Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Grateful American™ Book Prize judge Dr. Peter S. Carmichael, the Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College:

The three-volume “Centennial History of the Civil War” by Bruce Catton. Taken together, Catton’s The Coming Fury, Terrible Swift Sword, and Never Call Retreat, written between 1961-1965, comprise a sweeping, detail-rich account of the War Between the States, from its bloody beginnings to its complicated aftermath.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by author and publisher David Bruce Smith, founder of the Grateful American™ Foundation and the Grateful American™ Book Prize:

“Gone with the Wind” by Margaret Mitchell. Few books so vividly capture the death of the Old South — and the wrenching chaos of the Civil War and Reconstruction — like this Pulitzer Prize winner often hailed as the Great American Novel.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title suggested by Grateful American Book Prize judge Dr. Douglas Bradburn, president and CEO of George Washington’s Mount Vernon:

“Call Sign Chaos: Learning to Lead” by Jim Mattis and Bing West. This clear-eyed recollection of the lessons learned during Mattis’ long military career — including his stint as secretary of defense — offers insights and inspiration for anyone seeking to triumph over tumultuous circumstances.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Grateful American Book Prize judge Dr. Peter S. Carmichael, the Robert C. Fluhrer Professor of Civil War Studies and director of the Civil War Institute at Gettysburg College:

“This Infernal War” The Civil War Letters of William and Jane Standard – Edited by Timothy Mason Roberts This eye-opening collection of correspondence between a Union soldier and his wife offers a glimpse of how one Illinois family weathered the bloody conflict — and of how Northerners’ views on the fighting didn’t always fit into a neat (or terribly virtuous) box.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Grateful American Book Prize judge Dr. Louise Mirrer, president and CEO of the New-York Historical Society:

“Washington: A Life” by Ron Chernow. The father of our country becomes fully three-dimensional in this masterful, Pulitzer Prize-winning biography that captures the man — including both his troubles and his triumphs — behind the myth.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Grateful American Book Prize judge Dr. Neme Alperstein, a teacher of gifted and talented students in the New York City Public Schools system:

“Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation” by Joseph J. Ellis. In this lively, riveting work, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Ellis explores the triumphs and stumbles of Alexander Hamilton, Thomas Jefferson, Aaron Burr, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, James Madison, and John Adams as they endeavored to build — and maintain — a functioning democracy.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Grateful American Book Prize judge John Danielson, founder of Chartwell Education Group and former chief of staff at the U.S. Department of Education:

The Education of Henry Adams: An Autobiography by Henry Adams. In this sardonic chronicle, Adams — the great-grandson of John Adams and grandson of John Quincy Adams — offers a unique insider’s account of the people and events that helped shape 19th-century America.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Grateful American Book Prize judge Doreen Cole, former assistant to the dean of the Honors College at Indiana University.

Breaking Rockefeller: The Incredible Story of the Ambitious Rivals Who Toppled an Oil Empire by Peter B. Doran. A riveting account of how two bold entrepreneurs worked together to break Standard Oil’s monopoly of — and stranglehold on — a vital American industry.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by L.M. Elliott, winner of 2018’s Grateful American Book Prize for Suspect Red.

Valiant Ambition: George Washington, Benedict Arnold, and the Fate of the American Revolution by Nathaniel Philbrick. The fraught relationship between one of our nation’s greatest heroes and its most notorious villain takes center stage in this expertly researched, compelling narrative.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.

Whether it’s via their tone, topic, or tenor, certain works just say “America.” Here is one such title, suggested by Chris Stevenson, winner of 2016’s Grateful American™ Book Prize for The Drum of Destiny:

1776 by David McCullough. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian McCullough so skillfully captures the drama, chaos, and uncertainty of the American Revolution’s early days that readers may momentarily forget George Washington and his army do eventually turn things around.

Patriotic Picks is a monthly feature in partnership with the Washington Independent Review of Books.