Book recommendations? American history

I’m looking for some book recommendations. Non-fiction. American history in the pre-Civil War period. Not the immediate period before the war but more like the eighteen-forties and fifties.

That’s a tough period. I was surprised to see how few books I had.

One I’d recommend as a great read is The Age of Gold: The California Gold Rush and the New American Dream, by H.W. Brands. Brands has written a million history books and the few I’ve read have all been good. But that’s the only one close to this period.

I also realized I just picked one up used on a whim, so I haven’t read it yet, but it looks good and covers the period. Nuts and Bolts of the Past: A History of American Technology, 1776-1860, by David Freeman Hawke. It’s available for a penny so that’s worth a chance.

There’s kind of a blank spot in American history between Andrew Jackson and Abraham Lincoln. Other than the Mormons, the Mexican War, the Gold Rush, and the Alamo, it’s hard to think of any major events from that period.

Brands is a favorite of mine so I’ve already read The Age of Gold. I’ve also read Lone Star Nation: The Epic Story of the Battle for Texas Independence, which is around that period.

I’ve also read the Hawke book, which was good.

Two books that I really enjoyed are Duel: Alexander Hamilton, Aaron Burr, and the Future of America and Undaunted Courage. Duel is about the Hamilton/Burr duel, and Undaunted Courage is about the Lewis and Clark expedition. Both are set in the Jefferson presidency, which is a bit before the time period you asked for, but together they do a fantastic job of explaining the political and historical situations of the time.

Another book I really liked that is also set in the Jefferson presidency is The Pirate Coast, about the American attempts to stop the Barbary Pirates. It’s a really interesting historical episode that was never brought up in school.

Don’t even get me started on that. I’ve been reading a bunch of revolutionary era American history (which I define loosely as 1754 to 1815) in the last couple of years. In the past, I’ve also read a lot in various historical periods from the Civil War up to the present. But I was recently noticing there’s that Jackson to Lincoln gap in the middle that I’ve never gotten too deeply into.

There’s “What Hath God Wrought” that seems pretty good. I’m on my phone so I can’t link to it.

I see a number of books with that title, but the odds are huge that you’re referring to What Hath God Wrought: The Transformation of America, 1815-1848 (Oxford History of the United States) by Daniel Walker Howe.