50 Great American Places

50 Great American Places: Essential Historic Sites Across the U.S. by Brent D. Glass, 293 pages

Written by the Director Emeritus of the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, 50 Great American Places offers up short essays on the 50ish sites that Glass deems most important to telling the story of the U.S. I say "50ish" because there are way more than 50 places listed here, with several places grouped together by their proximity and/or general topic (the Brooklyn Bridge and the Statue of Liberty, and the Arch and the Cahokia Mounds are pretty close physically; the Little Bighorn Battlefield in Eastern Montana and Wounded Knee, South Dakota not so close physically but topically are grouped together). With the exception of the National Mall being listed first, the rest of the entries are listed chronologically, starting with the Cahokia Mounds and weaving through the next 1,000 years, and offering a wonderful history of the country through architecture, monuments, battlegrounds, and malls. I particularly like how Glass included all elements of our culture (military, yes, but also music, literature, technology, and urban planning) and didn't shy away from the uglier parts of our history (Minidoka Internment Camp and Salem, Massachusetts are both included). It's fascinating to see what a historian as esteemed as Glass thinks are the most essential sites in American History. I loved reading this book, and I love the list of places to visit that I created along the way.