Pretend you only had one shelf for your library, and your library could consist of only 10 books about American history. For this hypothetical situation, I have assembled a list of the best (admittedly subjective) books on American history from the colonial period to the end of the Cold War.
Before you scroll through the list, I instituted a number of parameters. The list includes only single volumes. Yes, numerous multi-volumes could easily be recommended, like Shelby Foote’s Civil War series, but remember, there’s limited space on that shelf. There are no biographies in the list, like Ron Chernow’s “Washington: A Life,” nor memoirs, like that of Ulysses S. Grant (arguably America’s finest); or journals, like that of Meriwether Lewis and William Clark. Also, there are no founding documents, such as the Declaration, the Constitution, the Notes on the Constitutional Convention, or the Federalist Papers (all absolute must-reads).
