American history book recommendations

I really enjoy the way Brian Kilmeads books read. Same will Bill O'Reillys Killing collection. There are much better options for information, but these are fun reads.

Brian Kilmead's Andrew Jackson novel is a fantastic. Major patriot boner lol.

Amazon link to book

Sounds right up his(mine too) alley.
He owns land in Selma that we burn a portion of every year.
Thanks !

I'm currently enjoying Thomas Jefferson: A Biography of Spirit and Flesh by Thomas Kidd.

This is a biography focused on Jefferson from a spiritual and moral perspective, and I'm halfway through it and have been surprised at some of the stuff I've learned.

I didn't know that Jefferson twice attempted affairs with married women, including one who accused him of trying to force himself on her.

I didn't know that Sally Hemings was the half-sister of Jefferson's late wife Martha.

I didn't know that, while the two of them disliked each other before this, the deep bitterness that existed between Jefferson and Patrick Henry was the result of an "inquiry" that the Virginia House of Delegates did into Jefferson's conduct as Virginia governor.

I didn't know that Jefferson wanted to end slavery, but he feared a race war.

If you're curious about how Jefferson's religious beliefs evolved, what he meant about the "wall of separation" that he proposed between church and state, then this is a great read.

Empire of the Summer Moon

Team of Rivals about Lincoln and his politically diverse cabinet. Great read.

David McCullough has 1776 and Adams about the early founding that were great to me. Chernow has Hamilton and Washington which are dense but very informative.

quote:

---

David McCullough has 1776

---

Was going to recommend this. Also his book on the Wright Brothers was really well done.

Shelby Foote's Civil War set (3 volumes) is amazing.

A Terrible Glory and The Killing of Crazy Horse cover the Indian wars of the 1870s.

Empire of the Summer Moon covers the Comanches in Texas.

Any of Erik Larson's books. Devil in the White City (Chicago World's Fair) has already been mentioned. Issac's Storm (Galveston hurricane), Dead Wake (Lusitania) and The Splendid and the Vile (Churchill's first year as prime minster) are also really well done, but slightly out of scope of what you asked about.

Rising Tide - The Great Mississippi River Flood of 1927 may be the most interesting history book that I've read. It's amazing how much the US has changed since 1927 which really wasn't all that long ago. My grandmother was 30 years old. The book focusses often on Mississippi and the Yazoo River area, I didn't realize how bad it was there too. Arkansas as well, even up to Illinois.

I recently read a JFK biography that I really enjoyed — JFK Coming of Age in the American Century

quote:

---

picked up “the big burn”

---

Cheers mate

Hope you enjoy it. It’s an easy read . Bump it back once you finish it and let us/me know what you think