Looking for reading material (early American History)

[SnakeCharmer]

My recollection of early American history that I took in high school and college 12+ years ago is (sadly) fading.  As such, I'd love to pick up a couple or four books on the subject.  Something 1600's forward to 1850's or so.

Recommendations?

[Murgos]

1776 is good.

[schild]

You may not think it's real history, but look at the URL.

[Grimwell]

It's not limited to the date range you indicate, but the information it has from that range is a good read.

The Wars of America, by Robert Leckie

[Murgos]

Oh, and if you want up to the Civil War I can not recommend Killer Angels enough.

[Hutch]

You may not think it's real history, but look at the URL.

It's not a trick. There's a URL there. You just can't see it without hitting the quote button.
http://www.lib.chattanooga.gov/bib/bibImages/marvel_1602.jpg

[schild]

Hutch, I'm really really hoping people on f13 know how to see a URL on an image

[Hutch]

schild, I apologize.

I'm not paying you for your services. I have no leg to stand on when I criticize you for saying "look at the URL", and then not including an active link to that URL in your post on this internet forum.

My mistake. Return to your tasks, everyone.

[naum]

People's History of the U.S. - Howard Zinn
Peoples History of the American Revolution - Ray Raphael
Founding Myths - Ray Raphael
Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History… - James W. Loewen
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation - Joseph J. Ellis
Common Sense - Thomas Paine
The Unknown American Revolution : The Unruly Birth of Democracy - Gary B. Nash
The Creation of the American Republic, 1776-1787 - Gordon S. Wood
The Origins of American Politics - Bernard Bailyn
American Scripture: Making the Declaration of Independence - Pauline Maier (have not read this one myself yet...)

That should get you started…

[FatuousTwat]

People's History of the U.S. - Howard Zinn

Should be required reading.

I'm pretty sure there is a newish edition out.

[WayAbvPar]

This is a pretty quick read, and gives you a better idea of chronology and such. Definitely some personal bias showing through, but it works for a jumping off point.

[Khaldun]

Alan  Taylor, American Colonies. Very good overview. I like it better than Zinn's People's History, which gets terribly repetitive after a while because of its intense political stylization.
Alan Taylor, William Cooper's Town. (I especially like this book: it's a very smart combination of a biography, the history of a small town, and an overall look at colonial American society.)

Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
Thomas Paine, Common Sense

Linebaugh and Rediker, The Many-Headed Hydra. (Not entirely about colonial America--it's about ships and shipping in the colonial-era in the Atlantic. Very good though.)

I'm working right now on Peter Silver, Our Savage Neighbors, which is on Indian wars in the mid-Atlantic colonies. It's really really smart and a good read--one of the themes Silver works with is the extent to which different European communities and religious communities among the colonists hated each other until hatred and fear of Native Americans gave them some reason to band together.

John Demos, The Unredeemed Captive, is also on early Native American-colonial hostilities, focusing on the story of one woman taken captive. Very interesting stuff.

[Abagadro]

Oh, and if you want up to the Civil War I can not recommend Killer Angels enough.

Because I was just out there one of the guys who was on my trip bought us all copies of this and said we basically had to read it or we were losers. I read it in a couple of days. Amazing book and I generally don't like historical novels all that much. 

I definitely agree it is a must read.

[Murgos]

There is a Turner made for TV movie that actually does it fair justice, except they called it Gettysburg (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107007/).

[stray]

[FatuousTwat]

1776 is good.

The musical?