Damn… Most of my favorite recent “little histories” have been covered:
**The Professor and the Madman
Longitude
The Great Arc
A History of pi
e: The Story of a Number
**
Buty what sets these aside from other histories? I loved McCulloch’s books ** The Great Bridge** (about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge), the Path Between the Seas (Panama Canal) and The Johnstown Flood, but these are neither short nor recent, which all the others listed tend to be. I love all of James Burke’s books – I’ve got most of them (Connections, The Day the Universe Changed, The Pinball Effect, etc.) Do they qualify for this list?
Damn… Most of my favorite recent “little histories” have been covered:
**The Professor and the Madman
Longitude
The Great Arc
A History of pi
e: The Story of a Number
**
Buty what sets these aside from other histories? I loved McCulloch’s books ** The Great Bridge** (about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge), the Path Between the Seas (Panama Canal) and The Johnstown Flood, but these are neither short nor recent, which all the others listed tend to be. I love all of James Burke’s books – I’ve got most of them (Connections, The Day the Universe Changed, The Pinball Effect, etc.) Do they qualify for this list?
Damn… Most of my favorite recent “little histories” have been covered:
**The Professor and the Madman
Longitude
The Great Arc
A History of pi
e: The Story of a Number
**
Buty what sets these aside from other histories? I loved McCulloch’s books ** The Great Bridge** (about the building of the Brooklyn Bridge), the Path Between the Seas (Panama Canal) and The Johnstown Flood, but these are neither short nor recent, which all the others listed tend to be. I love all of James Burke’s books – I’ve got most of them (Connections, The Day the Universe Changed, The Pinball Effect, etc.) Do they qualify for this list?
phreesh, N’s Nutmeg looks right up my alley - thanks! Cal - thanks for chiming in; I’ve already put some of the books you mention that I haven’t read on my list; as for the Burke books, the first is out of print so I will look for a used copy.
Starbury and Smaft - I have been “tracking” the Island of Lost Maps - looking for further references to it to see if I should take the time (e.g., does it seem to be thought of as good once the initial hype wears off). I still haven’t decided whether to read it…
I just finished WordFreak - enjoyable, insightful, fast read, but not nearly the same type of engaging history - the history of Scrabble is simply not as “important” (if you will) as the other topics covered in other books. Also, the author of WordFreak (who apparently grew up in the town I now live in) gets so immersed in the Scrabble world that he has difficulty maintaining perspective. And while the characters that populate the world are interesting to read about, the level of pathos is higher than I would like - on some level, these people come across more as a-social geeks who have crafted their own alternative world to exist in by necessity, as opposed to passionate enthusiasts who have quirks and found other others to share those quirks with.
As for The Pencil - I have heard a lot about it but have been afraid, based on what I have heard, that it goes into too much excruciating detail - it has been characterized as an anal retentive history to me. I will definitely check it out, though, given the votes here.
Thanks all - keep 'em coming if you have other ideas!
phreesh, N’s Nutmeg looks right up my alley - thanks! Cal - thanks for chiming in; I’ve already put some of the books you mention that I haven’t read on my list; as for the Burke books, the first is out of print so I will look for a used copy.
Starbury and Smaft - I have been “tracking” the Island of Lost Maps - looking for further references to it to see if I should take the time (e.g., does it seem to be thought of as good once the initial hype wears off). I still haven’t decided whether to read it…
I just finished WordFreak - enjoyable, insightful, fast read, but not nearly the same type of engaging history - the history of Scrabble is simply not as “important” (if you will) as the other topics covered in other books. Also, the author of WordFreak (who apparently grew up in the town I now live in) gets so immersed in the Scrabble world that he has difficulty maintaining perspective. And while the characters that populate the world are interesting to read about, the level of pathos is higher than I would like - on some level, these people come across more as a-social geeks who have crafted their own alternative world to exist in by necessity, as opposed to passionate enthusiasts who have quirks and found other others to share those quirks with.
As for The Pencil - I have heard a lot about it but have been afraid, based on what I have heard, that it goes into too much excruciating detail - it has been characterized as an anal retentive history to me. I will definitely check it out, though, given the votes here.
Thanks all - keep 'em coming if you have other ideas!
A recent purchase I’ll add to the recommendations above; Calendar - Humanity’s Epic Struggle to Determine a True and Accurate Year by David Ewing Duncan.
I forgot a few –
I believe the title is Sweetness and Power – it’s the surprising history of sugar.
It may be outside the definitions for this bunch, but one of my favorites is Chadwick Hansen’s revisionist history Withcraft at Salem. Very different from (and complementary to) the more widely quoted Salem Possessed by Boyer and Nissenbaum.
I was looking for some further reading suggestions, and I ended up returning to this thread again…
While I’m here, I thought I’d add a few more “micro-history” books that I’ve recently finished and found to be worthwhile. I’ve read a lot of the books listed in this thread so I thought I should return the favor:
Wine And War – about the Nazi occupation of France and the battle over France’s vineyards.
All the Shah’s Men…about British, and later American, involvement in Iran post-WW2.
The Pirate Hunter – about Captain Kidd … Richard Zacks (the author) basically argues that Captain Kidd wasn’t a pirate but a government agent hunting down pirates.