Any good general American History books? Almost 30, need to bone up on the stuff.

by gahdude
Bernardito
Cosmic_Charlie

To add one to the book list, a short, very good overview of both history and historiography can be found in McGerr and Foner, eds., American History Now.

The book contains essays by well-respected scholars on history and historiographical trends in their respective periods of expertise. It's the third or fourth (?) incarnation of a book that was called The New American History when I was in grad school. Everyone I knew in grad school relied very heavily on this book for their exams. It is essential reading and provides a solid base to becoming conversant in both the history and the literature.