The America Book Club has started.
I finished James Dickey’s Deliverance this weekend and debated whether to read one more book or begin The Last King of America by Andrew Roberts. Since the last two announcements of this book club, most readers seem interested in A History of the American People by Paul Johnson or A Patriot’s History of the United States by Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen (along with its companion reader). That’s no surprise. Paul Johnson’s book is iconic, and while Andrew Roberts is no less so, his most popular (and sexier) works are his biographies of Churchill and Napoleon. Given that I would be the lone reader of The Last King of America, I decided to get started. A few people have raised their hands to be flies on the wall.
Yet I wanted to see if anyone else is on the fence, so here’s the breakdown.
Book Club Basics
The Book Club is a new feature on my site. It’s available only to paying members.
I pick themes, topics, and authors. The last one was Machiavelli. I post videos that break down what I’m reading or how to tackle sections. I host livestreams where you can chat with me and other members. The chat also has a dedicated America thread. After getting feedback from members, I will also write some quick article riffs. The chat is great, but it doesn’t notify members, and with the number of members I have right now, it hasn’t yet come to life, with people checking in frequently.
You do not need to be reading any of the books. You can be a fly on the wall, ask questions, and engage however you like. This is for a few simple reasons. First, it would be silly to tell paying members they can’t ask questions when they see all the content they paid for. Second, and perhaps the biggest reason, I believe the book club will promote better reading. You’ll see how I or others dissect a book, whether easy or difficult. A goal of my site is to encourage better reading.
Naturally, I hope a few people will read along. For this “‘Merica” topic, I curated some big books. The first, The Last King of America by Andrew Roberts, is a behemoth.
The others:
A History of the American People, Paul Johnson
A Patriot’s History of the United States: From Columbus’s Great Discovery to America’s Age of Entitlement + The Patriot’s History Companion Reader: Essential Documents for Every American, Larry Schweikart and Michael Allen
Democracy in America, Alexis de Tocqueville (I’ll also read Pierre Manent’s book on Tocqueville, Tocqueville and the Nature of Democracy, as a primer)
And I’m almost certainly going to include:
Ethnic America, Thomas Sowell
A few other books might be added as well.
All of the books listed above, except the Sowell volume I’m almost certain to include, are big books.
With the book club, while I hope you read along, you can set your own pace and reading schedule. We all have our own schedules and reading rhythms. The topic is open-ended for now. You can pick up The Last King of America in six months, and I’ll still be happy to discuss it if you raise your hand.
Again, you can be a fly on the wall or read along. The more activity from you on the site, the more activity from me.
The Pace of America Book Club
Given the length of these books, I will likely not read them back to back. Experience tells me that would cause reading burnout. I want to stay fresh with each book. I will read one, finish it, then likely pick a few easier books to read in between. Some may even be Book Club picks on a different topic. Then I will jump back into the America theme. The time between books will be a feel thing for me. My guess is one to three weeks.
The Last King of America
Since it looks like I’m the lone reader for now, I will still post plenty of videos and some article riffs on this book. If people ask questions or get involved, I’m happy to do some livestreams.
A chat thread has been dedicated to America. It will cover all things America and the curated books. Since the Substack chat hasn’t yet come to life for me, I will also write some riffing articles to discuss the book.
I’m close to 70 pages into The Last King of America, and it’s excellent so far. Andrew Roberts makes even exhaustive detail exciting. He does so by showing the consequences of events and explaining why some seemingly random British tax or royal marriage mattered. He’s a special talent.
If you’d like to join in, become a paid member.
I’m looking forward to this topic. I love America. I’m a history dork, and I can’t wait to read these books. I hope some of you will join along or, if you’re curious but not planning to read, will be flies on the wall to learn a bit about the greatest country on earth.