elsaamo

Or better yet - Dave Barry's book on American history. Best history ever. Got me a 5 on the AP

Well, it depends on which parts of pre-20th century American history you study. I'm normally interested in modern American history, but there was a time I really liked Revolutionary American history and from there the only major work I'd say you almost "need" to read is Bernard Bailyn's Ideological Origins of the American Revolution, as much for his prose as his history. (I highly recommend J.G.A. Pocock's Machiavellian Moment generally, and it is nominally partially about the American Revolution, but it really isn't about it) It's a sad truth, I think, but very few historical works survive more than a few decades, so there aren't that many "classics". I don't think very many Roman historians bother to read even Gibbon anymore - most of his relevant points have been added into more modern works, and the rest is ignored. The one exception to this rule is actually Pocock, who seems to be partially an historical historian i.e. an historian of historians or of history (yeah, this might need a better name). He even wrote a very long series of books about Gibbon (though, for the record, I haven't read either). As to a guide to the historiography, that's also kind of difficult. For whatever reason, I've never come across a sort of chatty book written by an American historian discussing the various books in the field. You occasionally see a British work like that (for those interested, I highly recommend J.H. Plumb - I know British historians don't like him, but his essays are hilarious), but rarely American. Because you don't specify which period you're really interested in (or maybe you don't know yet), it's kind of hard to be of much help, except to say my favorite way to enter any particular field is to cannibalize bibliographies, either from a good encyclopedia entry, or simply find any book on the field, flip to the end, and enjoy!