okay, father-in-law loves to read, but he always complains that the history books we give him are "too liberal"… i don't know how to find what he's looking for. does anyone know any historians or nonfiction writers, of any era of american history, that will please a conservative?
by Comfortable_Name_463
10 Comments
Get him *The Myth Of American Idealism,* by Noam Chomsky.
A People’s History of the United States by Howard Zinn
Unfortunately, sometimes truth and historical fact has a liberal bias
Give him any of the histories of conservativism
Try Stephen Ambrose.
*Undaunted Courage* is about Lewis and Clark
*Wild Blue* is about WWII bomber pilots.
People are pulling your leg here. There are plenty of conservative-leaning historians. And most if not all historians of the past would probably be acceptable on this criterion. How about the Library of America’s two-volume set of Francis Parkman’s France and England in North America? Incredible stuff. Or for a more recent work, I am currently reading David Hackett Fischer’s majestic Paul Revere’s Ride, and it is solidly traditional In its perspective.
Maybe more local or regional history would be better
Give him McPherson’s civil war history or Foner’s stuff on Reconstruction. Both are so in-depth that I think it’d be hard for him to pin them as ideological. But both are brilliant historians.
Honesty, as a completely different topic that may be really appreciated, try American Gun: The True Story of the AR-15 by Cameron McWhirter and Zusha Elinson.
It’s just a non-biased history of the firearm and its impact on society. Both from the original military development at Armalite by Stoner all the way through its use in recent events and the successful and unsuccessful political campaigns around it.
Truly an interesting historical account that doesn’t lean political to try and push a point hard or anything. Am pro-gun ownership myself (to provide context) and this book makes you think without feeling preachy or lost in fantasy.
Doing my best to not give the obvious snark haha. I recommend maybe Ian Toll’s Pacific War trilogy? I don’t think Toll is a conservative, not sure I could recommend any actually conservative historians lol, but the books dont come across as liberal either, mostly by virtue of being military history. It is a really well written and compelling story of America in WWII’s pacific theater.