NF Who Are The Best Historians Writing Today? Give Us Your "McPherson List"

Non-Fiction
define "best": originality? depth of research? coherence? writing style? public engagement? price of books on remainder?
 
Biographies: Ron Chernow

Social History: David McCullough.

Economic History: Burton W. Folsom Jr.

Amity Shlaes biography on Calvin Coolidge was fantastic. Walter Russell Mead did some good work on Jacksonian policies, Geopolitics and how the Anglo-American societies shaped the world. David Cannadine's biography on Andrew Mellon was excellent and some of his books on the British Aristocracy are good.
 
Biographies: Ron Chernow

Social History: David McCullough.

Economic History: Burton W. Folsom Jr.

Amity Shlaes biography on Calvin Coolidge was fantastic. Walter Russell Mead did some good work on Jacksonian policies, Geopolitics and how the Anglo-American societies shaped the world. David Cannadine's biography on Andrew Mellon was excellent and some of his books on the British Aristocracy are good.
Thanks for adding to the list.
 
Basing my choices on readability, depth of research, and sophisticated analysis, I would list (in alphabetical order) Timothy Egan, Eric Foner, S.C. Gwynn, David McCullogh, and James McPherson. Sadly, many of my favorite writers are no longer with us. I frown on writing by committee, which seems to me to be the reason Doris Kearns Goodwin, Stephen Ambrose, and others have gotten themselves in trouble.
 
Maritime historian Eric Jay Dolin should be in consideration. I may be biased because of his excellent lighthouses book, but I did pretty good ones on pirates and whaling as well. They're large books but written for a general audience.
 
Maritime historian Eric Jay Dolin should be in consideration. I may be biased because of his excellent lighthouses book, but I did pretty good ones on pirates and whaling as well. They're large books but written for a general audience.
Thanks. I had not heard of him.
 
Maritime historian Eric Jay Dolin should be in consideration. I may be biased because of his excellent lighthouses book, but I did pretty good ones on pirates and whaling as well. They're large books but written for a general audience.
I agree. Leviathan: The History of Whaling In America was very well written as was When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail . I will eventually pick up Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most Notorious Pirates.
 
define "best": originality? depth of research? coherence? writing style? public engagement? price of books on remainder?
Everybody has their own subjective view of what the best is.

Based on how you define "best" what historians would you cite? Your perspective as someone who has actually written a history book would be insightful.

- Alan
 
I don't know who the best historians today are. But I would suggest Daniel Walker Howe's 2007 book What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848 as a standard for writing good history. It's accessible to a wide audience without dumbed-down writing. I liked that it combined intellectual, religious, social, and political history in one package.

I can honestly say this book changed my life. I was not a fan of history until I read this book.

- Alan
 
I don't know who the best historians today are. But I would suggest Daniel Walker Howe's 2007 book What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815–1848 as a standard for writing good history. It's accessible to a wide audience without dumbed-down writing. I liked that it combined intellectual, religious, social, and political history in one package.

I can honestly say this book changed my life. I was not a fan of history until I read this book.

I would also consider this book essential reading for Civil War buffs. It's not directly about the war or its causes, but events during the period covered set the stage for what was to come.
 
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