Important Books Every American Should Read

In my humble opinion, these books should be on the reading list of every American. Why? To understand the history and character of our nation. Much has been written about our politics, culture, and economy but these eleven books offer as much, if not more, insight as any eleven others. How did we get here and how to understand what is happening in this third decade of the 21st century? Read on.

Begin at the beginning. Start with David McCollough’s 1776. The war for independence began with a victory at Boston and then a major defeat in New York City.On the brink of the brink, the year climaxed with the Continental Army’s first major victory on Christmas night, defeating the Hessians at Trenton. You won’t believe the details of that night.

Probably the next great moment in the nation’s history occurred during the month of April 1865: The Month That Saved America. Jay Winik’s brilliant narrative describes the month the President was assassinated, the Civil War wound down, and the separate states began, for the first time, to act as a union.

The following one hundred years, 1870 to 1970, saw the greatest advance in human civilization. Six major innovations in the quality of life that the richest people on earth in 1870 did not have were developed and adopted by most Americans by 1970. Professor Robert J. Gordon’s The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War chronicles this progress and warns that we are not likely to see growth like this again.

With roots in an 1886 Supreme Court decision, the environment for capitalism in America was built by government and instilled into law. Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights, by Thom Hartmann, describes how corporations were given the rights and protections of human persons while being excused from the same risks and responsibilities. David Cay Johnston’s Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense, describes the modern consequences of that legal protection. This is a must read for people who believe that capitalism has been the engine driving our economy without any help from government.

Early in the 20th century, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle exposed an ugly side of capitalism’s development of one industry. Both Eric Schlosser’s Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal and Christopher Leonard’s The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America's Food Business expose how little progress has been made since then.

1968 was another pivotal year for America. Besides the assassinations of MLK and RFK, race riots, and anti-war demonstrations, there was a pivot in the evolution of American education. Professor Alan Bloom’s book, Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, describes how this has happened. One of the current-day consequences can be described as The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters, which explains the cacophonous state of public conversation in 2023.

For a much deeper understanding of the fundamental nature of how our society works, begin with Nobel Prize Winner Daniel Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow. This is an essential book for understanding human nature, particularly how we make choices. He reveals how choices made from the personal to the corporate and public policy level can succeed or fail.

Lastly, but certainly not least, is the latest milestone work by sociologist Robert Putnam, The Upswing: How America Came Together a Century Ago and How We Can Do It Again. Putnam made news with his earlier work, Bowling Alone, which described the deterioration of social life in America. This work scientifically measures—across politics, religion, race, culture, economics—the rise, in 1870, from an “I”-based society to a peak, in the 1960s, of a “We”-based society. Then how it shifted from a We-based society to an I-based society today. It explains, “Deep and accelerating inequality; unprecedented political polarization; vitriolic public discourse; a fraying social fabric; public and private narcissism—Americans today seem to agree on only one thing: This is the worst of times.” (from the book jacket). Putnam is optimistic that the pendulum will swing the other way; I am not so hopeful.

The Death of Expertise: The Campaign against Established Knowledge and Why it Matters, Tom Nichols, Oxford University Press, 2017

Thinking, Fast and Slow, Robert D. Putnam, Simon and Schuster, 2020

The Rise and Fall of American Growth: The U.S. Standard of Living since the Civil War, Robert J. Gordon, Princeton University Press, 2016

Closing of the American Mind: How Higher Education Has Failed Democracy and Impoverished the Souls of Today's Students, Alan Bloom, Simon & Schuster, 1987

The Meat Racket: The Secret Takeover of America's Food Business, Christopher Leonard, Simon & Schuster, 2014

Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2011

Free Lunch: How the Wealthiest Americans Enrich Themselves at Government Expense,

David Cay Johnston, Portfolio Hardcover, 2007

Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and the Theft of Human Rights, Thom Hartmann, Rodale Books, 2002

Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal, Eric Schlosser, Houghton Mifflin, 2001

1776, David McCollugh, Simon & Schuster, 2006

April 1865: The Month That Saved America, Jay Winik, Harper, 2001