American Reading Plan

The Central and Southern Provinces of the United States comprise twenty-five (out of the famous fifty) states in the country. We friars work with peoples of all stars and stripes (of every creed, race, and background) within these vast territories. Even so, there are (we still think) basic “ideals” or “values” that the United States and its peoples claim to uphold.

There are books, of course, like David McCullough’s The American Spirit, which intend to summarize these ideals. We recognize that it is difficult to provide such a summary without too obviously embracing a certain interpretation of the American credo by adhering to some political platform.

​For this reason, below, we try to provide a basics: works whose influence, for better or worse, on American values continues to stage the big questions today; or works of scholarly (but accessible) history, which tell the American story plainly.   

These books can be read in whatever order, but we provide a scheme in any case. 

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Stage 1

1. Jacques Maritain’s Christianity and Democracy
2. Benjamin Franklin’s Autobiography

Stage 2

1. The Federalist Papers
2. Ulysses S. Grant’s Autobiography

Stage 3

1. Winston Churchill’s History of the English-speaking Peoples
2. Paul Johnson’s History of the United States (a one-volume history)

Stage 4

1. Robert Middlekauff’s The Glorious Cause
2. Stephen Kinzer’s The True Flag

Stage 5

1. James McPherson’s Battle Cry of Freedom
2. David Kennedy’s Freedom From Fear ​