America's Bank- The Epic Struggle to Create The Federal Reserve by Roger Lowenstein (2015, ISBN 978-1-59420-549-1)
This book presents a description of the political process that resulted in the Federal Reserve. Some of the history of the older attempts to create a US central bank are described as well as why a central bank is needed.
Received as a Christmas present 2015.

Bury My Heart At Wounded Knee by Dee Brown. Bantam Books 1972, 553-07077-195. Subtitled: An Indian History of the American West. Presents the events of the American West from the Indian point of view from 1865 to 1890. A very sad story and a great injustice. The clash of the Indian culture and the European resulted in the destruction of the Indians, mostly because of the greed and ignorance of the Europeans.

Black Cargoes, History of the Atlantic Slave Trade by Daniel P. Mannix in collaboration with Malcolm Cowley. ISBN 0 1400 4253 9. Covers the four hundred year history of Europeans purchasing people in Africa and transporting them to North and South America. Well written and refers in many places to historical documents. Has several pages of drawings depicting conditions on the ships, etc. The sad thing is that in many places in the world slavery is still allowed, e.g., in Haiti (a former French colony that was freed by slave revolt) people still sell their children into slavery. (See Restavec.)

Before the Mayflower: A History of the Negro in America, 1619-1964

By Lerone Bennett, Lerone Bennett, Jr.

Published by Penguin Books, 1966

ISBN 0140208569, 9780140208566

435 pages

This book was written as a series of magazine (Ebony) articles in the early 1960s when the word Negro was still accepted. Now, of course, one would say African-American. Very well written, it describes this history of Africans in the Americas, mostly in the USA.

What Would Jefferson Do? by Thom Hartmann. ISBN 1-4000-5209-2. This book discusses democracy in general and democracy in the USA. It describes the founding fathers and what their writings and actions indicate they believed concerning democracy and other subjects, e.g., religion. The book further discusses problems with the government in the USA and some things that the author thinks should be done to correct them. Well written and easy to read. One of the main themes is the evils of uncontrolled corporations and how they try to push the government towards fascism.