For those who aren’t familiar:
David Macaulay is an illustrator and author who writes two main kinds of works:
Modern Technology, his flagship publication beingThe Way Things Work- an illustrated guide with drawings that demonstrate how computers/television sets/pencil sharpeners/hydraulic dams/etc., work.
Ancient & Medieval History: Castle, Cathedral, City (about a Roman colonial city rising from scratch), Pyramid, Mosque and others that demonstrate the mechanics and the economics and the other vital concerns of pre-modern massive building projects. Several of these have accompanying documentaries. In the Castle documentary (part his animations and part live action) he goes into great detail on castle defenses and weaponry; totally great book for anyone interested in medieval history.
Edwin Tunis (1897-1973) is long dead but his books (Frontier Living, The Tavern at the Ferry, Weapons and others) are all either still in print or available reasonably from used book stores. He was much like Macaulay except he tended to write more about “regular folks” and he particularly liked the Colonial America, thus instead of castles and cathedrals he did cabins and plantations and taverns and furniture making among other topics. I’ve only discovered him recently but I’ve loved everything I’ve read by him.
Both of these authors are technically writers of childrens/young adult books, but having studied history at the graduate level and taught at the undergraduate I highly recommend them to history buffs of any age. “A picture is worth a thousand words” is a cliche because it’s true after all, and while you can read descriptions of houses and towns and primary source documents until your eyes glaze over seeing an illustration of a castle wall going up or how a colonial bed was made or the space saving methods that made it possible for a family of 6 to live in a one room house adds dimensions that scholarly works don’t.
So, does anybody know of other authors who write along these genres: well illustrated works about historical or architectural or mechanical (or particularly historical mechanical architectural) subjects? I’d love to build up a collection of the better stuff. (I love Larry Gonick’s Cartoon History of… books but for the brevity and wit more than the illustrations.)
Thanks-
