In the aftermath of the neo-Nazi-led violence in Charlottesville that left a young woman dead, Donald Trump held one of the strangest and most notorious of his press conferences to date.

In it, as he sought to defend some of the white nationalists protesting in Charlottesville over a plan to remove a statue of Robert E Lee - some were “very fine people”, he said - he mixed up centuries, presidents and landmark moments in US history.

Lee, as commander of the Confederate Army, embarked on a bloody battle against the authorities in Washington in order to retain the system of slavery and secede from the Union. The four-years of bloody and brutal civil conflict resulted in the deaths of at least one million people.

Falwell Jr has been an unwavering supporter of Mr Trump since the early days of his 2016 presidential campaign (JIM WATSON/AFP/Getty Images)

During two periods following the end of the war - between 1880-1920 and during the 1950s and and 1960s - there was a flurry of action to commission and erect of statues of figures such as Lee, and the promotion of the Confederate flag. Experts said both were a move by white communities to try and enforce and maintain supremacy over African Americans.

Many southern states adopted the Confederate battle flag during the 1960s as their symbol as a potent rejection of the civil rights act of 1964 which formally ended segregation, and the 1965 voting rights act, designed to ensure ballot rights for minority communities.

Critics of Mr Trump said he appeared to be ignorant about some of the most basic facts surrounding the issues he was talking about - slavery, the end of slavery, the Jim Crow-era, and the fight for civil rights - never mind having a broad historical view. Plenty of people suggested he would do well to take the time to read some history books on the subject.

To that end, The Independent spoke to a cross-section of experts, artists and activists and asked them to suggest a title or two that the President would benefit from keeping his bedside table.

The list was designed to inform the President of America’s difficult, painful history, a history involved the mass kidnapping of millions of people, the establishment of an apartheid society, the genocide of indigenous people and the ongoing struggle by people of colour. One suggestion - the last - was intended to remind Mr Trump of the dangers of not telling the truth.

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Linda Heywood: Professor of History and African American Studies at Boston University

1. Slavery by Another Name: The Re-Enslavement of Black Americans From the Civil War to World War II, by Douglas A Blackmon

2. Beyond the Battlefield: Race, Memory and the American Civil War by David W Blight

“The two books I suggest reappeared several times on my syllabus because they were presenting the Civil War and Reconstruction in new and engaging ways. They were easy to read, and handled the issues of the continuing debates over the War and Reconstruction in ways that linked to race, economics, politics, culture, and particularly how our memories, and our devotion to showing that history through building monuments to heroes and places, makes the history alive,” said Ms Heywood.

Professor Heywood said the 'African American struggle to assert that American identity is far from over' (University of Boston ) (University of Boston)

“We can go so far to assert that this period in our nation’s history was rewritten in monuments. The problems that we now confront suggest that these issues still need to be revisited, discussed and debated. This is an opportune time for bringing this to the attention of our President and his officials.”

She added: “Many of our officials, including our President, may not have taken a course similar to the one we teach at Boston University in African American Studies. The course focuses on how Africans became Americans. The African American struggle to assert that American identity is far from over.”

Robert Chase: Assistant professor of history at Stony Brook University

3. Slavery and Public History: The Tough Stuff of American Memory, edited by James Oliver Horton

4. Lies Across America: What Our Historic Sites Get Wrong, by James Loewen

5. The Confederate Battle Flag: America's Most Embattled Emblem, John Coski

“Donald Trump is not only ignorant of the facts, but also of historical methodology,” he said.

“There was a joke during the Soviet times that everyone knew the future, but that the past was still being fought over. It meant that how controlled history, controlled the future.

“That is why Donald Trump is trying to reimagine a past that never existed for his own good. That is also a trait of dictatorships.”

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Tara Houska, Native American activist and campaigner

6. Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West, by Dee Brown

7. A People’s History of the United States, by Howard Zinn

8. Custer Died for Your Sins: An Indian Manifesto, by Vine Deloria

“It would be cool if he gained some insight into the actual history of the United States and realised that he is an immigrant also,” said Ms Houska.

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Franti is a veteran campaigner on social issues (Getty)

9. The Four Agreements, by Don Miguel Ruiz - the first of which states: “Be impeccable with your word.”

Judith Giesberg: Professor at the Department of History at Villanova University

10. Confederate Reckoning: Power and Politics in the Civil War South by Stephanie McCurry

11. Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War, by Elizabeth Varon

12. A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, by Anne Sarah Rubin

“[Mr Trump] is symptomatic of a problem we have in general when Americans think about history,” she said.

“When he jumps around from one period to the next, he reminds me of an undergraduate student who has not go the ability to think historically and know that there are different periods.”

Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Show all 9 1 /9 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Protesters clash and several are injured White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Virginia. A state of emergency is declared, August 12 2017 Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Trump supporters at the protest A white nationalist demonstrator walks into Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Hundreds of people chanted, threw punches, hurled water bottles and unleashed chemical sprays on each other Saturday after violence erupted at a white nationalist rally in Virginia. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville State police stand ready in riot gear Virginia State Police cordon off an area around the site where a car ran into a group of protesters after a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Militia armed with assault rifles White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' with body armor and combat weapons evacuate comrades who were pepper sprayed after the 'Unite the Right' rally was declared a unlawful gathering by Virginia State Police. Militia members marched through the city earlier in the day, armed with assault rifles. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Statue of Confederate General Robert E Lee The statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee stands behind a crowd of hundreds of white nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' during the 'Unite the Right' rally 12 August 2017 in Charlottesville, Virginia. They are protesting the removal of the statue from Emancipation Park in the city. Getty Images Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Racial tensions sparked the violence White nationalists, neo-Nazis and members of the 'alt-right' exchange insults with counter-protesters as they attempt to guard the entrance to Lee Park during the 'Unite the Right' rally Getty Violence on the streets of Charlottesville A car plows through protesters A vehicle drives into a group of protesters demonstrating against a white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia. The incident resulted in multiple injuries, some life-threatening, and one death. AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville Rescue personnel help injured people after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia AP Photo Violence on the streets of Charlottesville President Donald Trump speaks about the ongoing situation in Charlottesville, Virginia from his golf club in Bedminster, New Jersey. He spoke about "loyalty" and "healing wounds" left by decades of racism.

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13. Charlottesville: Race and Terror, a documentary by Vice News.

“I don’t think Trump has the capacity to read a book - let’s show him some worthwhile television like the Vice Media piece about white supremacists in Charlottesville,” she said.

A young woman was killed after white supremacists protested over the planned removal of Lee's statue (AP)

Ashley Farmer: Professor and teacher of African American History at Boston University

14. Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, by Ibram Kendi

15. Behind the Mask of Chivalry: The Making of the Second Ku Klux Klan, by Nancy MacLean

16. White Rage: The Unspoken Truth About our Racial Divide, by Carol Anderson

Clive Stafford Smith: activist, human right lawyer and founder of Reprieve