One Summer: America, 1927

An entertaining and often enlightening read into America's modern history. Bryson covers a lot of ground pre-1927 and some past it to narrate a wonderful tale about events coming together in an eventful summer of 1927. From the race across the Atlantic via air that made Lindbergh a hero to his subsequent fall from grace, to Babe Ruth's record-breaking home run hits, to the various trials often tainted with overt racism and anti-semiticism, to the devastating floods of 1927 that got virtually no media coverage, and to the eccentric American presidents of that time.

No matter how much you know about American history, you'll definitely learn something new from this 528-page tome that's well worth your time. Don't skip the epilogue. It's like a series finale that ties up all the loose ends of all the characters you've read about.