LibGuides: Jon Meacham: Read-Alikes

JON MEACHAM IN NOVELIST

NoveList Description for Jon Meacham:

"Personal detail, historical accuracy, and monumental events are what make Jon Meacham's well-researched books immensely readable. Whether writing about the Founding Fathers of America, World War II, or the Civil Rights Movement, he uses relationships to illuminate personalities and events to highlight the social situation. In doing so, he brings people and events to life." NoveList (Full NoveList entry for Jon Meacham).

Read-Alike Authors

Doris Kearns Goodwin

"The meticulous research Doris Kearns Goodwin conducts to present her non-fiction political portraits results in highly engaging, believable and very human portraits of some of America's most recognizable names: Johnson, Lincoln, Kennedy, and Roosevelt. While Goodwin covers some familiar ground, her tilling of the historical landscape produces accounts with fresh perspective and the depiction of complex personal relationships, such as that of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: Start with: No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II." - NoveList (Full NoveList entry for Doris Kearns Goodwin).

David G. McCullough

"David McCullough is well known for an addictive mix of popular and social history. He writes both biographies and histories, but because he is so adept at blending character and story, all of his works end up as a merging of both. McCullough bring past events to life for readers now: his histories are inviting, meticulously researched, and superbly crafted. Vignettes illustrate wider points, making epic events understandable on an individual scale. His explorations of Presidents, pivotal moments, and nation building are both widely respected and widely read. Start with: 1776." - NoveList (Full NoveList entry for David McCullough).

Joseph J. Ellis

"American history scholar Joseph J. Ellis breathes new life into the well-trodden era of the American Revolution and its familiar cast of characters. Keeping the perspective of how Founding Fathers such as Washington, Jefferson, and Franklin were perceived during their day, Ellis manages to combine that earlier interpretation with an unsentimental yet modern approach to reviewing their lives and the events in which they participated. The result is eminently readable and insightful history. Start with: Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation." - NoveList (Full NoveList entry for Joseph J. Ellis).

READ-ALIKE BOOKS

Following are books available through either the Main Library or one or more branches of the Huntsville-Madison County Public Library that cover similar subject matter as Jon Meacham's books.

Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Empire, 1967-1821, Vol. 1 by Remini, Robert V.
ISBN: 0801859115
Publication Date: 1977, 1998
From the book jacket: 'Andrew Jackson, Volume One: The Course of American Empire, 1767-1821, with a new preface by the author, covers the role Jackson played in America's territorial expansion, bringing life to a complex character who has often been seen simply as a rough-hewn country general.'
Revolutionary Spirits: The Enlightened Faith of America's Founding Fathers by Kowalski, Gary A.
ISBN: 9781933346090
Publication Date: 2008
From the book jacket: 'Bringing to life the complex creeds and personalities of America's Founding Fathers, this book confronts many of the myths about the religious views of some of the most notable figures in history. Offering clear and candid portraits of Benjamin Franklin, George Washington, Thomas Paine, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison as both religious reformers and political rebels, this analysis tells the illuminating story of these unorthodox men of faith and thought and reclaims their spiritual inheritance for all Americans. Providing a careful examination of how the Founders’ nature-based spirituality was tied to their fascination with science, this record includes discussions on Washington’s aversion to using the word "God" in public pronouncements, Jefferson's mathematical calculations to show that the biblical great flood would have been impossible, and Paine's thoughts on the possibilities of alien life.'
Forged in Faith by Gragg, Rod
ISBN: 9781416596295
Publication Date: 2010
From the book jacket: 'Forged in Faith' is a fascinating history, based on meticulous research into the correspondence and documentation of the founding fathers leading up to and encompassing the crafting of the Declaration of Independence. Gregg's discovery sheds light on how faith motivated America's founding fathers in their decisions, their influence, and their lives.'
1776 by McCullough, David
ISBN: 0743226720
Publication Date: 2005
Bib Summary: 'Based on extensive research in both American and British archives, 1776 is the story of Americans in the ranks, men of every shape, size, and color, farmers, schoolteachers, shoemakers, no-accounts, and mere boys turned soldiers. And it is the story of the British commander, William Howe, and his highly disciplined redcoats who looked on their rebel foes with contempt and fought with a valor too little known. But it is the American commander-in-chief who stands foremost -- Washington, who had never before led an army in battle.'
John Adams by McCullough, David
ISBN: 0743223136
Publication Date: 2001
From the book jacket: 'In this powerful, epic biography, David McCullough unfolds the adventurous life-journey of John Adams, the brilliant, fiercely independent, often irascible, always honest Yankee patriot--"the colossus of independence" as Thomas Jefferson called him--who spared nothing in his zeal for the American Revolution; who rose to become the second President of the United States and saved the country from blundering into an unnecessary war; who was learned beyond all but a few and regarded by some as "out of his senses"; and whose marriage to the wise and valiant Abigail Adams is one of the most moving love stories in American history.'
Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln by Goodwin, Doris Kearns
ISBN: 0743270754
Publication Date: 2005
Bib Summary: This multiple biography is centered on Lincoln's mastery of men and how it shaped the most significant presidency in the nation's history. Historian Goodwin illuminates Lincoln's political genius, as the one-term congressman rises from obscurity to prevail over three gifted rivals to become president. When Lincoln emerged as the victor at the Republican National Convention, his rivals were dismayed. Throughout the turbulent 1850s, each had energetically sought the presidency as the conflict over slavery led inexorably to civil war. That Lincoln succeeded, Goodwin demonstrates, was because of his extraordinary ability to put himself in the place of other men, to experience what they were feeling, to understand their motives and desires. It was this that enabled Lincoln to bring his disgruntled opponents together, create the most unusual cabinet in history, and marshal their talents to the task of preserving the Union.
No Ordinary Time: Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt: The Home Front in World War II by Goodwin, Doris Kearns
ISBN: 0684804484
Publication Date: 1994
From the book jacket: 'No Ordinary Time is a monumental work, a brilliantly conceived chronicle of one of the most vibrant and revolutionary periods in the history of the United States. With an extraordinary collection of details, Goodwin masterfully weaves together a striking number of story lines--Eleanor and Franklin's marriage and remarkable partnership, Eleanor's life as First Lady, and FDR's White House and its impact on America as well as on a world at war. Goodwin effectively melds these details and stories into an unforgettable and intimate portrait of Eleanor and Franklin Roosevelt and of the time during which a new, modern America was born.'
Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation by Ellis, Joseph P.
ISBN: 0375705244
Publication Date: 2000
From the book jacket: 'An illuminating study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic--John Adams, Aaron Burr, Benjamin Franklin, Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, James Madison, and George Washington...in a lively and engaging narrative, Ellis recounts the sometimes collaborative, sometimes archly antagonistic interactions between these men, and shows us the private characters behind the public personas.'
American Sphinx: The Character of Thomas Jefferson by Ellis, Joseph J.
ISBN: 9780679444909
Publication Date: 1996
From the book jacket: 'For the historian Joseph J. Ellis, the experience of writing about Jefferson was "as if a pathologist, just about to begin an autopsy, had discovered that the body on the operating table was still breathing." In 'American Sphinx,' Ellis sifts the facts shrewdly from the legends and the rumors, treading a path between vilification and hero worship in order to formulate a plausible portrait of the man who still today "hover[s] over the political scene like one of those dirigibles cruising above a crowded football stadium, flashing words of inspiration to both teams."'