The Best Historians and Books According to James McPherson
In 2014, the New York Times published a brief interview with noted Civil War historian James McPherson, The George Henry Davis 1886 Professor of American History at Princeton University. He is best known for his Pulitzer Prize winning book Battle Cry of Freedom. In the interview McPherson identified 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 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, Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865
Best Books on the Civil War:
Allan Nevins: Eight Volume Set on the Civil War
Best Historians Writing Today:
Bernard Bailyn, The Ideological Origins in the American Revolution
David Brion Davis, Inhuman Bondage: The Rise and Fall of Slavery in the New World
Gordon Wood, The Radicalism of the American Revolution
David McCullough, The Wright Brothers
David Hackett Fischer, Washington's Crossing (Pivotal Moments in American History)
Favorite Biography of Civil War figure:
Jean Edward Smith, Grant
Best Military Histories:
John Keegan, The Face of Battle
Craig Symonds, Lincoln and His Admirals: Abraham Lincoln, the U.S. Navy, and the Civil War, Neptune: The Allied Invasion of Europe and the D-Day Landings, Decision at Sea: Five Naval Battles That Shaped American History, The Civil War at Sea (Reflections on the Civil War Era)
Stephen W. Sears, Gettysburg, Chancellorsville
Gordon C. Rhea, Cold Harbor: Grant and Lee, May 26-June 3, 1864, The Battle of the Wilderness May 5-6, 1864
Gary W. Gallagher, The Union War, The Confederate War
Joseph T. Glatthaar, Forged in Battle: The Civil War Alliance of Black Soldiers and White Officers, Partners in command : The relationships between leaders in the Civil War
Rick Atkinson, An Army at Dawn: The War in Africa, 1942-1943, The Day of Battle: The War in Sicily and Italy, 1943-1944, The Guns Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945
Best African American History Books:
John Hope Franklin, From Slavery to Freedom
Ira Berlin, Generations of Captivity : History of African-american Slaves (03 Edition), Many Thousands Gone: The First Two Centuries of Slavery in North America
Most Important for His Career:
C. Vann Woodward, Origins of the New South, 1877-1913
Book Every President Should Read:
Doris Kearns Goodwin, The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
Most Overrated History Book:
Edward Gibbon, The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire (Penguin Classics)
Books on His Nightstand:
Ron Chernow, Washington: A Life
Daniel James Brown, The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
His Next Book:
Ron Chernow, Alexander Hamilton
