The Personal Website of Mark W. Dawson


Containing His Articles, Observations, Thoughts, Meanderings,
and some would say Wisdom (and some would say not).

Notable American Historians

Having read quite a bit of American history I have been able to develop an informed opinion as to whom I regard as excellent American historians. While many other historians have written quality works, I have found the following historians to be consistently excellent:

Allen C. Guelzo (born February 2, 1953) is an American historian who serves as Senior Research Scholar in the Council of the Humanities and Director of the Initiative on Politics and Statesmanship in the James Madison Program at Princeton University. He formerly was a professor of History at Gettysburg College. Rachel A. Shelden wrote in 2013 that for two decades, Guelzo "has been at the forefront of Civil War–era scholarship. In particular, he has focused his analytical efforts on the life and legacy of Abraham Lincoln, publishing books covering the Lincoln-Douglas debates, the origins of the Emancipation Proclamation, and Lincoln's presidential leadership, among others." An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

David McCullough (July 7, 1933 – August 7, 2022) was an American popular historian. He was a two-time winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Award. In 2006, he was given the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award. Born and raised in Pittsburgh, McCullough earned a degree in English literature from Yale University. His first book was The Johnstown Flood (1968), and he wrote nine more on such topics as Harry S. Truman, John Adams, Theodore Roosevelt, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Panama Canal, and the Wright brothers. McCullough also narrated numerous documentaries, such as The Civil War by Ken Burns, as well as the 2003 film Seabiscuit, and he hosted the PBS television documentary series American Experience for twelve years. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

Gordon S. Wood (born November 27, 1933) is an American historian and professor at Brown University. He is a recipient of the 1993 Pulitzer Prize for History for The Radicalism of the American Revolution (1992). His book The Creation of the American Republic, 1776–1787 (1969) won a 1970 Bancroft Prize. In 2010, he was awarded the National Humanities Medal. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

W. Brands (born August 7, 1953) is an American historian. He holds the Jack S. Blanton Sr. Chair in History at the University of Texas at Austin, where he earned his PhD in history in 1985. He has authored more than thirty books on U.S. history. His works have twice been selected as finalists for the Pulitzer Prize. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

Although not an author of books, J. Rufus Fears (March 7, 1945 – October 6, 2012) was an American historian, scholar, educator, and author writing on the subjects of Ancient history, The History of Liberty, and classical studies. He is best known for his many lectures for the Teaching Company. Fears was the David Ross Boyd Professor of Classics at the University of Oklahoma, where he held the G.T. and Libby Blankenship Chair in the History of Liberty. Fears joined the OU faculty in 1990, serving as Professor of Classics and Letters. Among his numerous honors and awards for teaching, Fears was selected three times by OU students as Professor of the Year and was named by the Oklahoma Foundation for Excellence as recipient of the Medal for Excellence in College and University Teaching. Fears earned his bachelor's degree Summa cum Laude in history and classics at Emory University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University. The Great Courses list of his courses can be reviewed here.

James M. McPherson (born October 11, 1936) is an American Civil War historian and is the George Henry Davis '86 Professor Emeritus of United States History at Princeton University. He received the 1989 Pulitzer Prize for Battle Cry of Freedom: The Civil War Era. McPherson was the president of the American Historical Association in 2003. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

John Ferling (born 1940) is a professor emeritus of history at the University of West Georgia. As a leading historian in the American Revolution and founding era, he has appeared in television documentaries on PBS, the History Channel, C-SPAN Book TV, and the Learning Channel. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

Joseph J. Ellis (born July 18, 1943) is an American historian whose work focuses on the lives and times of the Founding Fathers of the United States. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

While not an American, Paul Johnson CBE (November 2, 1928 – 12 January 2023) was an English journalist, popular historian, speechwriter and author who wrote several books on American history. Although associated with the political left in his early career, he became a popular conservative historian. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

Ron Chernow (born March 3, 1949) is an American writer, journalist, and biographer. He has written bestselling historical non-fiction biographies. Chernow won the 2011 Pulitzer Prize for Biography and the 2011 American History Book Prize for his 2010 book Washington: A Life. He is also the recipient of the National Book Award for Nonfiction for his 1990 book The House of Morgan: An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance.[3] His biographies of Alexander Hamilton (2004) and John D. Rockefeller (1998) were both nominated for National Book Critics Circle Awards. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

Thomas Fleming (July 5, 1927 – July 23, 2017) was an American historian and historical novelist and the author of over forty nonfiction and fiction titles. His work reflects a particular interest on the American Revolution. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

Victor Davis Hanson (born September 5, 1953) is an American classicist, military historian, farmer, and political commentator. He has been a commentator on modern and ancient warfare and contemporary politics for The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, National Review, The Washington Times and other media outlets. He is a professor emeritus of Classics at California State University, Fresno, the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in classics and military history at the Hoover Institution, and visiting professor at Hillsdale College. An Amazon.com list of his books can be reviewed here.

The books by these historians are well worth a read. But as always, reader beware, for while they may be excellent books that does not imply that they provide a complete or unbiased view of history. That is why I often read at least three books on a historical topic to assure that I have multiple views on an historical topic.