If You Like John Adams by David McCullough ...

Posted - 12/20/2005 : 4:21:07 PM
Books similar to John Adams by David McCullough include other biographies of famous people, or perhaps books set in that time/place.  Here is a selection of possibilities:

1776 by David McCullough
Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776
is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and
color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys
turned soldiers. And it is the story of the British commander, William
Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes
with contempt and fought with a valor too little known. But it is the
American commander-in-chief who stands foremost -- Washington, who had
never before led an army in battle. (Catalog summary)

Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight: An African Childhood
by Alexandra Fuller
Fuller's memoir of a childhood dominated by the Rhodesian civil war of
1971-1979 captures the fascinating life of a white family living in one
of the most remote regions of Africa.

Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
by Cokie Roberts
What the "Revolutionary" women accomplished both on their own and
through their husbands is truly remarkable. An excellent writer, Cokie
Roberts brings them to life and makes them real and most interesting.

His Excellency: George Washington by Joseph J. Ellis
Drawing from the newly catalogued Washington papers at the University of
Virginia, the author paints a full portrait of Washington's life and
career in the context of eighteenth-century America, richly detailing
his private life and illustrating the ways in which it influenced his
public persona.

Kara Rockwell

Reference Librarian

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Posted - 02/21/2007 : 1:22:50 PM  

Other recommended histories of America:

Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West,
by Dee Brown
"...eloquent, fully documented account of the systematic destruction of
the American Indian during the second half of the nineteenth
century...Using council records, autobiographies, and firsthand
descriptions, Brown allows the great chiefs and warriors of the Dakota,
Ute, Sioux, Cheyenne, and other tribes to tell us in their own words of
the battles, massacres, and broken treaties that finally left them
demoralized and defeated. A unique and disturbing narrative told with
force and clarity..." (catalog summary)

The First World War, by John Keegan
"In a riveting narrative that puts diaries, letters and action reports
to good use, British military historian Keegan...delivers a stunningly
vivid history of the Great War. He is equally at ease--and equally
generous and sympathetic--probing the hearts and minds of lowly soldiers
in the trenches or examining the thoughts and motivations of leaders
(such as Joffre, Haig and Hindenburg) who directed the maelstrom. In the
end, Keegan leaves us with a brilliant, panoramic portrait of an epic
struggle that was at once noble and futile, world-shaking and pathetic."
(Publishers Weekly)

Founding Brothers, by Joseph J. Ellis
(Pulitzer prize)
"...contains six chapters on unconnected events in the formation of the
American republic, featuring Aaron Burr, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas
Jefferson, John Adams, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and George
Washington as principal characters. Ellis is deeply steeped in the
literature, and his style is crisp and full of subtle ironies. He brings
fresh insights into such well-worn topics as the Hamilton-Burr duel and
Jefferson's feelings about slavery. If there is a central theme that
runs through the chapters, it concerns the fragility of the early years
of the republic." (T.J. Schaeper, Library Journal)

No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in
World War II, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
(Pulitzer prize)
"...a monumental work, a brilliantly conceived chronicle of one of the
most vibrant and revolutionary periods in the history of the United
States. With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin masterfully
weaves together a striking number of story lines--Eleanor and Franklin's
marriage and remarkable partnership, Eleanor's life as First Lady, and
FDR's White House and its impact on America as well as on a world at
war. Goodwin effectively melds these details and stories into an
unforgettable and intimate portrait of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt
and of the time during which a new, modern America was born." (catalog
summary)

A Stillness at Appomattox: The Army of the Potomac, by Bruce Catton
(Pulitzer and National Book prizes)
"As for this monumental Civil War trilogy, first published in the 1960s,
historian Henry Steel Commager appraised: 'better than any other history
of our Civil War it combines narrative vigor, literary grace, freshness
of view and independence of judgment, and a kind of catholic spirit
which embraces the whole vast tumultuous scene.'" (Book description) "If
every historian wrote like Bruce Catton, no one would read fiction."
(John Miller, Amazon.com)

Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening
of the American West, by Stephen E. Ambrose
"Though principally a biography of Meriwether Lewis, this narrative also
provides fascinating portraits of Thomas Jefferson and William Clark,
Sacagawea, and other members of the group of explorers who journeyed
from the Ohio River to the Pacific Ocean in the years 1803-1806. While
scholarly and well documented, this account is at the same time a great
adventure story, and Ambrose generates a sense of excitement and
anticipation that mirrors, at least to some degree, the feelings Lewis
and Clark must have had as they began their journey." (School Library
Journal)
Another author who brings history vividly to life with engaging prose!
This is one of my favorite reads from the library's Book Group.

Other authors to try:

Shelby Foote
David Halberstam
James M. McPherson

Michele R. Brown
Reference Librarian