15,697
edits
Changes
no edit summary
__NOTOC__
In 2014, the New York Times published [http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/05/books/review/james-m-mcpherson-by-the-book.html?_r=0 a brief interview] with noted Civil War historian James McPherson, The George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University. McPherson is considered to be the dean of Civil War historians. He is best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning book [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019516895X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019516895X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=bb691159be05abe1852f41d2bed7c494 Battle Cry of Freedom] which is the best overview of the Civil War. In the interview, McPherson stated who he believes are America's top historians, the best book on the Civil War, military history, African American history, the book most responsible for shaping his career, and even the most overrated history book ever. It's a biggie.
All of the historians and books cited by McPherson are outstanding, but they are representative of his generation. Not surprisingly, this was pointed out by several younger scholars. Most of his preferences were predominantly from historians of either his generation of scholars. In many ways books are like music, people like the music of their formative years better than anything that came before it or after. His choices are certainly understandable, but open to debate.
In the interview, McPherson often referred to an author, but failed to specify which books he preferred. In a number of cases, we extrapolated some of the best books written by his favorite historians. There are certainly other books from these authors that are also outstanding.
Here were his answers:
===Last Great Book He Read:===
James Oakes, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0393347753/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0393347753&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1f6775aaac416dc77a1ed57300fd119f Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865]
===Best Books on the Civil War===[[File:Inhuman_Bondage.jpeg|thumbnail|275px|[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195339444/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195339444&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=065dffdb06bd5774d918d2a61f00cddd ''Inhuman Bondage'']]]
Allan Nevins, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000VZZO3M/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B000VZZO3M&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6ef4167b8ee4cc21d3c75d2b33882c75 Eight Volume Set on the Civil War]
===Best Historians Writing Today:===
Bernard Bailyn, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674443020/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674443020&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=67f56d2729096f3e91b2e721446833e8 The Ideological Origins in the American Revolution]
David Hackett Fischer, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019518159X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019518159X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=95672295ab64ef0b4f91c6bce8d597d2 Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History)]
===Favorite Biography of Civil War figure:===
Jean Edward Smith, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0684849275/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0684849275&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6902338f4051eb0bf989387598ecc37b Grant]
===Best Military Histories:===
John Keegan, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0375700455/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0375700455&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=abeec345f209ab3821f9b6d1f761855a The First World War]
Stephen W. Sears, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/039587744X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=039587744X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6893374e795d46edb3fa605f0812961a Chancellorsville]
[[File:The_Confederate_War.jpg|thumbnail|275px|''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674160568/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674160568&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=ec1f1a1a27fa5cf7f30395e3ffde923a The Confederate War]'']]
Gordon C. Rhea, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807118737/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807118737&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=4dd5c6be8ae7e6b39e277d75437750e5 The Battle of the Wilderness, May 5--6, 1864]
Gary W. Gallagher, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/02532226640674160568/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=02532226640674160568&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=bfc9171b392c44695a045e5661ad8293 ec1f1a1a27fa5cf7f30395e3ffde923a The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil Confederate War History]
Joseph T. Glatthaar, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807125601/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807125601&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=86bee3742d517160a30b6cab925954b0 Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers]
Rick Atkinson, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1250037816/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=1250037816&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=075630bb00a0ac3b803191138958e17d The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945 (The Liberation Trilogy)]
===Best African American History Books:===
John Hope Franklin, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0195084519/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0195084519&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5ba126243a4002a0b5a13d6cea8c6954 Runaway Slaves: Rebels on the Plantation]
Ira Berlin, Generations of Captivity [https: History of African//www.amazon.com/gp/product/0674002113/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0674002113&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-american Slaves (03 Edition), 20&linkId=a994972d596b92c51765024ae7766f91 Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America Most Important for His Career:]
===Most Important Book for His Career===
[[File: Alexander_Hamilton.jpeg|thumbnail|200px|''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034758/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143034758&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1966c356d5dc8895f516f9212fd47f9d Alexander Hamilton]'']]
C. Vann Woodward, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0807100390/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0807100390&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=6e17c1eb0e4acb6ce5c6567e02b26d1d Origins of the New South, 1877-1913]
===Book Every President Should Read:===
Doris Kearns Goodwin, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/141654786X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=141654786X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=85296cabd0c31f8aeb41ad092f981218 The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism]
===Most Overrated History Book:===
Edward Gibbon, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0140437649/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0140437649&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=69a097cd2f08e2594eed01d52f9ba3b4 The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics)]
===Books on His Nightstand:===
Ron Chernow, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143119966/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143119966&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=af07747ddf58eba0c6507908db1ac37d Washington: A Life]
Daniel James Brown, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143125478/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143125478&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=5bbec7d420a77d7bd80742648e998272 The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics]
===His Next Book:===
Ron Chernow, [https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0143034758/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0143034758&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1966c356d5dc8895f516f9212fd47f9d Alexander Hamilton]
[[Category:Booklists]] [[Category:United States History]] [[Category:Civil War]][[Category:History Booklists]] [[Category:African American History]] [[Category:Expert Booklists]]{{Contributors}}<div class="portal" style="width:85%;">==Related DailyHistory.org Articles==*[[Thomas Jefferson, the Founding Fathers and Christianity: Interview with Sam Haselby]]*[[Social History of American Medicine Top Ten Booklist]]*[[Gilded Age/Progressive Era History Top Ten Booklist]]*[[Hodges' Scout: Interview with Len Travers]]*[[Engineering Victory during the Civil War: Interview with Thomas F. Army, Jr.]]</div>
{{Mediawiki:US History}}
