Publication year 2015
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Death, Race, Immigration, Politics & Government, Literature, Perseverance
Tags Military & War, US History, World History, Dramatic Literature, Music, Biography
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.
Hamilton
Ham on Rye
Hard Times
Harlem
Harlem Duet
Harriet Tubman
Harvest Of Empire
Hawaii
Here Is New York
Hidden America
Hidden Figures
Hidden Figures: Young Readers Edition
His Excellency: George Washington
History Lesson
His Truth Is Marching On
Homeland Elegies
Home To Harlem
Hospital Sketches
House Divided Speech
How Does It Feel to Be A Problem
Publication year 2015
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Death, Race, Immigration, Politics & Government, Literature, Perseverance
Tags Military & War, US History, World History, Dramatic Literature, Music, Biography
Publication year 1982
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Social Class, Equality, Apathy
Tags Coming of Age, Life-Inspired Fiction, Great Depression, US History, American Literature, Modern Classic Fiction, World History, Classic Fiction
Publication year 1970
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Economics, Memory, Social Class, Shame & Pride, Race, Loneliness
Tags US History, Great Depression, Poverty, Depression & Suicide, American Literature, Business & Economics, Sociology, World History, Biography, Politics & Government
Publication year 1951
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Future, Race, Justice, Equality, Nation
Tags Lyric Poem, Harlem Renaissance, African American Literature, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Race & Racism, US History, Urban Development
Publication year 1997
Genre Play, Fiction
Themes Race, Gender Identity, Social Class
Tags African American Literature, Race & Racism, US History
Often called a prelude to Shakespeare’s Othello, Harlem Duet tells the story of Othello and his first wife, Billie—the woman he married before Desdemona. Their history is told through the lives of three couples, each named Othello and Billie, during eras of special significance in Black American history: 1860, before the Emancipation Proclamation; 1928, at the height of the historic Harlem Renaissance; and 1997, after the civil rights movement but before the 21st century.Written by... Read Harlem Duet Summary
Publication year 1955
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Family, Religion & Spirituality, Perseverance
Tags Children`s Literature, Education, Education, World History, Classic Fiction, Biography, US History, Race & Racism, American Civil War, African American Literature, Women`s Studies
Harriet Tubman: Conductor on the Underground Railroad is a 1955 biography by American author Ann Petry. This book takes the reader on a journey through Harriet Tubman’s life, from her birth to enslaved parents on a Maryland plantation to her death as a free woman in New York in 1913. Tubman is a well-known figure in American history and is best known for her heroic actions as a “conductor” on the Underground Railroad. After escaping... Read Harriet Tubman Summary
Publication year 2000
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Community
Tags US History, Race & Racism, Education, Education, Sociology, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government
Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (first published in 2000 and revised in 2011) is a work of historical nonfiction authored by Juan Gonzalez. It provides a comprehensive account of the intersection of Latin American history with US history in the context of ongoing US debates surrounding immigration, which have involved propaganda, mythologizing, and stereotyping, resulting in much fear, anxiety, and anger. Gonzalez seeks to reveal the hidden story behind these stereotypes... Read Harvest Of Empire Summary
Publication year 1959
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Indigenous Identity, Colonialism, Globalization
Tags Historical Fiction, US History, Narrative Poem, World History, Travel Literature, Classic Fiction
Hawaii (1959) is one of the earlier books by well-known and prolific author James A. Michener. The novel is typical of Michener’s historical epics, which focus on transgenerational family sagas played out against the backdrop of world events. Prior to writing Hawaii, Michener had already gained fame with Tales of the South Pacific, which won a Pulitzer Prize for Literature in 1948, and was later adapted into the Broadway musical South Pacific. The author gained... Read Hawaii Summary
Publication year 1948
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Community, The Past, Place, Environment
Tags Travel Literature, US History, Urban Development, Creative Nonfiction, American Literature, World History, Classic Fiction
Publication year 2004
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Tags US History, American Revolution, World History, Biography, Politics & Government
Historian Joseph J. Ellis was fascinated by George Washington ever since Ellis’ boyhood in Alexandria, Virginia, where Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon, is located and his historical presence was strongly felt. By the time Ellis wrote His Excellency: George Washington in 2004, he had already produced several popular books about early American history. His Excellency is a more intimate biography of Washington than many previously written, focusing as much on the subject’s character as on his... Read His Excellency: George Washington Summary
Publication year 2000
Genre Poem, Fiction
Themes Nostalgia, Race, The Past
Tags Lyric Poem, Race & Racism, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, US History
Publication year 2020
Genre Biography, Nonfiction
Themes Race, Politics & Government, Justice
Tags World History, Biography, Social Justice, US History, Race & Racism, Politics & Government
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Immigration, Social Class, Safety & Danger, Hate & Anger, Race, Shame & Pride, Fear, Justice, Conflict
Tags Historical Fiction, Politics & Government, Immigration & Refugeeism, Social Justice, 9/11, Life-Inspired Fiction, Race & Racism, US History, Social Class, Modern Classic Fiction, World History
Publication year 1928
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Harlem Renaissance, Race & Racism, US History, American Literature, Historical Fiction, Classic Fiction
Home to Harlem, Claude McKay’s 1927 novel set in the Harlem underworld, is the story of Jake Brown, an attractive African American who deserts the US military during World War I in France because he is forced to be a menial laborer rather than a soldier.Jakemakes his way home as a ship’s cook, embarking in London, where he spent the remainder of the war living with a white girlfriend. When he reaches Harlem, Jake encountershis... Read Home To Harlem Summary
Publication year 1863
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Gender Identity, Femininity, Race, The Past, Community, War
Tags Military & War, American Civil War, US History
Publication year 1858
Genre Essay / Speech, Nonfiction
Themes Social Class, Politics & Government, War, Equality
Tags Politics & Government, US History, World History
Publication year 2008
Genre Book, Nonfiction
Themes Marriage
Tags Sociology, Middle Eastern History, US History, Race & Racism, Education, Education, World History, Social Justice, Politics & Government, Religion & Spirituality
How Does It Feel to Be A Problem: Being Young and Arab in America (2008) is a nonfiction text by Brooklyn College English professor and Arab-American Moustafa Bayoumi. The title comes from W.E.B. Du Bois’s 1903 text, The Souls of Black Folk, wherein he directed this question toward the African-American experience. Following the stories of seven young ArabAmericans living in Brooklyn, and including their struggles after the 9/11 attacks, Bayoumi’s book suggests that present-day ArabAmericans absorb the... Read How Does It Feel to Be A Problem Summary