I can't recommend enough 'A People’s History of the United States' by Howard Zinn.
I feel that an honest lad shouldn't touch History (What happened?) without first wrapping is head around Historiography: Who's writing That History? Is there any conflict of interest in writing process?.
I feel that an honest lad shouldn't touch History (What happened?) without first wrapping is head around Historiography: Who's writing That History? Is there any conflict of interest in writing process?.