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History Department Summer Reading Recommendations

These book recommendations from the MRHS History Department educators are intended to be read for fun and to enrich course content. They are not required for any course.

Mr. Anderson

World History

  • Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind by Yuval Noah Harari 
  • Bhagavad Gita

AP European History

  • 1493: Uncovering the New World Columbus Created
  • Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, A Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill by Candice Millard

Global Investing

  • Reminiscence of a Stock Operator by Edwin Lefevre & Jesse Livermore
  • The Ascent of Money by Niall Ferguson

Mr. Hoffman-Terry

  • The American Revolution: A Very Short Introduction by Robert J. Allison 
  • A Short History of Cape Cod (Short Histories) by Robert J. Allison
  • American Women's History: A Very Short Introduction
  • The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn by Nathanial Philbrick
  • Indigenous Continent: The Epic Contest for North America by Pekka Hämäläinen

US History I or II 

  • Undaunted:  How Women Changed American Journalism

Mr. Sumner

US History II

  • A People's History of the United States: 1492 to Present by Howard Zinn

AP Psychology

  • Outliers by Malcom Gladwell

Personal Finance

  • The Millionaire Next Door: The Surprising Secrets of America's Wealthy by Thomas J. Stanley

Mr. Dickson

Civics

  • The United States Constitution: A Graphic Adaptation by Jonathan Hennessey
  • For Which We Stand: How our Government Works and Why it Matters by Jeff Foster

AP US Government

  • Hardball by Chris Matthews
  • America's Constitution: A Biography by Akhil Reed Amar 

Mr. Millen

World History

  • With the Old Breed by Eugene Sledge (First-hand account of the fighting in the Pacific during World War Two. Was adapted into a companion series called “The Pacific” by HBO.)
  • Shake Hands With the Devil by Romeo D’Allaire (Well written book about the Rwandan genocide from the perspective of the UN Force Commander in charge of keeping the peace.)

Caribbean and Latin American History

  • The Far Away Brothers by Lauren Markham (Phenomenal book about two brothers who escape violence in El Salvador and end up in the United States.)

Ms. Leblanc

US History I

  • Walk on Earth a Stranger by Rae Carson
  • Behind Rebel Lines: The Incredible Story of Emma Edmonds, Civil War Spy by Seymour Reit

US History II

  • Thirteen Doorways, Wolves Behind Them All by Laura Ruby
  • The Rock and the River by Kekla Magoon

APUSH

  • 1776 by David McCullough
  • Undaunted Courage: Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson and the Opening of the American West by Stephen E. Ambrose
  • The Guns of August by Barbara Tuchman

Ms. Egounis

Sports and Entertainment Marketing

  • The Elusive Fan: Reinventing Sports in a Crowded Marketplace by Irving Rein, Philip Kotler, & Ben Ryan

Entrepreneurship

  • The Radical Leap by Steve Farber

CP Psychology

  • Don’t Believe Everything You Think: Why Your Thinking is the Beginning & End of Suffering by Joseph Nguyen

World History

  • A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens