Category Archives: history

How Microsoft’s Mogul Reinvented an Industry

Posted on June 1, 2018 by smellincoffee

Gates: How Microsoft’s Mogul Reinvented an Industry-and Made Himself the Richest Man in America © 1994 Stephen Manes and Paul Andrews 560 pages   I recently watched Pirates of Silicon Valley, a questionably-acted movie based on the rise of  Bill … Continue reading →

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Exploding the Phone

Posted on May 25, 2018 by smellincoffee

Exploding the Phone: The Untold Story of the Teenagers and Outlaws who Hacked Ma Bell© Phil Lapsley 2013416 pages WANTED HARVARD MIT Fine Arts no. 13 notebook. (121 pages) & 40 page reply K.K. & C.R. plus 2,800; battery; m.f. … Continue reading →

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Alone

Posted on May 19, 2018 by smellincoffee

Alone: Britain, Churchill, and Dunkirk: Defeat Into Victory© 2017 Michael Korda544 pages Judging by most World War 2 histories, the war only heats up once Hitler’s rapid takeover of northern and western Europe is accomplished in the spring of 1940, … Continue reading →

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Tales from a Mainframe Mechanic

Posted on May 9, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Computer Guy Is Here! Mainframe Mechanic© 2018 John Sak201 pages When John Sak began his training with IBM as a young college drop out, instructors informed his class that the only constant they could expect from their careers was … Continue reading →

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A Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England

Posted on April 19, 2018 by smellincoffee

A Time Traveler’s Guide to Elizabethan England© 2014 Ian Mortimer415 pages Previously Ian Mortimer has offered readers with access to a time machine a handbook for medieval England. Perhaps mystery plays based on Scripture are not your interest, however, and you’d … Continue reading →

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The Birth of Britain

Posted on April 16, 2018 by smellincoffee

History of the English Speaking Peoples, Vol 1: The Birth of Britain521 pages© 1956 Sir Winston Churchill I’ve been reading from Sir Winston Churchill’s History of the English Speaking Peoples the last few Read of Englands, but didn’t previously have … Continue reading →

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Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am

Posted on March 23, 2018 by smellincoffee

Skygods: The Fall of Pan Am© 2011 Robert Gandt351 pages How does a world-class airline fall so quickly from the heights that its pilots are accidentally locked in the building when it closes its doors for the last time, forced … Continue reading →

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9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America

Posted on February 19, 2018 by smellincoffee

9 Presidents Who Screwed Up America and 4 Who Tried to Save Her©  2016 Brion McClanahan354 pages It is my dearest hope that by the time Donald Trump leaves the West Wing, the office of the presidency will have been … Continue reading →

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House of Rain

Posted on February 17, 2018 by smellincoffee

House of Rain: Tracking a Vanished Civilization Across the American Southwest © 2007 Craig Childs 482 pages Throughout the southwest United States and northern Mexico there are ruins from a people long gone, people remembered as the Anasazi. The name … Continue reading →

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Everyday Life of the North American Indians

Posted on February 13, 2018 by smellincoffee

Everyday Life of the North American Indian© 1979 Jon White256 pages Everyday Life of the North American Indian is a dated but informative survey of the customs and lifestyles of native peoples across the continent. Most of the content is organized … Continue reading →

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