Suggested Summer Reading List
A friend and fellow historian-in-training asked me to suggest some books to read this summer. I drew up this admittedly eclectic list, which you can also download as a PDF. (I think my own summer reading will focus on American religious history, particularly the history of Fundamentalism and Puritanism.) I suggested that she pick the field that interested her most, read the three books, and then move on to the next field.
U.S. History
- Daniel Walker Howe, What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848
- Louis Menand, The Metaphysical Club
- Ray Allen Billington and Martin Ridge, Westward Expansion: A History of the American Frontier
European History
- Diarmaid MacCulloch, The Reformation: A History
- Gordon A. Craig, Europe, 1815-1914
- T. O. Lloyd, The British Empire, 1558-1995
American Religious History
- George M. Marsden, Religion and American Culture
- Nathan O. Hatch, The Democratization of American Christianity
- Jon Butler, Awash in a Sea of Faith: Christianizing the American People
Biography
- George M. Marsden, Jonathan Edwards: A Life
- Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton
- David McCullough, Truman
American Political History
- Stanley Elkins and Eric McKitrick, The Age of Federalism: The Early American Republic, 1788-1800
- Arthur M. Schlesinger Jr., The Age of Jackson
- Sean Wilentz, The Rise of American Democracy: Jefferson to Lincoln
Posted 28 Apr. 2008 at 10:08 am | Permalink
Have you read Ian Murray’s biography of Edwards? If you have, I’d be interested in hearing your take. Perhaps a brief comparison of the two.
Looks like a great list!
Posted 28 Apr. 2008 at 10:18 am | Permalink
I’ve not read Ian Murray’s biography of Edwards. I will say that Marsden’s book is one of the few I’ve read that made me say, I want to write a book like that.