Looking for a book for America 250? Here’s what historians are reading

The country that commemorates the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence is a radically different place than the country that celebrated a ubiquitous bicentennial in 1976. But one part of that commemoration will not change: The yearning of everyday Americans to understand their nation’s stories.

Certainly, publishers hope so; their summer catalogs are thick with American history and an emphasis on the founding figures, the first century — the A-list.

For a long view on contemporary headlines:

“The U.S. Constitution: A Comprehensive and Annotated Guide for the Modern Reader,” by Melissa Murray, explains every article and Amendment, laying out the history, resonance and gray areas with a patience missing from social-media hot takes.

For a fresh take on the first American road trip:

“The Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark,” by Craig Fehrman, is an immersive panorama that rescues this potted narrative from the usual classroom tales of two men and a canoe, for a revelatory portrait about mutual surprise, allowing equal time to both the discoverers and the owners of the land being discovered.

For the complicated truth about an icon

“An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln,” by Lois Romano, substitutes a glib familiar caricature (she was crazy, domineering, et al) for the nuances of an epic of depression, ambition and loss — and a courtroom finale that haunts. 

Not a dud in that bunch.

But what if you have room for just one book about the United States this summer? We asked several historians and authors to recommend one history-minded book every American should read before Labor Day.

'Beloved' by Toni Morrison (1987)

Recommended by Matthew Briones, associate professor of history at University of Chicago

Slavery has always been America’s original sin, something Faulkner and Morrison best grapple with in their fiction. In "Beloved," the narrator hauntingly says it’s “not a story to pass on,” when it’s exactly this type of traumatic history that we need to remember, process and learn from in our nation’s history. That’s the only way to heal and get better: to face our history honestly, with all of its ghosts, and in all of its joy and pain.

'Why Fish Don't Exist' by Lulu Miller (2020)

Recommended by Kate Masur, professor of history at Northwestern University

Many books are good or even great; few are startlingly original and a joy to read. One such rarity is “Why Fish Don’t Exist” by science journalist Lulu Miller. It’s about a 21st century woman’s quest to understand ichthyologist David Starr Jordan, the first president of Stanford University. But it’s really about the desire to make sense of the world. “Why Fish Don’t Exist” embraces the beauty and depravity of American history, reminding us that people are drawn to the American past for a million reasons. It’s a book of our time, and everyone should read it.

'Original Sins: The (Mis)Education of Black and Native Children and the Construction of American Racism,' by Eve L. Ewing (2026)

Recommended by Barbara Ransby, professor in history, Black studies and gender at University of Illinois

Ewing's book reminds us public education, and the origin stories we tell our children, have a profound impact on how Americans understand and define race, rights, democracy and justice. Her powerful, sweeping narrative grounds us in the uncomfortable truths that exclusion, lies and blatant oppression have been dominant themes throughout the history of American education. 

'Empire Falls' by Richard Russo (2001)

Recommended by Jonathan Eig, author of “King: A Life”

I’d love to see Americans this summer reading “Empire Falls” by Richard Russo. It’s got it all: the decline of blue-collar America, the loving embrace of a small town, hilarious hard-luck characters, wrenching family drama, and, through it all, a burning love for America, never mind its troubles. It’s set at the end of the 20th century, but it could be almost any time in American history. Slide into a booth at the Empire Grill, order a burger and enjoy.

'The Paranoid Style in American Politics' by Richard Hofstadter (1965)

Recommended by Amy Dru Stanley, associate history professor at University of Chicago

This collection of essays shaped by the Cold War and Red Scare explores the fragility of democracy and social comity and freedom of expression. The book speaks to the present, tragically, in tracing how irrational hatreds, belief in conspiracies, fearful nostalgia and apocalyptic delusions can govern American political culture — how the vision of America as an example of liberty for the world becomes a politics of paranoia. We have much to learn from this story of American illiberalism in seeking to protect democracy today.

'Atrocities of the Mind' by Dwight Macdonald (2026)

Recommended by Daniel Immerwahr, history professor at Northwestern University

“Everyone has the right to be stupid,” Leon Trotsky reportedly said. “But comrade Macdonald abuses the privilege.” The man in question, Dwight Macdonald, was a renegade communist who revolted against Stalin. He was also a renegade capitalist, a Yale graduate who wrote for Fortune until he clashed with the magazine’s owner over a series about the U.S. Steel Corporation. One thing Macdonald noticed was violence, and "Atrocities of the Mind," a collection of his essays on the topic, show someone living through terrible times with courage, openness, curiosity and a refusal to exempt himself from the diagnosis.