Two History Books The Armchair Historian Must Have (And Read)

The first one I bought about twelve years ago at the Kramer Books and Afterwards Cafe in Washington, DC (the store had its 15 minutes of fame about three years later).

Anyway, A History of Knowledge by Charles Van Doren is an exceptional overview of world history through the lens of all that humankind has created, imagined, invented, admired or otherwise loved.

The book becomes especially fascinating when Van Doren details massive intellectual leaps that were considered ludicrous at the time (a variety of religious, scientific and artistic ideas).

It is a history of civilization, but it is easy to read and absorb. Other benefits include improving your trivial pursuit performance and sounding smart (ish) at cocktail parties.

The second book is called Freedom: A History of US by Joy Hakim. It is a companion to a PBS series by the same name (which I never saw). I love this book. If you find yourself completely forgetting your US history, pick this one up and you’ll feel high school flooding back (without the Monday morning test).

If you are an American, it is a reasonably good read most times of the year, but it goes especially well with July 4th (if you are reading anything at all at that time). That stated, while it is driven by pride, it is a balanced perspective.