20th Century US History Books

Last updated: January 2, 2012

1. 'The Things They Carried' - Tim O'Brien: A Critical Essay by David Wheeler Published: November 17, 2011 Score: 30.19
2. Fast Food Nation: The Dark Side of the All-American Meal (P.S.) by Eric Schlosser Published: November 3, 2009 Score: 28.85
3. The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Erik Larson Published: February 10, 2004 Score: 25.02
4. The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration (Vintage) by Isabel Wilkerson Published: October 4, 2011 Score: 13.34
5. Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer Published: June 8, 2004 Score: 9.81
6. Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose Published: February 15, 1996 Score: 7.82
7. Jacqueline Kennedy: Historic Conversations on Life with John F. Kennedy by Caroline Kennedy and Michael Beschloss Published: September 14, 2011 Score: 7.82
8. Seabiscuit: An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand Published: March 26, 2002 Score: 6.89
9. CITIZEN SOLDIERS : The U.S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany -- June 7, 1944-May 7, 1945 by Stephen E. Ambrose Published: November 3, 1997 Score: 5.65
10. The River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice Millard Published: October 10, 2006 Score: 4.64
11. A People's History of the United States: 1492 to the Present by Howard Zinn Published: November 3, 1999 Score: 4.38
12. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas: A Savage Journey to the Heart of the American Dream by Hunter S. Thompson and Ralph Steadman Published: May 12, 1998 Score: 4.16
13. Truman by David McCullough Published: August 20, 2003 Score: 4.02
14. Columbine by Dave Cullen Published: March 3, 2010 Score: 4
15. In My Time: A Personal and Political Memoir by Dick Cheney and Liz Cheney Published: August 30, 2011 Score: 3.99
16. The Eighty-Dollar Champion: Snowman, the Horse That Inspired a Nation by Elizabeth Letts Published: August 23, 2011 Score: 3.68
17. The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl by Timothy Egan Published: September 1, 2006 Score: 3.63
18. The Souls of Black Folk (Barnes & Noble Classics Series) by W. E. B. Du Bois and Farah Jasmine Griffin Published: January 6, 2005 Score: 3.35
19. America Alone: The End of the World As We Know It by Mark Steyn Published: January 15, 2007 Score: 3.33
20. Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero by Christopher Matthews Published: November 1, 2011 Score: 3.24
21. The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression by Amity Shlaes Published: May 27, 2008 Score: 3.12
22. My Life by Bill Clinton Published: June 22, 2004 Score: 2.31
23. December 1941: 31 Days that Changed America and Saved the World by Craig Shirley Published: December 6, 2011 Score: 2.22
24. JFK and the Unspeakable: Why He Died and Why It Matters by James W. Douglass Published: October 19, 2010 Score: 2.04
25. Ghost Soldiers: The Epic Account of World War II's Greatest Rescue Mission by Hampton Sides Published: May 7, 2002 Score: 1.98