Bibliography for HIST 104 DCE: Books, Films, Websites

 

This bibliography is not intended to be a comprehensive list of courses on early American history. It is, rather, a resource list specific to the course. Suggestions of additional resources for use and listing are welcome! The lists are in evolution, as we’re still adding and annotating titles. 

 

Books: Suggestions for Reviews

Author

Title

Publication

Comments

Thelen

The Presence of the Past

 

 

McNeill

Mythistory

 

 

Krieger

Ranke: The Meaning of History

 

 

Becker

Everyman His Own Historian

 

 

Crevecoeur

Letters from an American Farmer

 

 

Loewen, James W.

Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong

New Press, 1995

New York: Touchstone, 1996

Loewen argues that American history as traditionally taught is full of misconceptions, largely due to the textbook industry, but also because as a nation we suppress things we don’t want to hear about.

Cross, C.F.

Justin Smith Morrill: Father of the Land-Grant Colleges

East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 1999

 

Webb, Walter P.

The Great Plains

 

 

Adams, Andy

Log of a Cowboy

 

 

Dick, Everett

The Sod-House Frontier

 

 

Custer, George A.

My Life on the Plains

 

 

West, Elliott

The Contested Plains

 

 

Cather, Willa

My Antonia

 

 

Smith, Adam

The Wealth of Nations

 

 

Chernow

Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller

 

 

Krause

The Battle for Homestead

 

 

Raaen, Aagot

Grass of the Earth

 

 

Rolvaag, Ola

Giants in the Earth

 

 

Rikoon, Sandy, Ed.

Rachel Calof’s Story

 

 

Handlin, Oscar

The Uprooted

 

 

Baum, Lyman Frank

The Wonderful Wizard of OZ

 

 

Kazin

A Godly Hero

 

 

Brown, Charles H.

The Correspondents’ War: Journalists in the Spanish-American War

New York: Scribner, 1967

The yellow press played a key role influencing American public opinion about the war with Spain.

Roosevelt, Theodore

The Rough Riders

New York: Review of Reviews, 1904

TR’s own account of the exploits of his celebrated regiment.

Mahan, A.T.

The Influence of Sea Power Upon History, 1660-1783

Boston: Little, Brown—many editions

A work influential in convincing Americans they needed to play a role in world affairs, and they needed a great navy to do so.

Kennedy, David

Over Here: The First World War and American Society

1980

 

Barry, John M.

The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History

2004

 

Farrell, Robert H.

Woodrow Wilson and World War I, 1917-1921

1985

 

Remarque, Erich M.

All Quiet on the Western Front

 

 

Morris, Edmund

Theodore Rex

 

 

Sheldon, Charles

In His Steps

 

 

Roosevelt, Theodore

Ranch Life and the Hunting Trail

 

 

Sinclair, Upton

The Jungle

 

 

Arvold, Afred W.

The Little Country Theater

 

 

Allen, Frederick Lewis

Only Yesterday

 

 

Fitzgerald, F. Scott

The Great Gatsby

 

 

MacLean, Nancy

Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan

 

 

Leuchtenburg, William

The Perils of Prosperity

 

 

Terkel, Studs

Hard Times

 

 

Kennedy, David M.

Freedom from Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929-1945

 

 

Brinkley, Alan

Voices of Protest: Huey Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression

 

 

Guthrie, Woody

Bound for Glory

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Films: Suggestions for Reviews

Title

Production

Comments

Norma Rae

 

 

North Country

 

 

Red River

 

 

Shane

 

 

Powwow Highway

 

 

A Corner in Wheat

 

 

My Big Fat Greek Wedding

 

 

West Side Story

 

 

All Quiet on the Western Front

 

 

The Wind and the Lion

 

 

Flyboys

 

 

Sergeant York

 

 

Inherit the Wind

 

 

Elmer Gantry

 

 

The Great Gatsby

 

 

The Plow that Broke the Plains

 

 

The Grapes of Wrath

 

 

A Night at the Opera

 

 

Seabiscuit

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Websites: Assignments & Enrichment

URL

Title

Comments

http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/

American Memory, Library of Congress

 

http://www.archives.gov/

The National Archives

The National Archives is doing a wonderful job of putting essential and interesting documents online for the public. Future teachers take note—its pages include excellent teaching materials focusing on archival documents.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/

The White House

 

http:www.mnhs.org/places/sites/jjhh/

James J. Hill House

 

http://coursesa/matrix/msu.edu/~hst203/documents/bryan.html

“The Cross of Gold,” by William Jennings Bryan