ESU US branch members recommend titles which capture a sense of their home states
To celebrate our American links in light of the ESU US centenary celebrations, we asked ESU US branch members for their recommendations of books which really capture a flavour and sense of their home state. From classic novels to sweeping histories and even highly acclaimed vampire stories, there’s something for every taste.
If you’d like to buy any of the books on Amazon, remember that there’s now an easy way to donate to the ESU every time you buy – at no extra cost to you. Simply sign in at smile.amazon.co.uk and type in ‘English-Speaking Union’ to the ‘pick your charity’ search field and continue shopping as normal. Once this has been selected, Amazon will donate 0.5 per cent of the price of eligible purchases made through the site.
Washington State
Recommended by ESU Past President Seattle Branch, William Maschmeier
Sons of the Profits by Bill Speidel
The Wet Side of the Mountains by Bill Speidel
Books about New York City and New York State
Recommended by ESU President Louisville Branch, Kate Nitzken
Gotham by Edwin G. Burrows and Mike Wallace
Here is New York by E.B. White
Power and Society: Greater New York at the Turn of the Century by David C. Hammack
Food City: Four Centuries of Food-Making in New York by Joy Santlofler
Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theatre by Larry Stempel
New York Art Deco: A Guide to Gotham’s Jazz Age by Anthony W. Robins
The Legend of Sleepy Hollow by Washington Irving
Furs and Foes: Tales of the Early American Frontier by John Cahill
The Lions of Fifth Avenue by Fiona Davis
Alabama
Recommended by ESU President Nashville Branch, Dr. Susan Sinclair
My Alabama: John Dersham Photographs a State
Mississippi
Recommended by ESU President Nashville Branch, Dr. Susan Sinclair
Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How it Changed America by John M. Barry
Tennessee
Recommended by ESU President Nashville Branch, Dr. Susan Sinclair
Legends & Lore of East Tennessee by Shane S Simmons
Virginia
Recommended by ESU Past President Charlottesville Branch, Dr. Julia Churchill Van de Water
The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family by Annette Gordon-Reed
Missouri
Recommended by ESU Secretary Kansas City Branch, Jeff Schnabel
Missouri: An Illustrated Timeline 200 Years of Heroes and Rogues, Heartbreak and Triumph by John W. Brown
Connecticut
Recommended by ESU President Greenwich Branch, Natalie Pray
Creating Connecticut – critical moments that shaped the State – by Walter Woodward
The Winthrop Woman by Anya Seton
Georgia
Recommended by ESU President Atlanta Branch, Charles Maddrey
Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell
Florida
Recommended by President ESU Central Florida Branch, Barbara Hughes
A Land Remembered by Patrick Smith
Land of Sunshine by Gary Marino
Illinois
Recommended by former ESU National Board Member, Darrell Hill
Illinois: A History of the Land and Its People by Roger Biles
Ohio
Recommended by President ESU Cleveland Branch, Bill Kennedy
The Pioneers by David McCulloch
Winesburg, Ohio by Sherwood Anderson
Tar: A Midwest Childhood by Sherwood Anderson
Kentucky
Recommended by President ESU Kentucky Branch, Kate Nitzken
Whiskey Women: The Untold Story of How Women Saved Bourbon, Scotch and Irish by Fred Minnick
Of Woods and Waters, A Kentucky Outdoor Reader Edited by Ron Ellis
Beyond Mammoth Cave: A Tale of Obsession in the World’s Longest Cave by James D. Borden
Joseph S. Blackburn, Soldier, Statesman and Friend of All by Elizabeth Rouse Fielder
Seabiscuit, An American Legend by Laura Hillenbrand
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek by Kim Michele Richardson
Jaber Crow by Wendel Berry
Louisiana
Recommended by President ESU New Orleans Branch, Dave Grissett
Unfathomable City, A New Orleans Atlas by Rebecca Solnit and Rebecca Snedaker
Louisiana Eats!: The People, the Food, and Their Stories by Poppy Tooker
Accidental City: Improvising New Orleans by Lawrence Powell
River Road Recipes (I, II, III, and IV.) by Junior League of Baton Rouge
Interview with a Vampire by Anne Rice
Massachusetts
Recommended by President ESU Boston Branch, Paul Boghosian
Washington and Franklin by Edward Larson
The Abandonment of The West by Michael Kimmage
California
Recommended by President ESU Los Angeles Branch, Jason Hayes
Ana of California, by Andi Teran
Farm City, by Novella Carpenter
The Joy Luck Club, by Amy Tan
North Carolina
Recommended by Past National ESU Board Member, Christopher Hodgkins from North Carolina, Chapel Hill
Cold Mountain, by Charles Frazier
General Books about the USA
Recommended by ESU President Central Pennsylvania Branch, Dr. Karen Blair-Brand
The Heart of Everything that is, the Untold Story of Red Cloud: An American Legend by Bob Drury & Tom Clavin
Appetite for America: Fred Harvey and the Business of Civilizing the Wildwest—One Meal at a Time by Stephen Fried
I am the Grand Canyon: The Story of the Havasupai People by Stephen Hirst
Mary Coulter, Builder Upon the Red Earth by Virginia L. Grattan
Washington, D.C., The USA Nation’s Capital City
Washington’s Myths, Legends and Tall Tales—Some of which are True, Sorting Fact from Fiction in the stories Washingtonians Love to Tell by Mollie Reilly
Washington, D.C., Then and Now by Alexander D. Mitchell
Pennsylvania
Exploring the Pennsylvania Colony, Smithsonian by John Joseph Micklos
William Penn: Founder of Pennsylvania by Ryan Jacobson
The Riddle of Amish Culture by Donald Kraybill
Delaware
History of the State of Delaware, 5th Ed. by John A. Munroe
Letting Your Road Tell Its Story: A History of Delaware Roads by D Amott
Florida
The Last Train to Paradise by Les Standiford
Illinois
The Illinois Chronicles: The Story of the State of Illinois, From its birth to the Present Day by Mark Skipworth
Texas
The Big Rich: The Rise and Fall of the Greatest Texas Oil Fortunes by Bryan Burrough
Photo by specphotops on Unsplash
