Quote:
Originally Posted by greatwhitenorthchick
Now that I'm becoming a citizen, I have decided to make an effort to learn about this country's history -- I'm kind of shocked at my ignorance - I had always thought that I kind of knew everything because of being raised on US network TV. Anyway, I have now watched Ken Burns' The Dust Bowl and am in the middle of The Civil War. I also watched America: The Story of Us, which was a little too rah rah, but (a) I found out that Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone were in fact real people (who knew) and (b) I think I did actually become a more optimistic person, so kudos to rah rah documentaries.
I am looking for suggestions for more documentaries, perhaps about the Revolution and the Civil Rights movement -- or if there are any good books that are not historical fiction. If anyone has any suggestions, they would be most appreciated.
|
In the vein of quirky and entertaining history books, you can't go wrong with Sarah Vowell (Assassination Vacation, Wordy Shipmates, Unfamiliar Fishes). Related to the last of those is James Bradley's
Imperial Cruise, which my dad has recently decided the whole family needs to read. (ETA: To be more explicit, one of the things that's interesting about the book is just how explicitly racist American policy in the Philippines and elsewhere was.) For popular history generally, I'm a fan of Barbara Tuchman, although hers tend not to be only U.S. history. Bill Bryson's,
One Summer: America 1927, is great, albeit narrow in focus. So too
Erik Larson's, Devil in the White City.
None of those are documentaries, but all work pretty well as audio books (especially with Vowell reading her own "unique" voice).
Obviously your Doris Kearns Goodwins (e.g.,
Team of Rivals) and your David McCulloughs sell a lot.
ETA: Oh, yeah, of course,
Selma is excellent too, in case you need the obvious mentioned. (It's what I do).
