoples' history of the United States
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller This American Book Award winning title about Native American struggle and resistance radically reframes more than 400 years of US history   A New York Times Bestseller and the basis for the HBO docu-series Exterminate All the...
Mailman : my wild ride delivering the mail in Appalachia and finally finding home
Grant, Stephen Starring
Paper Book
This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark
Fehrman, Craig
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A major revisionist history of the Lewis and Clark expedition: For the first time in a generation, This Vast Enterprise offers a fresh and more accurate account of one of the most important episodes in American history, humanizing forgotten figures and...
The War Within a War: The Black Struggle in Vietnam and at Home
Haygood, Wil
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR * Award-winning author and journalist Wil Haygood explores how the Vietnam War became a mirror for the struggle of Black Americans--fighting for freedom abroad while demanding equality at home--and a powerful lens through which to...
We refuse : a forceful history of Black resistance
Jackson, Kellie Carter
Paper Book
An "unsparing, erudite, and incisive" (Jelani Cobb, staff writer, The New Yorker) reframing of the past and present of Black resistance--both nonviolent and violent--to white supremacy Named a Best Book of 2024 by Smithsonian * Kirkus *...
Well of souls : uncovering the banjo's hidden history
Gaddy, K. R.
Paper Book
In an extraordinary story unfolding across two hundred years, Kristina Gaddy uncovers the banjo's key role in Black spirituality, ritual, and rebellion. Through meticulous research in diaries, letters, archives, and art, she traces the banjo's beginnings from the seventeenth century, when...

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