Bob,
I took your advice and picked up a few W.E. Woodward books. You're right, they are good. If you ever think of any more good books, I'd be interested.
Happy New Year!
Bruce
Woodward is a special, but in general history written in the 30s is always a good bet. That was when history books were best-sellers aimed at a general audience of literate Americans. Now history books are all written for Harvard.
Interesting, I noticed a similar pattern when buying books as well. If I get any type of history book that was written "Before Hitler". The book is totally different than anything written "After Hitler". I refer to this as BH and AH history books.
For instance, I purchased a used book on Arctic Exploration/History. It was the first time I had bought a BH history book. I was blown away with how different it was from others written AH. And I find this pattern across the board.
It was not more than 2 years ago that I first bought old history books. Reading a BH history book of any kind having to do with anything (especially regarding US) for the first time is a total BUGS experience.
I highly recommend it.
The internet is amazing for buying used old books. You can find treasures for cheap. I bought the book on Arctic exploration/history for like one dollar plus a few dollars shipping.