Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee by Dee Brown, published in 1971, chronicles the massacres of Native Americans in the 19th century. This book compelled America to reconsider the myths surrounding the Old West and its historical treatment of Indigenous people.

The Prairie, written by James Fenimore Cooper in 1827, tells the story of an aged Natty Bumppo in the nascent United States. Iowa is nicknamed "The Hawkeye State" in tribute to Cooper's protagonist.

Persuasion is an 1818 novel by Jane Austen that explores a young woman's quest for happiness. It is believed that Cooper was inspired to write his own book after reading this novel, claiming he could produce a superior work.

Waverley, Sir Walter Scott's 1814 novel about the Jacobite Rebellion, was a major publishing success, selling extensively in both Britain and the United States. Scott's work popularized the historical novel as a literary genre.

Nathaniel Hawthorne's 1850 novel, The Scarlet Letter, is a historical work that reexamines myths about early American life. The tale of Hester Prynne and her punishment scrutinizes Puritan morality and explores the dynamics between colonial America and the wilderness and its inhabitants.

A Narrative of the Captivity and Restoration by Mary White Rowlandson, published in 1682, details her capture by a group of rebelling Native Americans. As one of the earliest "abduction narratives," Rowlandson's account highlights the religious, cultural, and political conflicts between the colonizers and the Indigenous people.

Letters from an American Farmer by J. Hector St. John de Crevecoeur, published in 1782, is a "novel" about American life during the pre-Revolutionary and Revolutionary periods. Presented as a series of fictional letters from a self-made farmer, Crevecoeur's book gained immense popularity in Europe and significantly shaped the perception of the American character—emphasizing self-reliance, hard work, honesty, and a connection with nature.