taught as a succession of wars and dates to memorize. Even in college there was only one history course that I liked. Didn't start to like it until I chose my own eclectic readings on American and world history, starting with fiction (Michener, Uris), then non-fiction. Due to the diversity of American society, I think world history contributes to understanding our own. Some of these books are old because I am old and read them years ago.
Rise of the West by William McNeil; The Puritan Mind by Perry Miller; The Americans, Colonial Experience by Daniel J. Boorstin; The Mayflower by Robert Greenwood; Native American History by Judith Nies; A Sorrow in Our Heart by Allen W. Eckert (Tecumseh and the War of 1812); Parker on the Iroquois by Arthur C. Parker, edited by William N. Fenton; Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown; Native American Testimony by Peter Nabokov; The Unredeemed Captive by John Demos (colonial Deerfield, MA); Captors and Captives by Haefeli and Sweeney (also colonial MA); My Bondage and My Freedom by Frederick Douglass.
Historical fiction that I found informative: Winds of War and the sequel, War and Remembrance by Herman Wouk; The Century Trilogy by Ken Follet. Also read Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin to know the characters often referenced and the book that influenced so many people of its time.
To a historian, my readings are "light" because most of them don't cover in-depth details of governmental stages. I've been mostly interested in the ideas and cultures that influenced American society and attitudes. Also in the daily lives of people who lived through various periods.
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