I'm ignorant. Please advise.

[iconoclastic cat]

There are a lot of very knowledgeable DUers here today! Since I am already procrastinating my interminable job hunt, I would like some book and film suggestions on the following topics:

1. U.S. history -- If anyone knows a book that gives a comprehensive, unbiased account of the history of the U.S., please let me know. Textbooks count, too.

2. The history of our political parties.

3. Any books/texts on any topics/periods in world history.

4. Any non-partisan historical account of religion/religious thought. I plan on reading Frederic J. Baumgartner's "Longing for the End" soon.

5. Anything having to do with education (world, U.S.).

Keep in mind, please, that I am already sold on lib/prog ideals, so I am really more interested in materials that are as objective as possible.

Thanks!

[RandomKoolzip]

1. "Objectivity" is an illusion.

There's no such thing.

And history is written by the victors, so "unbiased" history is a contradiction.

[iconoclastic cat]

3. Okay, yes, I get that, trapped in our own perspective/reality, etc.

Got it. While you're at it, RKz, how about some books on philosophy/history of thought?

[RandomKoolzip]

7. Gaeton Fonzi's "The Last Investigation."

Samuel Johnson's "Rambler"s.
Zinn, Palast.....

Joe Carducci's "Rock and the Pop Narcotic."
Jonathan Swift's essays.
Every school textbook I've ever read.

All of these are biased in some way.

[pagerbear]

2. Try the Howard Zinn books on US history

[Bombtrack]

5. They said "unbiased". Please be honest Zinn writes with a VERY left-wing

slant.

[iconoclastic cat]

8. I don't think that I have ever been referred to in the plural before!

We are legion, for we are many. :headtwist:

[indigobusiness]

16. "They" is not necessarily plural

it can be a gender neutral reference to an individual.

[pagerbear]

21. Is so! Is so!

I hate the use of "they" for third person singular! How hard is it to write "him/her", or better yet, to ascertain the sex of the individual to whom you refer? (For the record, the original poster is a "him"--information easily obtained by looking at his profile.)

[indigobusiness]

22. Rule of language when gender is unknown

not stating an opinion, or a personal presference... just making a point about a rule of language.

on edit- just like "man" is a reference to "mankind" and not necessarily a gender reference. This argument to the ridiculous controversy that led to "chairperson" for instance...instead of chairman. Feminists were hypocritically sexist in this nutty pc argument.

[denverbill]

20. I disagree.

Zinn's 'People's History of the United States' isn't written with a 'left wing' bias. It's written with an 'ordinary man' bias.

Most any history of the US is a chronology of the upper crust. They detail the lives and doings of Presidents, Senators, and millionaires. Is that a 'bias'? Zinn tells stories most people have never heard in their textbooks. Stories about the struggles of workers to gain rights, of ordinary citizens against their govt.

Just because all Civil War books focus on Lincoln and Davis doesn't mean that millions of ordinary nameless Americans don't have stories that should be a part of our history. You can read books about Lincoln which deify him, and books about him which call him a dictatorial tyrant. Those books have biases. Howard Zinn's probably does too. But it sure as heck will give you an education.

[northzax]

4. Read the Boostin trilogy

The Discoverors, the Creators and the Seekers. great stuff.

[Beaker]

6. two terriffic reads-

look for these two:

[Bertha Venation]

9. although it doesn't exactly fall into one of your categories, I recommend

Truman, the Pulitzer-prize winning biography by David McCullough. It's an excellent read, exceptionally well-written, and covers a great deal of U.S. history of the mid-20th century.

[iconoclastic cat]

12. Thanks! That works.

My list is flexible.

[Bertha Venation]

15. Enjoy it.

Also a fun and VERY LIGHT read is Don't Know Much About History. That might be for when you need a break from the heavier stuff.

[Beware the Beast Man]

10. The magic of history

Is that it is mostly biased. Gosh, there are hundreds of books that theorize the decline of the Roman Empire, for example. Drawing your own conclusions from what you read is the best way to go, but I see your point. You don't want to read an American Histroy text that has a contemporary bias (i.e. blame liberals for everything, or blame conservatives for everything). Just watch out for anything that's too anachronistic (applying a modern bias on something that's in the past).

[iconoclastic cat]

14. Granted!

Hey there, Beast Man! Good to hear from you. I understand and agree with your assessment, but I still would like some suggestions. Do you have and favorites?

[Beware the Beast Man]

17. Ughhh...you got me!

Sorry, American History wasn't my strong point...I have a lot of books on the Byzantine empire, though! :)

[undergroundpanther]

11. For me

I find everything I read pretty much,has a bias.
The actualities of history are hard to come by,there is strong motivations to whitewash history and the present if it looks ugly.

To me history is rewritten by the"winners".
Bullies dominator's,anyone seeking to control others will limit their access to information that undermines their position"authority" and control.
The psychology of"leaders"and this includes"states" is one based in insecurity,colonialism,taking, charisma emotional reactions,beliefs(that are not necessarily so) and creating and managing perceptions,engineering consent and keeping oneself in power.

So history that is not told by winners or the victims of winners is what you want,but in a world where emotions often override the rational where bigotries outweigh the obvious, historical truth is a rare thing.

What I do is read many viewpoints as I can and shoot my observations somewhere down the middle,I think all sides of an argument have a bit of truth in them but they also have alot of lies and bullshit too because they want their point of view to predominate.

One thing to look for in a writer is their motives,why are they writing this?
Next is the agenda in the writing,beliefs in you they trying to change ? Why?
Last thing I ask is what kind of ethical character(good points and flaws) does the writer have? How close to my own ethics is the writer and can my own bias be filtering what I see in what they write? Ask questions like What if he owned slaves,does that make his arguments contrived?did he hate women and did his culture say this is "normal"? How does he rationalize his own hypocrisy or immorality to himself(if and when he even sees it)?

[iconoclastic cat]

13. Thanks, I agree--however,

I am still interested in some specific titles. Any suggestions?

[Beware the Beast Man]

18. Well

You may want to start with any textbook concerning US History, just to get a general outline. This is something I've been meaning to do, since I have recently taken an interest in the Gilded Age (I believe the US is in the 2nd Gilded Age, but I digress). If you live near a college or university, you might want to pick up a used textbook. From there you should be able to find a bibliography inside with some primary sources (texts written during the given era) and secondary sources.

[Commendatori]

19. Just buy any 2004 U.S. almanac. They should be discounted by now. (N/T)