American Nations

American Nations: A History of the Eleven Rival Regional Cultures of North America by Colin Woodard lays out a history based on the settlement of the continent.

The map below illustrates the cultural divisions as identified by the book. You may notice that the same maps appear in everything from maps of the US Civil War to economic and election maps today.

The book is engaging, well written, and informative. Here's a nice review.

Highly recommended - and also an excellent explanation for the situation we find ourselves in today. What does it mean for an empire when the cultural components no longer agree on basic values?