T.R.Fehrenbach's "Lone Star".
A history of Texas and the Texans.
The story of armed migration, of conquest, of courage, corruption, despair, vast dreams, and folly.

Nothing has changed, imho!

M

Joy Williams 'The Florida Keys'

I write non fiction books for travelers, however for a German publisher and they are not in English.
I also taught at the university level for many years and what I highly recommend is anything by Howard Zinn, but especially, A People's History of the United States (It is available on Amazon and I am sure at Borders). This will cover the entire USA.
I enjoy the more specifics when I travel to a new area...if Newfoundland, Canada is on your travel plans, please read, Jim DeFede's The Day the World Came to Town... what a great take during the September 11 tragedies...

jtp...i saw the subject and was going to recommend my favourite...Zinn's People's History. I was so surprised to see someone beat me to it. it's not that popular, after all. I took a course taught by Howard Zinn and he is fascinating. Quite an eye-opener.

"Sand in My Shoe" by Helen Bagley. The story of homestead days in Twentynine Palms, California. For those of you who come to visit Joshua Tree National Park and are surprised to find that some of us actually live out here in the desert and wonder why we do.

Little off topic, but just wanted to second the suggestion for "The Day the World Came to Town." What an incredible story of one Canadian town's generosity during the 9/11 shutdown of the American airspace.

sart29,
You are a marine, fmr marine or marine spouse.
No one else would live there, imho!
M

My book group read "The Devil in the White City" last year and loved it.

As far as regional non-fiction, "Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil" is a particularly accurate reflection of that slice of life in Savannah.

I find that books don't have to be non-fiction to reflect a region. For instance, I can picture the fictional town in Maine that Richard Russo writes about in "Empire Falls". Russo has a special talent for bringing characters to life and my husband (from Maine) swears he must have known some of the characters in that book!

Great question chicgal!

I mentioned this first one in the last book thread but I think it may apply more here:

"A walk in the woods" by Bill Bryson combines historical and current info about the Appalacian trail.

Last year I read a book about the Peshtigo, WI ("Firestorm at Peshtigo") fire of 1871 in which 2000 some odd people died, which makes it the deadliest fire in American history. Unfortunately it did not get much notoriety, or national support at the time because the great Chicago fire (in which 295 or so perished) happened on the same day.

For humorous, interesting essys on life in rural New England, it's hard to beat Noel Perrin's series of books - First Person Rural, Second Person Rural, and Third person Rural, which came out about 20 years ago. Perrin is an English Professor/farmer who has a knack for capturing the unique experiences of dealing with the pitfalls and rewards of living in this part of the world. Perrin just published a touching article in our local newspaper on his decision to give up his beloved farm due to his advancing Parkinson's disease.

Chesapeake but John Mitchner was a good read but it is probably considered to be more fiction than non-fiction.

mm

For a visit to the Chesapeake, I also recommend William Warner's "Beautiful Swimmers" which describes of the "watermen" of the Chesapeake and the blue crabs they catch.

I love "Confederates in the Attic" by Tony Horwitz. It's an account of a Civil War buff traveling with a hard-core Civil War reenactor to many battlefields and sites on a "Civil Wargasm." A really funny and interesting read.

I brought this thread back up to say thanks! I love to read and because of these recommendations I have read 2 of the above.

Thanks for the advice on: "Sand in my Shoe" and for "The day the world came to town." I in fact now own "Sand" and will share it with some relatives but got the other at the library.

Outstanding Non-Fiction stuff!

There are so many:

Bill Bryson - A Walk in the Woods and the one where he travels the US, the title of which escapes me

Desert Solitaire - Edward Abbey

All My Rivers are Gone (Glen Canyon) - Katie Lee

There are more - I have to go check my bookshelves!

The ultimate U.S traveler's journal, "Charles Kuralt's America". It is a eminently readable, folksy description of month-long visits to 12 of the great destinations in the country.

John MacDonald hit the Gulf coast area of Florida head-on with his book *Condominium".

Jack Keroak, *On the Road*

John MacDonald's book is fiction but he is so factual, you can pretend it's truth

tony hillerman's non-fiction (and fiction) books on the navaho and pueblo cultures and his love of the az and nm land.

the edward abbey books.

"american massacre: the tragedy at mountain meadows sept. 1857". the story of the morman massacre of settlers from the east heading for california.

my travel book "southwest usa, the rough guide" which also includes a lot of history.

many more but i am having a senior moment and can't remember them all! great site.

I am now reading "Devil in a White City". Excellent!