Best 20th Century American (U.S.) History - 3.7 Stars and Up

1.
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties
A Freewheelin' Time: A Memoir of Greenwich Village in the Sixties 3.85 avg rating — 4,069 ratings
2.
Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties
Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties 4.04 avg rating — 32,224 ratings
3.
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI 4.14 avg rating — 425,977 ratings
4.
The Last Headbangers: NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless '70s: the Era that Created Modern Sports
The Last Headbangers: NFL Football in the Rowdy, Reckless '70s: the Era that Created Modern Sports 3.96 avg rating — 488 ratings
5.
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression
Little Heathens: Hard Times and High Spirits on an Iowa Farm During the Great Depression 3.73 avg rating — 6,485 ratings
6.
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil 3.92 avg rating — 289,209 ratings
7.
The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple 4.16 avg rating — 18,737 ratings
8.
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America’s Shining Women 4.16 avg rating — 176,377 ratings
9.
Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South
Coming of Age in Mississippi: The Classic Autobiography of a Young Black Girl in the Rural South 4.13 avg rating — 11,515 ratings
10.
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression
The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression 3.91 avg rating — 6,199 ratings
11.
Scorpions' Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate
Scorpions' Dance: The President, the Spymaster, and Watergate 4.01 avg rating — 255 ratings
12.
Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul
Witness to the Revolution: Radicals, Resisters, Vets, Hippies, and the Year America Lost Its Mind and Found Its Soul 4.33 avg rating — 412 ratings
12.
The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1)
The Path to Power (The Years of Lyndon Johnson, #1) 4.42 avg rating — 25,860 ratings
14.
Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina
Positively 4th Street: The Lives and Times of Joan Baez, Bob Dylan, Mimi Baez Farina and Richard Farina 3.91 avg rating — 3,609 ratings
15.
No One Here Gets Out Alive
No One Here Gets Out Alive 3.94 avg rating — 45,764 ratings
16.
Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America's Biggest Mass Arrest
Mayday 1971: A White House at War, a Revolt in the Streets, and the Untold History of America's Biggest Mass Arrest 4.27 avg rating — 199 ratings
17.
The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison "Promiscuous" Women
The Trials of Nina McCall: Sex, Surveillance, and the Decades-Long Government Plan to Imprison "Promiscuous" Women 3.79 avg rating — 377 ratings
18.
Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson
Manson: The Life and Times of Charles Manson 3.94 avg rating — 10,995 ratings
19.
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle
On Desperate Ground: The Marines at The Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle 4.59 avg rating — 7,259 ratings
19.
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
The Stranger Beside Me: Ted Bundy: The Shocking Inside Story
by: Ann Rule
4.14 avg rating — 109,003 ratings
21.
The Mirage Factory: Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles
The Mirage Factory: Illusion, Imagination, and the Invention of Los Angeles 4.14 avg rating — 2,026 ratings
22.
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge
The Savage City: Race, Murder, and a Generation on the Edge 3.95 avg rating — 1,506 ratings
23.
Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends
Hotel California: The True-Life Adventures of Crosby, Stills, Nash, Young, Mitchell, Taylor, Browne, Ronstadt, Geffen, the Eagles, and Their Many Friends 3.84 avg rating — 2,144 ratings
24.
Miami and the Siege of Chicago
Miami and the Siege of Chicago 3.76 avg rating — 1,092 ratings
25.
With Her Fist Raised: Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Black Community Activism
With Her Fist Raised: Dorothy Pitman Hughes and the Transformative Power of Black Community Activism 3.87 avg rating — 165 ratings
26.
Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of the 1960s
Vagrant Nation: Police Power, Constitutional Change, and the Making of the 1960s 4.27 avg rating — 37 ratings
27.
The Seminarian: Martin Luther King Jr. Comes of Age
The Seminarian: Martin Luther King Jr. Comes of Age 4.02 avg rating — 146 ratings
28.
D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches
D-Day, June 6, 1944: The Battle for the Normandy Beaches 4.31 avg rating — 30,948 ratings
29.
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight
Muhammad Ali's Greatest Fight 4.02 avg rating — 62 ratings
30.
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York
The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York 4.01 avg rating — 36,514 ratings
31.
Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany
Citizen Soldiers: The US Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany 4.24 avg rating — 24,326 ratings
32.
Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation
Stand by Me: The Forgotten History of Gay Liberation
by: Jim Downs
3.81 avg rating — 155 ratings
32.
The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk
The Mayor of Castro Street: The Life and Times of Harvey Milk 4.14 avg rating — 4,469 ratings
34.
Redemption: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Last 31 Hours
Redemption: Martin Luther King Jr.'s Last 31 Hours 4.26 avg rating — 172 ratings
34.
Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen
Underground: My Life with SDS and the Weathermen
by: Mark Rudd
3.73 avg rating — 383 ratings
34.
In Broad Daylight
In Broad Daylight really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 3,470 ratings
37.
Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation
Tinderbox: The Untold Story of the Up Stairs Lounge Fire and the Rise of Gay Liberation 4.23 avg rating — 833 ratings
38.
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America 4.40 avg rating — 15,748 ratings
39.
Seabiscuit: An American Legend
Seabiscuit: An American Legend 4.23 avg rating — 167,140 ratings
39.
Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son
Lanterns on the Levee: Recollections of a Planter's Son 3.99 avg rating — 523 ratings
41.
Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America
Deep Undercover: My Secret Life and Tangled Allegiances as a KGB Spy in America 4.07 avg rating — 2,660 ratings
41.
Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film
Giant: Elizabeth Taylor, Rock Hudson, James Dean, Edna Ferber, and the Making of a Legendary American Film 3.91 avg rating — 312 ratings
43.
Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC
Hands on the Freedom Plow: Personal Accounts by Women in SNCC 4.45 avg rating — 182 ratings
44.
Wait Till Next Year
Wait Till Next Year 4.05 avg rating — 11,205 ratings
45.
Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1)
Angela’s Ashes (Frank McCourt, #1) 4.15 avg rating — 650,953 ratings
46.
We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights
We the Corporations: How American Businesses Won Their Civil Rights 4.17 avg rating — 1,388 ratings
47.
All the President’s Men
All the President’s Men 4.18 avg rating — 56,974 ratings
48.
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest
Band of Brothers: E Company, 506th Regiment, 101st Airborne from Normandy to Hitler's Eagle's Nest 4.44 avg rating — 136,013 ratings
48.
FLIGHT
FLIGHT 4.19 avg rating — 542 ratings
50.
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism 4.15 avg rating — 23,622 ratings
51.
Reckless: Henry Kissinger and The Tragedy of Vietnam
Reckless: Henry Kissinger and The Tragedy of Vietnam 3.93 avg rating — 69 ratings
52.
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy
Blood in the Water: The Attica Prison Uprising of 1971 and Its Legacy 4.45 avg rating — 4,804 ratings
53.
Eisenhower vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties
Eisenhower vs. Warren: The Battle for Civil Rights and Liberties 4.14 avg rating — 182 ratings
54.
Archie Bunker's America: TV in an Era of Change 1968-1978
Archie Bunker's America: TV in an Era of Change 1968-1978 3.83 avg rating — 12 ratings
54.
Stonewall
Stonewall 3.92 avg rating — 2,073 ratings
54.
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century
American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the "It" Girl and the Crime of the Century 3.74 avg rating — 3,061 ratings
57.
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World
The Wizard and the Prophet: Two Remarkable Scientists and Their Dueling Visions to Shape Tomorrow's World 4.23 avg rating — 4,390 ratings
58.
Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum
Ship Ablaze: The Tragedy of the Steamboat General Slocum 4.23 avg rating — 822 ratings
59.
Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics
Playing with Fire: The 1968 Election and the Transformation of American Politics 4.41 avg rating — 2,636 ratings
60.
Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet
Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet 3.93 avg rating — 2,439 ratings
60.
James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era
James Baldwin and the 1980s: Witnessing the Reagan Era 4.39 avg rating — 36 ratings
62.
An Unlikely Trust: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Improbable Partnership That Remade American Business
An Unlikely Trust: Theodore Roosevelt, J.P. Morgan, and the Improbable Partnership That Remade American Business 3.61 avg rating — 77 ratings
63.
In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies
In the Enemy's House: The Secret Saga of the FBI Agent and the Code Breaker Who Caught the Russian Spies 4.14 avg rating — 2,037 ratings
63.
A Brotherhood of Spies: The U-2 and the CIA's Secret War
A Brotherhood of Spies: The U-2 and the CIA's Secret War 4.26 avg rating — 392 ratings
65.
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America 4.44 avg rating — 44,181 ratings
65.
The Death of an Heir: Adolph Coors III and the Murder That Rocked an American Brewing Dynasty
The Death of an Heir: Adolph Coors III and the Murder That Rocked an American Brewing Dynasty 3.73 avg rating — 451 ratings
65.
America's Secret Jihad: The Hidden History of Religious Terrorism in the United States
America's Secret Jihad: The Hidden History of Religious Terrorism in the United States 3.69 avg rating — 52 ratings
65.
The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House
The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House 3.81 avg rating — 22,574 ratings
65.
The Turbulent Years: A History of the American Worker, 1933-1940
The Turbulent Years: A History of the American Worker, 1933-1940 4.15 avg rating — 27 ratings
65.
A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost
A Hard Rain: America in the 1960s, Our Decade of Hope, Possibility, and Innocence Lost 4.43 avg rating — 115 ratings
65.
Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America
Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America 4.25 avg rating — 13,866 ratings
65.
The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe
The Bitter Road to Freedom: A New History of the Liberation of Europe 3.90 avg rating — 446 ratings
65.
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History
Isaac's Storm: A Man, a Time, and the Deadliest Hurricane in History 4.05 avg rating — 70,018 ratings
65.
What Next, Chicago?: Notes of a Pissed-Off Native Son
What Next, Chicago?: Notes of a Pissed-Off Native Son 4.50 avg rating — 32 ratings
65.
Unlikely Heroes: Franklin Roosevelt, His Four Lieutenants, and the World They Made
Unlikely Heroes: Franklin Roosevelt, His Four Lieutenants, and the World They Made 4.15 avg rating — 163 ratings
76.
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America
Nixonland: The Rise of a President and the Fracturing of America 4.25 avg rating — 10,667 ratings
76.
The Feminine Mystique
The Feminine Mystique 3.87 avg rating — 30,216 ratings
76.
The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free
The Barbizon: The Hotel That Set Women Free 3.67 avg rating — 6,572 ratings
76.
The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America
The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America 4.24 avg rating — 781 ratings
76.
The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam
The Road Not Taken: Edward Lansdale and the American Tragedy in Vietnam
by: Max Boot
4.22 avg rating — 1,099 ratings
76.
A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars
A War for the Soul of America: A History of the Culture Wars 4.07 avg rating — 294 ratings
76.
The Vietnam War
The Vietnam War 4.54 avg rating — 2,155 ratings
76.
Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion
Respect Yourself: Stax Records and the Soul Explosion 4.31 avg rating — 774 ratings
76.
Eugene McCarthy: The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism
Eugene McCarthy: The Rise and Fall of Postwar American Liberalism 3.78 avg rating — 91 ratings
76.
Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past
Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past 4.28 avg rating — 1,105 ratings
76.
Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street
Liar's Poker: Rising Through the Wreckage on Wall Street 4.15 avg rating — 109,197 ratings
87.
Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties
Set the Night on Fire: L.A. in the Sixties 4.37 avg rating — 491 ratings
87.
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration 4.48 avg rating — 113,285 ratings
87.
Working Toward Whiteness: How America's Immigrants Became White: the Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs
Working Toward Whiteness: How America's Immigrants Became White: the Strange Journey from Ellis Island to the Suburbs 3.83 avg rating — 362 ratings
87.
The Irish Brotherhood: John F. Kennedy, His Inner Circle, and the Improbable Rise to the Presidency
The Irish Brotherhood: John F. Kennedy, His Inner Circle, and the Improbable Rise to the Presidency 4.11 avg rating — 54 ratings
87.
Pregnancy and Power: A Short History of Reproductive Politics in America
Pregnancy and Power: A Short History of Reproductive Politics in America 4.23 avg rating — 175 ratings
87.
Blood in My Eye
Blood in My Eye 4.55 avg rating — 2,461 ratings
87.
Prisoners of History: What Monuments to World War II Tell Us About Our History and Ourselves
Prisoners of History: What Monuments to World War II Tell Us About Our History and Ourselves 4.25 avg rating — 303 ratings
87.
We Sagebrush Folks
We Sagebrush Folks 3.77 avg rating — 83 ratings
95.
Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980
Reaganland: America's Right Turn 1976-1980 4.33 avg rating — 2,235 ratings
95.
The Distance Between Us
The Distance Between Us 4.36 avg rating — 16,336 ratings
95.
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency
The Gatekeepers: How the White House Chiefs of Staff Define Every Presidency 4.29 avg rating — 7,953 ratings
95.
Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America
Looking for Jimmy: A Search for Irish America 3.94 avg rating — 81 ratings
95.
Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History
Hellhound on His Trail: The Electrifying Account of the Largest Manhunt in American History 4.33 avg rating — 13,982 ratings
95.
Huerfano: A Memoir of Life in the Counterculture
Huerfano: A Memoir of Life in the Counterculture 3.95 avg rating — 164 ratings
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