GABRIEL’S LIST: Books About America To Grow Up With*
Jack Riccardi
July 4, 2020 (reposted March 4, 2021)
*A listener to our radio show, Omar, wrote me a note. As a dad, he wants his son, Gabriel, to have a well-rounded appreciation of American history, now more than ever. Knowing that I love to read, he asked me to recommend some books. I asked him about Gabriel’s age. He’s 7. But, said Omar, these are to be books his son can turn to throughout his life. So, for his Gabriel, and my Gabrielle, who’s 15, and all of us, here’s it is.
This list is by no means the last word on a major subject. These are the books I’ve loved and learned from, so far in my life. Any one of them will give you a deeper appreciation of America, and just having them around the house might mean someone picks them up and gets inspired. Most are works of American history. A few are not, but help explain our place in the world.
After making a BIG list, I broke it down into categories: “Founding and Forming”, “Presidents”, “War”, “Terrorism”, and “General Topics”.
In addition, there are three authors whose work I especially recommend: Stephen Ambrose, Rick Atkinson and Taylor Branch. They have separate sections.
These are, except for one book, all works of non-fiction. I think my next project might be to look back at the American novels that, in their own way, tell our story.
FOUNDING AND FORMING
PRESIDENTS
WAR
TERRORISM
GENERAL TOPICS
STEHPEN AMBROSE
World War II
Lewis and Clarke
TAYLOR BRANCH
Civil Rights Trilogy
RICK ATKINSON
“Liberation Trilogy (WW2)