books
Give Me Liberty! by ISBN: 9780393920307Publication Date: 2013-10-15Perhaps the most respected traditional history.
An Indigenous Peoples' History of the United States by Call Number: E178 .Z75 2003ISBN: 9780807000403Publication Date: 2014-09-16An indigenous people’s history of the United States. Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz. Similar to Zinn’s work, but with a focus on indigenous peoples. If you have HBO, this scholarship has also become part of the docuseries “Exterminate all the Brutes” (see: Exterminate all the Brutes: https://www.hbo.com/exterminate-all-the-brutes.)
A People's History of the United States by Call Number: E178 .Z75 2003ISBN: 9780060838652Publication Date: 2005-08-02A people’s history of the United States. Howard Zinn. The foremost readable social history on the market. Focuses on a chronological examination of the history and experiences of those often overlooked by traditional histories. Pairs nicely with the Zinn education project: https://www.zinnedproject.org/
podcasts and vlogs
- BackStory with the American History GuysA long-running podcast by historians at the University of Virginia. Each episode, they select a topic from current events and examine its existence and development in the 18th, 19th, and 20th centuries.
- Crash Course: US HistoryA good overview of all topics, including US History. They go a bit fast for my tastes, and tend by their nature to be just a top-level introduction. But they can be a good starting point.
- Drunk HistoryIf you don't know, these are amateur historians telling stories through the lens of liquor, then acted out by relatively famous actors. Start with this one on Nellie Bly, the most famous woman you’ve probably never heard. There’s also a more sober episode on Bly from The Atlantic: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ACz2bwF1gEs
- Hip Hughes HistoryHip Hughes History are 10-15 minute videos on a variety of US History topics including the Constitution, Supreme Court cases, and presidential elections. There are also videos on a range of World History topics.