10 great book suggestions for your coronavirus self-quarantine

March 18, 2020

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With much of the nation spending a lot more time at home for the foreseeable future due to Covid-19, you and your family may have a little more reading time on your hands in the coming weeks. If you love little-known stories from U.S. history, you can't go wrong with Glenn's book Miracles and Massacres, and its follow-up Dreamers and Deceivers.

Since Glenn's audience is full of history buffs and nonfiction nerds like myself, I thought I'd share a list of ten of my favorite nonfiction books in case you're looking for a good read during this coronavirus hiatus.

For this list, I limited selections to subjects involving U.S. history and culture. I'm partial to U.S. presidential history, so my entire list could easily be dominated by presidents, but I tried to include somewhat of a historical mix in hopes you might find something that piques your interest. Feel free to tweet us (@glennbeck) your favorite nonfiction books too, using the hashtag #GBnonfiction.

Here are ten of my nonfiction favorites…

10. Wilson by A. Scott Berg

Amazon

If you've been listening to Glenn for almost any length of time, you're familiar with his marked loathing for America's 28th president. I'm no fan of Wilson either, but this well-researched book is worth your time as a primer on the roots of progressivism. It will help you understand Glenn's animosity toward Wilson in glorious detail.

9. Walt Disney: The Triumph of the American Imagination by Neal Gabler

Amazon

There are many biographies of the man behind the world's largest entertainment empire, but this one may be the most in-depth. Walt Disney liked to say, "it was all started by a mouse," but there was a ton of hard work and heartbreak before Mickey. Gabler leaves no stone unturned in his quest to paint a complete portrait of Walt – a complicated creative genius and visionary.

8. The Preacher and the Presidents: Billy Graham in the White House by Nancy Gibbs and Michael Duffy

Amazon

One thing that every U.S. president from Dwight Eisenhower to George W. Bush had in common was friendship with evangelist Billy Graham. This book deftly explores the positives and the perils of Graham's half-century of proximity to such power. The presidents who were closest to Graham may surprise you.

7. Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

Amazon

There are also a lot of books about Steve Jobs, but Isaacson had the best access to Jobs at the end of Jobs' life. Jobs hand-picked Isaacson to write his biography. It was almost like Jobs was trying to assert the same control-freakiness over his own life story that he applied to Apple's iconic products, although he had no editorial control over the book and apparently never read any of it. Ultimately, despite the special access and potential temptation to go easy on his subject, Isaacson delivers the Steve Jobs story warts and all (and there are a lot of warts).

6. The Franchise: A History of Sports Illustrated Magazine by Michael MacCambridge

Amazon

This is kind of an outlier on this list because it involves a plethora of things – sports, journalism, advertising, ambition, ego and much more – told through the lens of the history of Sports Illustrated magazine. MacCambridge takes you on a journey through a bygone era of smoke-filled rooms and chattering typewriters when magazines were a big deal. Expertly told and relentlessly entertaining.

5. The Bully Pulpit by Doris Kearns Goodwin

Amazon

This one surprised me because its subtitle – Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism – made me skeptical that it was too much of a scattered premise. I was wrong. It totally works. It's an engrossing story about the close friendship between Roosevelt and Taft (who was so much more than the unfair stuck-in-a-bathtub-fat-president label he's been dealt) which politics nearly destroyed. Intertwined with the Roosevelt/Taft narrative are the stories of America's first celebrity journalists, including Ida Tarbell and Lincoln Steffens. Another apt subtitle could've been The Birth of Left-wing Media.

4. Devil in the White City by Erik Larson

Amazon

This is a bone-chilling true story about a serial killer during the 1893 World's Fair in Chicago. But it's also a riveting story about the men who designed and built the fairground (a sort of late-1800s EPCOT), which included amazing architectural feats that would still be wowing visitors today if fire hadn't destroyed them. Larson's intertwined narratives weave a compelling tale about a crucial turning point in U.S. history that marked the end of America's innocence.

3. Up from Slavery by Booker T. Washington

This is the only autobiography on the list (autobiographies probably deserve their own list sometime), but it merits inclusion because Washington's life story is one of the most phenomenal success stories in American history. It's criminal that this isn't required reading in every U.S. school, but the unfortunate reality is that Booker T. Washington's words and worldview clash hard with the modern Leftist agenda. In case you have a healthy skepticism of autobiographies as history, a good companion book is the Washington biography Up From History by Robert J. Norrell.

2. Manhunt: The 12-Day Chase for Lincoln's Killer by James Swanson

You know you're reading a great book when you already know the ending, but it's a thrilling ride anyway. That's Manhunt. Swanson puts you in the saddle with the Union cavalry and detectives in their desperate, white-knuckle search through the Virginia countryside for fugitive John Wilkes Booth in the days after he murdered President Lincoln. If you think you already know the story of Lincoln's assassination, trust me, there's a whole lot more. Manhunt is awesome reading.

1. Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand

Amazon

If you were expecting something a bit more obscure for the number one slot, sorry. I know Unbroken was a gargantuan bestseller a few years ago. But it was a gargantuan bestseller for a reason: it's that good. Much of Unbroken reads like a novel – in the best sense. It's the harrowing, adventurous true story of Olympic runner Louis Zamperini and his brutal experience as an American POW at the hands of the Japanese during World War II. It's the kind of book that is so exquisitely written, it makes aspiring writers want to throw in the towel. It is heart-pounding, gut-wrenching, and meticulously researched. Don't even think about watching the movie instead – the movie barely even scratches the surface of this truly remarkable story of courage, perseverance, and redemption.

Happy self-quarantine reading! And don't forget, the only place to catch all of Glenn's Covid-19-related episodes anytime on demand is by subscribing at BlazeTV.com.

Nathan Nipper is a writer for Mercury Radio Arts. As a politically conservative soccer enthusiast, he is a member of one of the most oppressed minority groups in the United States. He lives in North Texas with his wife, daughter, and two sons.

What do clay pots have to do with to preserving American history?

NurPhoto / Contributor | Getty Images

Editor's note: This article was originally published on TheBlaze.com.

Why should we preserve our nation’s history? If you listen to my radio program and podcast, or read my columns and books, you know I’ve dedicated a large part of my life and finances to sourcing and preserving priceless artifacts that tell America’s story. I’ve tried to make these artifacts as available as possible through the American Journey Experience Museum, just across from the studios where I do my daily radio broadcast. Thousands of you have come through the museum and have been able to see and experience these artifacts that are a part of your legacy as an American.

The destruction of American texts has already begun.

But why should people like you and me be concerned about preserving these things from our nation's history? Isn’t that what the “big guys” like the National Archives are for?

I first felt a prompting to preserve our nation's history back in 2008, and it all started with clay pots and the Dead Sea Scrolls. In 1946, a Bedouin shepherd in what is now the West Bank threw a rock into a cave nestled into the side of a cliff near the Dead Sea. Instead of hearing an echo, he heard the curious sound of a clay pot shattering. He discovered more than 15,000 Masoretic texts from the third century B.C. to the first century A.D.

These texts weren’t just a priceless historical discovery. They were virtually perfect copies of the same Jewish texts that continue to be translated today. Consider the significance of that discovery. Since the third century B.C. when these texts were first written, the Jewish people have endured a continued onslaught of diasporas, persecutions, pressures to conform to their occupying power, the destruction of their temple, and so much more. They had to fight for their identity as a people for centuries, and finally, a year after the end of the Holocaust and a year before the founding of the nation of Israel, these texts were discovered, confirming the preservation and endurance of their heritage since ancient times — all due to someone putting these clay pots in a desert cave more than 2,000 years ago.

I first felt a prompting to preserve our nation's history back in 2008, and it all started with clay pots and the Dead Sea Scrolls.

So, what do these clay pots have to do with the calling to preserve American history? I didn’t understand that prompting myself until the horrible thought dawned on me that the people we are fighting against may very well take our sacred American scriptures, our Declaration of Independence, and our Bill of Rights. What if they are successful, and 1,000 years from now, we have no texts preserved to confirm our national identity? What kind of new history would be written over the truth?

The destruction of American texts has already begun. The National Archives has labeled some of our critical documents, like our Declaration of Independence, Constitution, and Bill of Rights, as “triggering” or “containing harmful language.” In a public statement, the National Archives said that the labels help prepare readers to view potentially distressing content:

The Catalog and web pages contain some content that may be harmful or difficult to view. NARA’s records span the history of the United States, and it is our charge to preserve and make available these historical records. As a result, some of the materials presented here may reflect outdated, biased, offensive, and possibly violent views and opinions. In addition, some of the materials may relate to violent or graphic events and are preserved for their historical significance.

According to this statement, our founding documents are either “outdated, biased, offensive,” “possibly violent,” or a combination of these scathing descriptions. I’m sorry, the Declaration of Independence is not “triggering.” Our Constitution is not “outdated and biased,” and our Bill of Rights certainly is not “offensive and possibly violent.” They are glorious documents. They should be celebrated, not qualified by such derogatory, absurd language. Shame on them.

These are only the beginning stages of rewriting our history. What if they start banning these “triggering” documents from public view because they might offend somebody? Haven’t we torn down “triggering” statues before? What if we are no longer able to see, read, and study the actual words of our nation's founding documents because they are “harmful” or “possibly violent”? A thousand years from now, will there be any remnant to piece together the true spirit behind the nation that our founders envisioned?

The Declaration of Independence is not “triggering.”

That is why in 2008, I was prompted to preserve what I could. Now, the American Journey Experience Museum includes more than 160,000 artifacts, from founding-era documents to the original Roe v. Wade court papers. We need to preserve the totality of our nation’s heritage, the good, the bad, and the ugly. We need to preserve our history in our own clay pots.

I ask you to join with me on this mission. Start buying books that are important to preserve. Buy some acid-free paper and start printing some of the founding documents, the reports that go against the mainstream narrative, the studies that prove what is true as we are continually being fed lies. Start preserving our daily history as well as our history because it is being rewritten and digitized.

Somebody must have a copy of what is happening now and what has happened in the past. I hope things don’t get really bad. But if they do, we need to preserve our heritage. Perhaps, someone 1,000 years from now will discover our clay pots and, Lord willing, be able to have a glimpse of America as it truly was.

Top 10 WORST items in the new $1.2 TRILLION spending bill

Kevin Dietsch / Staff | Getty Images

Biden just signed the newest spending bill into law, and Glenn is furious.

Under Speaker Johnson's leadership, the whopping $1.2 TRILLION package will use your taxpayer dollars to fund the government through September. Of course, the bill is loaded with earmarks and pork that diverts money to fund all sorts of absurd side projects.

Here is the list of the ten WORST uses of taxpayer money in the recently passed spending bill:

Funding venues to host drag shows, including ones that target children

David McNew / Contributor | Getty Images

Money for transgender underwear for kids

Funding for proms for 12 to 18 year old kids

Bethany Clarke / Stringer | Getty Images

Border security funding... for Jordan and Egypt

Another $300 million for Ukraine

Anadolu / Contributor | Getty Images

$3.5 million for Detroit's annual Thanksgiving Day parade

Icon Sportswire / Contributor | Getty Images

$2.5 million for a new kayaking facility in Franklin, New Hampshire

Acey Harper / Contributor | Getty Images

$2.7 million for a bike park in White Sulfur Springs, West Virginia, a town with a population of less than 2,300 people

$5 million for a new trail at Coastal Carolina University

$4 million the "Alaska King Crab Enhancement Project" (whatever that means)

FRED TANNEAU / Stringer | Getty Images

The COMPLETE checklist for beginner preppers

There is no doubt about it—we are entering dark times.

The November presidential election is only a few months away, and following the chaos of the 2020 election, the American people are bracing for what is likely to be another tumultuous election year. The left's anti-Trump rhetoric is reaching an all-time high with the most recent "Bloodbath" debacle proving how far the media will go to smear the former president. That's not to mention the Democrats' nearly four-year-long authoritarian attempt to jail President Trump or stop his re-election by any means necessary, even if it flies in the face of the Constitution.

Meanwhile, Biden is doing worse than ever. He reportedly threw a tantrum recently after being informed that his polls have reached an all-time low. After Special Counsel Robert Hur's report expressed concerns over Biden's obviously failing mental agility, it's getting harder for the Democrats to defend him. Yet he is still the Democratic nominee for November, promising another 4 years of catastrophic policies, from the border to heavy-handed taxation, should he be reelected.

The rest of the world isn't doing much better. The war in Ukraine has no clear end in sight, drawing NATO and Russia closer and closer to conflict. The war in Gaza is showing no sign of slowing down, and as Glenn revealed recently, its continuation may be a sign that the end times are near.

One thing is clear: we are living in uncertain times. If you and your family haven't prepared for the worst, now is the time. You can start by downloading "Glenn's Ultimate Guide to Getting Prepared." Be sure to print off a copy or two. If the recent cell outage proved anything, it's that technology is unreliable in survival situations. You can check your list of supplies against our "Ultimate Prepper Checklist for Beginners," which you can find below:

Food

Canned food/non-perishable foods
Food preparation tools
Go to the next level: garden/livestock/food production

Water

Non-perishable water store
Water purification
Independent water source

Shelter

Fireplace with a wood supply
Tent
Generator with fuel supply
Go to the next level: fallout shelter

Money

Emergency cash savings
Precious metals

Medicine

Extra blankets
Basic first aid
Extra prescriptions
Extra glasses
Toiletries store
Trauma kit
Antibiotics
Basic surgery supplies
Potassium Iodate tablets

Transportation

Bicycle
Car
Extra fuel

Information

Birth certificates
Insurance cards
Marriage license
Immunization records
Mortgage paperwork
Car title and registration
House keys, car keys
Passports
Family emergency plan
Prepping/survival/repair manuals
Go to the next level: copy of the Bible, the U.S. Constitution, and other important books/sources

Skills

Cooking
Gardening
Sewing
First Aid
Basic maintenance skills
Go to the next level: farming/ranching
Self-defense training

Communication

Family contact information and addresses
HAM radio

Miscellaneous

Flashlights and batteries
Lamps and fuel
Hardware (tools, nails, lumber, etc)
Extra clothes
Extreme weather clothes and gear
Gas masks and filters
Spare parts for any machinery/equipment

Is Trump's prosecution NORMAL? This COMPLETE list of ALL Western leaders who served jail time proves otherwise.

PhotoQuest / Contributor, The Washington Post / Contributor, Win McNamee / Staff | Getty Images

Mainstream media is on a crusade to normalize Donald Trump's indictments as if it's on par with the electoral course. Glenn asked his team to research every instance of a Western leader who was jailed during their political career over the past 200 years—except extreme political turmoil like the French Revolution, Napoleonic Wars, Irish Revolution, etc.—and what we discovered was quite the opposite.

Imprisoning a leader or major political opponent is not normal, neither in the U.S. nor in the Western world. Within the last 200 years, there are only a handful of examples of leaders in the West serving jail time, and these men were not imprisoned under normal conditions. All of these men were jailed under extreme circumstances during times of great peril such as the Civil War, World War II, and the Cold War.

What does this mean for America? Are Trump's indictments evidence that we are re-entering times of great peril? Below is a list of Western leaders who were imprisoned within the last 200 years. Take a look and decide for yourself:

Late 1800s

The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

Jefferson Davis: The nearest occurrence to a U.S. President to serve jail time was in the case of Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America. Jefferson was captured in Georgia by Northern Soldiers in 1865 and locked up in Fort Monroe, Virginia for two years. He was offered a presidential pardon but refused out of his loyalty to the confederacy.

Early 1900s

PhotoQuest / Contributor | Getty Images

Eugene V. Debs: Debbs, a Midwestern socialist leader, became the first person to run for president in prison. He was locked up at a federal penitentiary in Atlanta having been convicted under the federal Sedition Act for giving an antiwar speech a few months before Armistice Day, the end of World War I. Many of his supporters believed his imprisonment to be unjust. Debs received 897,704 votes and was a distant third-part candidate behind Warren G. Harding, the Republican winner, and James M. Cox, the second-place Democrat. Harding ordered Debs’s release from prison toward the end of 1921.

Nazi sympathizers and collaborators: After the end of World War II in 1945, several European leaders who had "led" their countries during the Nazi occupation faced trial and imprisonment for treason. This list included Chief of the French State Philippe Pétain, French Prime Minister Pierre Laval, and Minister-President of Norway Vidkun Quisling. The latter two were also executed after their imprisonment. President of Finland Risto Ryti and Prime Minister of Finland Johan Wilhelm Rangell were also tried and jailed for collaborating with the Nazis against the Allied Powers.

Late 1900s

The Washington Post / Contributor | Getty Images

The end of the Cold War: The fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 was one of the pivotal moments that brought the Cold War to a close and marked the end of Communist East Germany. With the fall of the wall and the collapse of the German Democratic Republic (East Germany), the former leaders were brought to trial to answer for the crimes committed by the GDR. General Secretary Erich Honecker and General Secretary Egon Krenz were both put on trial for abuse of power and the deaths of those who were shot trying to flee into West Germany. Honecker was charged with jail time but was released from custody due to severe illness and lived out the rest of his life as an exile in Chile. Krenz served 4 years in jail before his release in 2001. He is one of the last surviving leaders of the Eastern Bloc.

Lyndon LaRouche: Larouche was a Trotsky evangelist, public antisemite, and founder of a nationwide Marxist political movement, became the second person in U.S. history to run for President in a prison cell. Granted, he ran in every election from 1976 to 2004 as a long-shot third-party candidate. When he tried to gain the Democratic presidential nomination, he received 5 percent of the total nationwide vote. Even though in 2000 he received enough primary votes to qualify for delegates in a few states, the Democratic National Committee refused to seat his delegates and barred LaRouche from attending the Democratic National Convention.