I'm going to be giving History books two grades, one for history nerds (you know who you are) and one for everyone else. This is to prevent me recommending a bunch of boring books for nerds that I find interesting and that the average person will doze off attempting to finish.
Perils of Peace (Thomas Fleming)
This book covers the two years inbetween Yorktown and Washington giving up command of the army - it's an interesting look at a period of history that's usually totally skipped over. It's also cheerful to read - if you think the US is screwed up now, just cast your mind back to when the government was broke and the continental congress couldn't even afford to pay the army or interest on its European debts and ended up fleeing to New Jersey. My only issue with the book is that it ends with a line like "Washington had successfully negotiated the perils of peace," but there's another six years of hobbling along under the Articles of Confederation and implementing the Constitution before the federal government is in order. I guess that'd be a really long book, though.
History Nerd Grade: B
Non-History Nerd Grade: F
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