If you had to give someone a well-rounded and thorough understanding of US history by recommending 6 books, which would you recommend?

by aeneasdrop

The title says it all. If you wanted to recommend someone the best books 6 to read to gain a good comprehensive grasp of US history, which ones would you recommend?

oudysseos
  1. The First Salute by Barbara Tuchman
  2. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown
  3. The Civil War by Shelby Foote
  4. Reconstruction by Eric Foner
  5. The Proud Tower by Barbara Tuchman
  6. Parting the Waters by Taylor Branch
  7. Brute Force: Allied Strategy and Tactics in the Second World War by John Ellis
  8. The Years of Lyndon Johnson by Robert A Caro
  9. A Bright Shining Lie by Neil Sheehan
  10. A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn
  11. 1491/1493 Charles C Mann

Sorry, couldn't keep it to 6.

oudysseos

There's also Page Smith's 8 volume A People's History of the United States, published from 1976 to 1987. It's pretty stonking but it is comprehensive.