Sorry, but I kind of ignored your specifications.
But I did include reasons why.

WORDMAN'S HISTORY BOOK SUGGESTIONS

*Anything authored by DAVID MCCULLOUGH. He wrote the DEFINITIVE books on several founding fathers, as well as the signing of the Declaration Of Independence. All of his bios, moments in histories, transcribed lectures. If his name's on it, read it.

*Anything authored by GORDON S. WOOD. Probably the nation's greatest historian. He's written so many great books. Another great resource for him is the stuff he's done on BookTV.org (what CSPAN airs on the weekends). Check out some of the stuff he's done on their network here: http://www.booktv.org/search.aspx?For=gordon%20wood

*TAYLOR BRANCH's trilogy on DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR. The definitive books on MLK. Yeah, all of the books written about him, but these three are impressive. 1)PARTING THE WATERS 2)PILLAR OF FIRE 3)AT CANAAN'S EDGE.

*CONSTANTINE'S SWORD: THE CHURCH AND THE JEWS by JAMES CARROLL. It's a good read an excellent history not written by the winners. Very well researched.

*TEAM OF RIVALS by DORIS KEARNS GOODWIN. Great book on Lincoln's cabinet. I'm a little tired of Lincoln, I really don't think I can read anything new about him, but this is a good book.

*MALCOLM X: A LIFE OF REINVENTION by MANNING MARABALE. I don't really know if you're looking for bios of people in a historical perspective. I do know that this is a great book worth reading. It is the first scholarly analysis of Malcolm X.

*CITIZENS OF LONDON by LYNNE OLSON. Great book on how England got into the war.

I had a bunch of other stuff I was gonna recommend, but it has slipped my mind. I'll be sure to add them if I think of them.






"Your current frequencies of understanding outweigh that which has been given for you to understand." Saul Williams