Category Archives: history

Soviets…..in Space

Posted on August 23, 2021 by smellincoffee

Soviets in Space: The People of the USSR and the Race to the Moon© 2021 Colin Turbett232 pages In 1959, Soviet Russia shocked the world, and especially its rival the United States, by launching an artificial satellite into orbit. Sputnik-I’s … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , | 4 Comments

Into the Black

Posted on July 29, 2021 by smellincoffee

Into the Black: The Extraordinary Untold Story of the First Flight of the Space Shuttle Columbia © 2016 Rowland White480 pages As the Apollo missions neared the completion of their goal, NASA looked ahead and charted a bold new course … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 9 Comments

Life, liberty, and the pursuit of literature

Posted on July 7, 2021 by smellincoffee

My reading in the last week celebrated or at least observed the memory of, the American Revolution, though the books I picked this year proved to be a mildly disappointing lot. First up was The Return of George Washington, an … Continue reading →

Posted in historical fiction, history, Reviews | Tagged , , | 4 Comments

Victorian London

Posted on April 22, 2021 by smellincoffee

Victorian London: The Life of a City, 1840 – 1870© 2013 Liza Picard504 pages As far as immersive English social histories go, I would heretofore have called Ian Mortimer the champion standing, but if Victorian London is any example, Liza … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 4 Comments

A Visitor’s Guide to Jane Austen’s England

Posted on April 8, 2021 by smellincoffee

A Visitor’s Guide to Jane Austen’s England© 2014 Sue Wilkes224 pages Fancy a visit with Jane? Sue Wilkes has created here a light introduction to Austen’s society, the landed gentry of the mid-Georgian period. Although its approach reminds one of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

Death and madness in China

Posted on February 22, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History© 2016 Frank Dikotter433 pages In twenty-five years of reading history, I know of no man who has instigated more human suffering and death at a broader scale than Mao Tse-tung, the rebel turned architect … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 13 Comments

Double play: Mobile & Latin America

Posted on February 15, 2021 by smellincoffee

This past week has seen a little progress on the ol’ TBR front, as I knocked out three books from the list, including The Network and those below. First up was E.O. Wilson’s Why We Are Here: Mobile and the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , , , , , | 15 Comments

The Network

Posted on February 11, 2021 by smellincoffee

The Network: The Battle for the Airwaves and the Birth of the Communications Age© 2015 Scottt Woolley280 pages Few things fascinate me as much as cities in the United States and Europe, circa 1880 – 1930: they were being remade … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 8 Comments

The Miracle of New Orleans

Posted on February 5, 2021 by smellincoffee

Andrew Jackson and the Miracle of New Orleans 2017 Brian Kilmeade256 pages I know precious little about the war of 1812, saved that it involved the United States invading Canada, D.C. being burned, and….something about New Orleans? That ….something is … Continue reading →

Posted in history | Tagged , , , , , , | 9 Comments

1913: A Year of Gossip

Posted on December 21, 2020 by smellincoffee

I reviewed this title on goodreads, I described it as “People magazine for prewar Germany & Austria, with Louis Armstrong and a stray Frenchman thrown in for good measure.” There’s no traditional narrative, more a long series of vignettes that … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 10 Comments