Wanted: a complete and utter history of America, 1910-1935
July 19, 2020 2:07 PM Subscribe
I'd love to know more about the broad panorama of U.S. history in the early part of the 20thC ... and I'd love to find it all in one book.
A series of exceptional books by historians such as David Kynaston and Juliet Gardiner do this for British history, in a later part of the 20th century: by compiling hundreds of sources, including diaries and census data, these books provide a really comprehensive overview. Of course there are innumerable volumes, many very good, about specific aspects of American life (the rise of Hollywood, Prohibition, the Dust Bowl and much more) in the early century but what I'd really like is something all-encompassing. I have Only Yesterday by F.L. Allen, which was written in the Thirties – has anything been published this century?
A series of exceptional books by historians such as David Kynaston and Juliet Gardiner do this for British history, in a later part of the 20th century: by compiling hundreds of sources, including diaries and census data, these books provide a really comprehensive overview. Of course there are innumerable volumes, many very good, about specific aspects of American life (the rise of Hollywood, Prohibition, the Dust Bowl and much more) in the early century but what I'd really like is something all-encompassing. I have Only Yesterday by F.L. Allen, which was written in the Thirties – has anything been published this century?
Best answer: The Oxford American History series is excellent - they have a top historian in a particular period cover ~20-30 year periods per volume. Many of the books have been nominated for or won Pulitzer Prizes. It looks like there is an existing 1929-1949 volume, but the 1896-1929 volume is not yet published. So you may have to start backwards.
posted by Mid at 3:54 PM on July 19, 2020 [5 favorites]
posted by Mid at 3:54 PM on July 19, 2020 [5 favorites]
Larry Gonick's Cartoon history of the United States is great.
I find dense walls of text in non-fiction books hard to digest, but retain and absorb information that is presented very visually.
You can see sample pages here
It's not aimed at children despite being a comic, I found it funny, but YMMV, and it's heavily in the edutainment not entertainment camp so it also has an extensive reference section and fully drawn footnotes throughout.
It's 350 pages and the 20th Century starts on page 250 and the book ends in 1991.
Bibliography is pages 378 - 380, Index is pages 381 to 392.
If you do buy it I hope you find it an educational and entertaining read.
posted by Faintdreams at 8:46 AM on July 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
I find dense walls of text in non-fiction books hard to digest, but retain and absorb information that is presented very visually.
You can see sample pages here
It's not aimed at children despite being a comic, I found it funny, but YMMV, and it's heavily in the edutainment not entertainment camp so it also has an extensive reference section and fully drawn footnotes throughout.
It's 350 pages and the 20th Century starts on page 250 and the book ends in 1991.
Bibliography is pages 378 - 380, Index is pages 381 to 392.
If you do buy it I hope you find it an educational and entertaining read.
posted by Faintdreams at 8:46 AM on July 20, 2020 [1 favorite]
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posted by clew at 3:13 PM on July 19, 2020 [3 favorites]