U.S. Histories

Updated April 8, 2026
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Accidental presidents : eight men who changed America
Cohen, Jared
Paper Book
This New York Times bestselling "deep dive into the terms of eight former presidents is chock-full of political hijinks--and déjà vu" (Vanity Fair) and provides a fascinating look at the eight vice presidents who reached the White House through presidential succession,...
America, América : a new history of the New World
Grandin, Greg
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller * A finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award, 2025 Kirkus Prize, 2025 Cundill History Prize, and 2026 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction * Named a Best Book of the Year by The New Yorker,The New Republic,...
American overdose : the opioid tragedy in three acts
McGreal, Chris
Paper Book
A comprehensive portrait of a uniquely American epidemic -- devastating in its findings and damning in its conclusions The opioid epidemic has been described as "one of the greatest mistakes of modern medicine." But calling it a mistake is a generous rewriting of the history of...
American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union: An Anthology
Meacham, Jon
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The author of The Soul of America unites centuries of essential American voices to understand our national debates and divisions from 1619 to the present, with his signature commentary on the consequential speeches, letters, and essays that led us...
The bald eagle : the improbable journey of America's bird
Davis, Jack E.
Paper Book
The bald eagle is regal but fearless, a bird you're not inclined to argue with. For centuries, Americans have celebrated it as "majestic" and "noble," yet savaged the living bird behind their national symbol as a malicious predator of livestock and, falsely, a snatcher of babies. Taking us from...
Black AF history : the un-whitewashed story of America
Harriot, Michael
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From acclaimed columnist and political commentator Michael Harriot, a searingly smart and bitingly hilarious retelling of American history that corrects the record and showcases the perspectives and experiences of Black Americans. America...
The Black church : this is our story, this is our song
Gates, Henry Louis, Jr.
Paper Book
The instant New York Times bestseller and companion book to the PBS series. "Absolutely brilliant . . . A necessary and moving work." --Eddie S. Glaude, Jr., author of Begin Again "Engaging. . . . In Gates's telling, the Black church shines bright...
The bookshop : a history of the American bookstore
Friss, Evan
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Goodreads Choice Award Winner in History & Biography One of Time's 100 Must-Read Books of 2024 "A spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category." --The New York Times...
First friends : the powerful, unsung (and unelected) people who shaped our presidents
Ginsberg, Gary
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER!  A USA TODAY "BEST BOOKS OF 2021" PICK!  In the bestselling tradition of The Presidents Club and Presidential Courage, White House history as told through the...
Four hundred souls : a community history of African America, 1619-2019
Kendi, Ibram X.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A chorus of extraordinary voices tells the epic story of the four-hundred-year journey of African Americans from 1619 to the present--edited by Ibram X. Kendi, author of How to Be an Antiracist, and Keisha N. Blain, author of Set the World on...
Ghostland : an American history in haunted places
Dickey, Colin
Paper Book
One of NPR's Great Reads of 2016 "A lively assemblage and smart analysis of dozens of haunting stories... absorbing...[and] intellectually intriguing."--The New York Times Book Review An intellectual feast for fans of offbeat history, Ghostland <...
The greatest sentence ever written
Isaacson, Walter
Paper Book
America's bestselling biographer reveals the origins of the most revolutionary sentence in the Declaration of Independence, the one that defines who we are as Americans--and explains how it should shape our politics today. "Isaacson uses a jeweler's loupe to scan what gives...
The heartbeat of Wounded Knee : native America from 1890 to the present
Treuer, David
Paper Book
Beginning with the tribes' devastating loss of land and the forced assimilation of their children at government-run boarding schools, he shows how the period of greatest adversity also helped to incubate a unifying Native identity. He traces how conscription in the US military and the pull of urban...
An indigenous peoples' history of the United States
Dunbar-Ortiz, Roxanne 1938-
Paper Book
New York Times Bestseller Now part of the HBO docuseries "Exterminate All the Brutes," written and directed by Raoul Peck Recipient of the American Book Award The first history of the United States told from the perspective of indigenous peoples ...
The last castle : the epic story of love, loss, and American royalty in the nation's largest home
Kiernan, Denise
Paper Book
A New York Times bestseller with an "engaging narrative and array of detail" (The Wall Street Journal), the "intimate and sweeping" (Raleigh News & Observer) untold true story of the Biltmore Estate--the largest private home in America--and the remarkable woman who...
Leadership in turbulent times
Goodwin, Doris Kearns
Paper Book
From Pulitzer Prize-winning author and esteemed presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin, an invaluable guide to the development and exercise of leadership from Abraham Lincoln, Theodore Roosevelt, Lyndon B. Johnson, and Franklin D. Roosevelt. The inspiration for the...
My Black country : a journey through country music's Black past, present and future
Randall, Alice
Paper Book
Alice Randall, award-winning professor, songwriter, and author presents "a celebration of all things country music" (Ken Burns) as she reflects on her search for the first family of Black country music. Country music had brought Alice Randall and her activist mother together and...
On Juneteenth
Gordon-Reed, Annette
Paper Book
Weaving together American history, dramatic family chronicle, and searing episodes of memoir, Annette Gordon-Reed's On Juneteenth provides a historian's view of the country's long road to Juneteenth, recounting both its origins in Texas and the enormous hardships that African-Americans have...
Origin : a genetic history of the Americas
Raff, Jennifer
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER! From celebrated anthropologist Jennifer Raff comes the untold story--and fascinating mystery--of how humans migrated to the Americas. ORIGIN is the story of who the first peoples...
A people's history of the United States
Zinn, Howard
Paper Book
THE CLASSIC NATIONAL BESTSELLER "A wonderful, splendid book--a book that should be read by every American, student or otherwise, who wants to understand his country, its true history, and its hope for the future." -Howard Fast Historian Howard Zinn's A People's...
Praisesong for the kitchen ghosts : stories and recipes from five generations of Black country cooks
Wilkinson, Crystal
Paper Book
NATIONAL BESTSELLER * A lyrical culinary journey that explores the hidden legacy of Black Appalachians, through powerful storytelling alongside nearly forty comforting recipes, from the former poet laureate of Kentucky."With Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts...
The rediscovery of America : native peoples and the unmaking of U.S. history
Blackhawk, Ned
Paper Book
A sweeping and overdue retelling of U.S. history that recognizes that Native Americans are essential to understanding the evolution of modern America National Bestseller Winner of the 2023 National Book Award in Nonfiction * Finalist for the 2023 Los...
The small and the mighty : twelve unsung Americans who changed the course of history, from the founding to the civil rights movement
McMahon, Sharon
Paper Book
A #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From America's favorite government teacher, a "fascinating and fun" (Adam Grant) portrait of twelve ordinary Americans whose courage formed the character of our country. In The Small and the Mighty, Sharon McMahon proves...
The soul of America : the battle for our better angels
Meacham, Jon
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER . Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. "Gripping and inspiring, The Soul of...
South to America : a journey below the Mason-Dixon to understand the soul of a nation
Perry, Imani
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE 2022 NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FOR NONFICTION INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "An elegant meditation on the complexities of the American South--and thus of America--by an esteemed daughter of the South and one of the great intellectuals of our time. An inspiration." -...
The warmth of other suns : the epic story of America's great migration
Wilkerson, Isabel.
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER * ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S FAVORITE BOOKS OF THE YEAR * TIME'S TEN BEST NONFICTION BOOKS OF THE DECADE * ONE OF THE NEW YORK TIMES'S FIVE BEST BOOKS OF THE 21ST CENTURY * A KIRKUS REVIEWS BEST...
We the people : a history of the U.S. Constitution
Lepore, Jill
Paper Book
The U.S. Constitution is among the oldest constitutions in the world but also one of the most difficult to amend. Jill Lepore, Harvard professor of history and law, explains why in We the People, the most original history of the Constitution in decades--and an essential companion to her landmark...

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