Ten years ago I made an ill advised financial decision to get a BA in History. A BA in history is a step above a BA in philosophy. You're both working at Starbucks, only one of you is a manager. But man, the books! Here are a few history books along with one Jesus book worth your time. They’re all a good read, even if you decided to prudently major in a financially beneficial career that allows you to support great apostolate such as LayEvangelist, LLC.
I stumbled onto this book in 2001. The title itself rocked my world. Most millennials grew up hearing the Revolutionary war called ‘The War of Independence.” This book slaps that in face and kicks it the gut while down. Why am I still telling you to read other books? Gordon Wood is a beast. An absolute beast. He's the greatest historian ever. It's game over from here.
Can we just build a shrine to this guy already? The Idea of America is Wood’s ‘magnum opus.’ Eleven essays from over fifty years of writings. Buy this book.
Historians hate McCullough because people read his books. People love him because he writes history books that are impossible to put down. McCullough shows how a pantheon of a politician could be vain, humble, brilliant, stupid, devoted, prudent and irrational, all in the span of one letter.
Sandlin is a brilliant writer with a flair for history. You will never find a better essay on WWII than Losing the War. It’s a travesty every sophomore in American hasn’t read it.
Remember when we all got obsessed with Wild at Heart in 2003? That was fun and all Republicanish. Here’s a book for everyone else. Yes, I know, Miller can be annoying. But if you’re a twenty-or-thirty something Christian and you haven’t read it, it's time to correct that.