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Every avid reader has a list of their favourite authors and David Hackett Fischer is among my top 20. The importance of this historian comes in the thoroughness of his research and his ability to blissfully marry both data and storytelling into masterful narratives. Fischer stands as an unimpugned example of scholarship bent toward the masses; his books offer impeccably-documented facts woven together in easily-readable vignettes that leaves no stone unturned with regard to his chosen topic. To read David Hackett Fischer is to come away knowing everything about the person, place, and era he’s written about.
Here are 5 Books You Should Read by Historian David Hackett Fischer
1. Albion’s Seed
What can I say about “Albion’s Seed” except that it is one of the most influential pieces of research I have ever read with regard to the English peopling of America, in particular the Virginia Colony. Fischer’s subtitle is “Four British Folkways in America,” the boldfaced of which is a reference to the thesis of his book: that the only viable source of information in understanding who the early American colonists were is to simply realize that they were culturally English. It’s a marvelous transposition. It’s politically ironic, yet logically infallible.
In each of Fischer’s sections, he approaches and dissects his topics from multiple angles. For example, in his exposition of the New England colony he uses up to 24 different metrics to provide a deeper understanding of who these colonists were, not as instant Americans, but as Englishmen and Englishwomen to define their identity. He even outlines and defines each of these metrics in his introduction between pages 7-11.
In the 909 pages of absolutely gorgeous scholarship, David Hackett Fischer writes as a storyteller, provides the findings of an anthropologist, and graphs data like an economist. It really reminds me of graduate school reading but published for the every-day historian.
2. The Great Wave
In “The Great Wave” David Hackett Fischer makes any economists’ knees wobbly, and I mean that in a good way. He does this by bridging the seemingly insurmountable gap between QUALITATIVE and QUANTITATIVE; that is, by engaging quite more than the ‘he-said, she-said’ of pseudo-history but by stuffing and mounting the historical narrative against a wall of charts and graphs. This book is a reference manual of historical price fluctuations in and of itself.
Covering a span between the 12th and 21st centuries, Fischer deftly overlays the economic rhythms of past market changes to those causal events in our world history. He’s throwing his hat into a very exclusive ring along with of some of the world’s most brilliant economic minds such as Galbraith, Sylla, Piketty, Sachs, etc., and he’s succeeded, in my opinion.
Case and point, the book has 26 chapters which total 258 pages; all of his reference material including appendices, notes, and annotated bibliography amount to 242 pages, that’s only a 16 page difference between his actual writing and his support material.
3. Washington’s Crossing
In the spirit of the American Revolution, David Hackett Fischer offers us his Pulitzer Prize winning book, “Washington’s Crossing.” Fischer’s treatment of General Washington’s epic crossing of the Delaware and the winning of the Revolution is of immense importance as a literary piece because it stands out among the multitudes of other ‘Washington’ books that have been written about our immortal founding father.
In his recounting of the events of America’s independence from Great Britain, Fischer does not fall into some of the common traps that other historians have: (1) he does not lead us to erroneously believe that 100% of colonists living during the American Revolution considered themselves to be “American;” and, (2) he portrays Alexander Hamilton as the preeminent hero that he was.
Fischer’s writing style in this book is simply captivating. I’ve read at least a dozen books on this topic and “Washington’s Crossing” is both eloquent and transcendent; it captures the magical spirit of the energy of a fledgling band of revolutionaries – with all of their imperfections – while at the same time making you feel like you are there and needing to make a decision to join them.
4. Champlain’s Dream
This exceptional narrative was absolutely spellbinding for me to read. I was only drawn to this book because of its author, to be honest, as I saw it perched upon a book shelf at a book sale. However, once I got it home and opened up its first pages I instantly became mesmerized by the incredible story of Samuel de Champlain!
Champlain’s story is truly incredible as the architect of the French settlement of North America. His history is deeply intertwined with that of the French monarchy, the Italian Renaissance, the English in the Americas, as well as the numerous Native American tribes he encountered. David Hackett Fischer weaves this exposé on one of history’s most forgotten heroes with absolute clarity and unassailable energy; he brings to life not only a character from history but also a man, his dimensions, and dreams.
5. Bound Away
Of all the David Hackett Fischer books on this list, it is here because of its importance to the historical narrative of the South and the State of Virginia in particular. As the very first colony on American soil, Virginia literally provided all of the “energy, vigor, talent, and leadership” (Fischer & Kelly 2000: xiii) to every other newly-created southern state subsequent to it.
The implications of Fischer’s research are very important to me. From its very outset, the book systematically examines several competing theories about the westward expansion of America, the authors (Fischer and Kelly) then seek to recast these motivations of how and why our ancestors chose to leave their families and surroundings and trod off in search of new lands and opportunities. Like “Albion’s Seed,” this book is profoundly revelatory in its conclusions about the assumptions we have long-held about the people that made our country grow. One of those assumptions is that of a static culture that was passed along generations as a ‘founding culture;’ however, what Fischer is purporting is that the dynamic of cultural change that happened in the face of westward expansion was ultimately much more fluid and in-the-moment inclusive of many different perspectives. This is one for any historians bookshelf!
You can visit David Hackett Fischer’s Amazon page and view his available published works, including all 5 of the books I’ve reviewed here in this article. I have no affiliate relationship with Amazon. For more great book reviews, check out all of the Family History Foundation’s FEATURES.
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I have just finished reading ‘Champlain’s Dream.’ It’s a magnificent book. I attended French schools in Montreal, I realised that I knew nothing about Champlain except that he founded Quebec city in 1608. I’m shocked at how we were short-changed by the curriculum. I recommend the book to every one I know – and a couple of people have taken me up on it. I will go on to the other books. I call this book – the best book I have ever read.
Thank you for that wonderful feedback Caroline. I too was overwhelmed by Champlain’s story and feel that more people should know about his contributions to the founding of North America in terms of his legacy and diplomacy, there are lessons there for us all. I’m happy you are recommending this book to others, it is one of my favourites as well.