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United States 20th Century History Books

A tight united states 20th century history shortlist - built for quick decisions, not endless scrolling.

Last refreshed 2026-02-28. We keep tuning this list as new titles land and reader interest shifts.

  1. Hidden Figures

    1. Hidden Figures

    Margot Lee Shetterly
    Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race
  2. The Book of Charlie

    2. The Book of Charlie

    David Von Drehle
    The Book of Charlie: Wisdom From the Remarkable American Life of a 109-year-old Man
  3. The Making of the Atomic Bomb

    3. The Making of the Atomic Bomb

    Richard Rhodes
    The Making of the Atomic Bomb: 25th Anniversary Edition
  4. The Color of Law

    4. The Color of Law

    Richard Rothstein
    The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
  5. The Bookshop

    5. The Bookshop

    Evan Friss
    The Bookshop: A History of the American Bookstore
  6. The Bully Pulpit

    6. The Bully Pulpit

    Doris Kearns Goodwin
    The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism
  7. King: a Life

    7. King: a Life

    Jonathan Eig
    A Biography pick for readers exploring King: a Life.
  8. The Road to Jonestown

    8. The Road to Jonestown

    Jeff Guinn
    The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and Peoples Temple
  9. Just Kids

    9. Just Kids

    Patti Smith
    Just Kids: An Autobiography
  10. Leadership

    10. Leadership

    Doris Kearns Goodwin
    Leadership: In Turbulent Times
  11. The Nineties

    11. The Nineties

    Chuck Klosterman
    The Nineties: A Book
  12. Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated

    12. Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated

    Robert D. Putnam
    Bowling Alone: Revised and Updated: The Collapse and Revival of American Community
  13. The Wright Brothers

    13. The Wright Brothers

    David McCullough
    A History pick for readers exploring The Wright Brothers.
  14. Zero Fail

    14. Zero Fail

    Carol Leonnig
    Zero Fail: The Rise and Fall of the Secret Service
  15. Devil in the Grove

    15. Devil in the Grove

    Gilbert King
    Devil in the Grove: Thurgood Marshall, the Groveland Boys, and the Dawn of a New America
  16. Killing the Mob

    16. Killing the Mob

    Bill O'Reilly, Martin Dugard
    Killing the Mob: The Fight Against Organized Crime in America
  17. The Gales of November

    17. The Gales of November

    John U. Bacon
    The Gales of November: The Untold Story of the Edmund Fitzgerald
  18. Five Presidents

    18. Five Presidents

    Clint Hill, Lisa McCubbin Hill
    Five Presidents: My Extraordinary Journey With Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, and Ford
  19. The Warmth of Other Suns

    19. The Warmth of Other Suns

    Isabel Wilkerson
    The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
  20. Rocket Men

    20. Rocket Men

    Robert Kurson
    Rocket Men: The Daring Odyssey of Apollo 8 and the Astronauts Who Made Man's First Journey to the Moon
  21. The Big Burn

    21. The Big Burn

    Timothy Egan
    The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt and the Fire That Saved America
  22. Command and Control

    22. Command and Control

    Eric Schlosser
    Command and Control: Nuclear Weapons, the Damascus Accident, and the Illusion of Safety
  23. The Accidental President

    23. The Accidental President

    A.J. Baime
    The Accidental President: Harry S. Truman and the Four Months That Changed the World
  24. Come Fly the World

    24. Come Fly the World

    Julia Cooke
    Come Fly the World: The Jet-age Story of the Women of Pan Am

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