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Two books that might be of help to you in finding resources are The Well-Trained Mind and The Well-Educated Mind, both by Susan Wise Bauer. The first is a home schooling resource that covers Classical education through high school and has a lot of suggestions for books you might find helpful. The second is targeted toward adults who wish to augment an education they found lacking. It is filled with primary source material in the topics you mentioned. I think you will find it's just what you need. As an aside, Bauer has also written a series of history volumes for the adult reader that are very in-depth. Check your local library.
I'll keep it short. I am looking for high school level books in High School US Government, High School US History, High School Economics, and High School Science. I want to study materials that I did not really learn in High School. Any recommendations on what is being used now would be great. Thank you for your time.
A search of the internet brings up a few good books to take a look at:
Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell
The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great by Ben Shapiro
The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich
The Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Making of the American Nation by Lynne Cheney
Bonfire of the Humanities: Rescuing the Classics in an Impoverished Age by Victor Davis Hanson, et al.
You don't say when you graduated, but these books may not have been available when you were in high school.
History of the People of the United States - McMaster-Carr
A fine 19th century publication telling the history of the country from a historical perspective, well documented and cited, and unblemished by the rehashments of later years.
What you'll find with the earlier US History books of any value is a readership and explanation of the events of the day. An understanding not undercut by stories in a silo necessitated in today's courses for brevity. A more balanced reporting is made, allowing the reader to understand both sides of an argument.
If there is interest in learning the truth about something, it is a great place to start.
A search of the internet brings up a few good books to take a look at:
Race and Culture by Thomas Sowell
The Right Side of History: How Reason and Moral Purpose Made the West Great by Ben Shapiro
The WEIRDest People in the World by Joseph Henrich
The Virginia Dynasty: Four Presidents and the Making of the American Nation by Lynne Cheney
Bonfire of the Humanities: Rescuing the Classics in an Impoverished Age by Victor Davis Hanson, et al.
You don't say when you graduated, but these books may not have been available when you were in high school.
Take a look at these (sometimes controversial, depending on who you ask) books that some high schools will use now:
A People's History of the United States, by Howard Zinn
The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story, by Nikole Hannah-Jones
Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explores the Hidden Side of Everything, by Steven D. Levitt and Stephen J Dubner
I think this is really on the right track - not books you would have been given in high school when they were trying to drum basics into you, but good books for adults.
Try going to the library to figure out which have been the best books by the best writers in the last 10-15 years.
They are just suggestions, and others have offered 1619 and Howard Zinn so it's just equal time.
People shouldn't be suggesting books written by political commentators to shove a blatantly one-sided agenda down one's throat? Ben Shapiro? Come on. Lynne Cheney? The same goes for The 1619 Project, which has been very publicly pointed out by actual historians for being fundamentally flawed and misrepresentative.
If you're looking to get a basic grasp on US History, I'd suggest starting with any of David McCullough's books. He writes in a narrative, popular-history style that is easy to understand and provides a solid foundation on which to move on to more in-depth, complex histories.
People shouldn't be suggesting books written by...
My formal education was a pro-Enlightenment one, where we were encouraged to speak up for ourselves rather than trying to tell opponents to be quiet. So when someone suggested books I don't care for, I simply made alternative suggestions. I know the Enlightenment isn't as popular as it used to be but it's the way I was brought up and educated.
If the OP or anyone else ends up reading Zinn, Davis Hanson, and McCullough then they'd be exposed to a wide range of opinions and what's wrong with that?
My formal education was a pro-Enlightenment one, where we were encouraged to speak up for ourselves rather than trying to tell opponents to be quiet. So when someone suggested books I don't care for, I simply made alternative suggestions. I know the Enlightenment isn't as popular as it used to be but it's the way I was brought up and educated.
If the OP or anyone else ends up reading Zinn, Davis Hanson, and McCullough then they'd be exposed to a wide range of opinions and what's wrong with that?
As was I, and I actually agree with some on your list, like Thomas Sewell and Joseph Henrich. But Ben Shapiro and Lynn Cheney? Come on. There's plenty of much better conservative writers out there.
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