Ten books you might actually READ for Christmas…

By Brian Schoeneman | Thursday, December 8th, 2011 | Catch-All

My dear, dear friends and colleagues Jim and Shaun have posted their top ten books to buy and read this Christmas.  Now, I, like you, dear readers, surely enjoy a little bit of Cicero now and again, but that’s not exactly the kind of thing that keeps me up at night wanting to know what happens next.  So here are ten books I recommend that you might actually read the whole way through without dying of terminal boredom and without worrying about writing a term paper when you’re done.

Enjoy!

1. Almost a Miracle by John Ferling – Ferling’s book outlines the military history of the American Revolution and really lays down a solid groundwork for folks wanting to appreciate the fact that we’re pretty much the luckiest country on the face of the Earth. Once you’ve read this book you’ll realize how utterly ridiculous it is that we’re even a country right now and how truly blessed the founders were that the British were so godawful in the Revolution.

2. A Leap in the Dark by John Ferling – This is Ferling’s follow-up to Almost a Miracle, and it’s a political history of the Revolution up
through the framing of the Constitution. Another excellent book, it gives you a solid understanding of political reasons for the Revolution, the failure of the Articles and the debates leading up to ratification.

3. American Lion by Jon Meacham – Great political biography of Andrew Jackson which captures the time period in the antebellum period very well.

4. Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin – This captures the Lincoln presidency very well and the period leading up to and during it, all
critical parts of American history. After reading this book, I came to the conclusion that Lincoln was probably the best political mind we’ve
ever had in the White House.

5. Battle Cry of Freedom by James McPherson – This is probably my favorite Civil War book. The best part is how McPherson lays out the
political and historical issues that led up to the war. After a long time in the wilderness, it was McPherson’s book that finally convincedme that the primary cause of the war was, indeed, slavery.

6-8. The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt / Theodore Rex / Colonel Roosevelt by Edmund Morris – All three of the Morris biographies of TR are great reading because they put into perspective the entire time period of his life, which basically spanned from Reconstruction to the
end of World War I. Theodore Rex is one of my absolute favorite books, which I’ve read about 10 times.

9. Master of the Senate by Robert Caro – While it’s focused on Johnson, it’s a great primer for how the Senate works, particularly the filibuster. It’s also fascinating to get in these guys heads. I’m a big fan of narrative history and this is one of the better ones.

10. Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon – This book is the book that spawned the Homicide TV series and many of the anecdotes in there ended up in HBO’s The Wire. Simon spent a year in 1987 shadowing the Baltimore Homicide office and the resulting book is pure gold. With the possible exception of the Bible, I have read this book more than any other book I’ve ever read. At least 50 times. I have sections of it memorized. It’s such a great book.

 

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