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Originally Posted by miraja2
Stuff like that is okay, if that is the kind of stuff you like. I'm not going to tell people what to read, but if you are really interested in history I would suggest reading stuff written by actual historians instead.
Neither McCullough nor Chernow are trained historians and it shows in their work. They are both good writers, and that is why they win awards like the Pulitzer, but the quality of their scholarship is more than questionable.
Ellis - who you also mentioned - actually IS a PhD and his work is (not surprisingly) a little bit better.
If you are really interested in something like the American Revolution and Early Republic however, I would reccomend reading the stuff from real scholars like Rosemarie Zagarri, Woody Holton, T.H. Breen etc. It might not always be as cleverly written as the stuff the journalists like Chernow produce, but the level of analysis dwarfs anything these untrained people attempt.
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i read a little bit of everything, minus science fiction and romance novels. i have some history books here as well, both american and european.
i forgot to also recommend the two books on hitler, 'hubris' and 'nemesis' by ian kershaw. also 'constantine's sword' by james carroll.
i have american creation by jos. ellis, but haven't read it yet. one of the books i'll take on vacation.