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.

White Trash

by Nancy Isenberg

Publication year 2016

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Themes Race, Social Class, Community, Nation, Justice

Tags Sociology, US History, Social Class, Social Justice, Race & Racism, Business & Economics, World History, Politics & Government

IntroductionIn White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America, Nancy Isenberg documents the historical and contemporary disdain of the upper and middle classes in America for the white poor and the resultant staying power of a class hierarchy. Isenberg, an award-winning historian, uses her expertise to contribute this non-fictional work to the academic literature on social class. Originally published in 2016, the book became a New York Times bestseller and was a finalist... Read White Trash Summary

Who's Irish?

by Gish Jen

Publication year 1999

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Immigration, Family, Marriage

Tags Immigration & Refugeeism, Education, Education, US History, Asian Literature, Chinese Literature

... Read Who's Irish? Summary

Why I Live at the P.O.

by Eudora Welty

Publication year 1941

Genre Short Story, Fiction

Themes Family, Social Class

Tags Southern Literature, Race & Racism, Southern Gothic, Education, Education, US History, World History, Historical Fiction, Humor, Classic Fiction

“Why I Live at the P.O.” is a short story written in 1941 by Eudora Welty, an author and photographer from the American South. The story’s narrator, Sister, narrates her family’s reaction as her sister, Stella-Rondo, leaves her husband and returns to the family’s home in China Grove, Mississippi, surprising her family with a young child in tow. As conflict unfolds among the family members, Sister moves into the post office where she works, seeking... Read Why I Live at the P.O. Summary

Why We Can't Wait

by Martin Luther King Jr.

Publication year 1964

Genre Book, Nonfiction

Tags US History, Civil Rights & Jim Crow South, Race & Racism, Black Lives Matter, World History, Philosophy, Philosophy, Social Justice, Classic Fiction, Politics & Government, Biography

Why We Can’t Wait is Martin Luther King, Jr.’s history of the Birmingham protests that took place in 1963 and his effort to explain the aims and goals of the Civil Rights Movement to a national audience. King explores the background of the protests in Birmingham, the importance of nonviolence as the primary approach to protest, how this approach played out in Birmingham, and the aftermath of the protests in an introduction and eight chapters... Read Why We Can't Wait Summary

Wieland

by Charles Brockden Brown

Publication year 1798

Genre Novel, Fiction

Themes Gender Identity, Mental Health, Appearance & Reality

Tags Horror & Suspense, Gothic Literature, Classic Fiction, Romanticism, US History, Education, Education, American Literature, World History

Weiland (1798), by Charles Brockden Brown, is one of the first Gothic horror novels printed in America and one of the earliest works in American literature to be influenced by European Romanticism. The narrative appears to have been based on newspaper accounts of the James Yates murders, in which a New York native murdered his wife and four children, claiming that the Holy Spirit told him to do so. Brown often fused history and fiction... Read Wieland Summary

Winesburg, Ohio

by Sherwood Anderson

Publication year 1919

Genre Short Story Collection, Fiction

Themes Community, Loneliness, Memory, Regret, Coming of Age, Place, Family, Social Class, Religion & Spirituality

Tags Classic Fiction, American Literature, Modernism, US History, World History

Originally published in 1919, Winesburg, Ohio: A Group of Tales of Ohio Small Town Life, is a short story cycle by American author Sherwood Anderson. Anderson drew inspiration from the Ohio town of Clyde, where he spent his childhood. By the late 20th century, many scholars considered Winesburg, Ohio a seminal text of American Modernist literature.Winesburg, Ohio focuses on the people who inhabit the eponymous town at the dawn of the Industrial Revolution. Among them... Read Winesburg, Ohio Summary

With the Old Breed

by Eugene Sledge

Publication year 1981

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes War

Tags World War II, Military & War, US History, World History, Biography

E.B. Sledge’s memoir recounts his experiences fighting in the South Pacific during World War II. Serving in the First Marine Division, he was present at the some of the deadliest battles of that war. The book begins with the author’s experiences being trained as a new marine recruit, enduring boot camp and mortar man training. He then vividly describes his participation in two seminal conflicts of the Pacific campaign: Peleliu and Okinawa. Written in a... Read With the Old Breed Summary

Witness

by Whittaker Chambers

Publication year 1952

Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction

Themes Conflict, Emotions/Behavior: Courage, The Past, Politics & Government, War, Truth & Lies, Wins & Losses, Safety & Danger, Good & Evil

Tags US History, Cold War, Politics & Government, Philosophy, Christian, World History, Philosophy, Classic Fiction, Biography

... Read Witness Summary