Americanon: An Unexpected U.S. History in Thirteen Bestselling Books

This book is about books! It shares the story of 13 titles that became the popular household reads and references in the US. While many of these are often overlooked, their presence has hardly been forgotten — having sold tens of millions of copies that made their way into more than just homes, but also offices, schools, and many other places. Books like Benjamin Franklin’s biography, Webster’s Dictionary, Betty Crocker’s Picture Cook Book have had widespread influence not only in the book world, but in a way a definition of American Identity that informed the values and customs of many Americans to come. This book will appeal to the book history nerd, but to anyone interested in history alike, as the author traces how the personal biases and beliefs of these books’ authors came to integrate themselves into the DNA of mainstream American culture.

(This book may contain a sharpie mark on the top or bottom edge and may show mild signs of shelfwear.)