Category Archives: history

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England

Posted on February 11, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century© 2008 Ian Mortimer342 pages Within minutes of being transported to the time of King Arthur,  Mark Twain’s fictional Yankee found himself arrested and facing death.  … Continue reading →

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Fares Please!

Posted on January 17, 2018 by smellincoffee

Fares, Please! A Popular History of Trolleys, Horsecars, Streetcar,s, Buses, Elevateds, and Subways© 1941, 1960 John Anderson Miller204 pages With her high starch collar and her high-topped shoes,  and her hair piled high above her headShe went to find a … Continue reading →

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Amsterdam

Posted on January 16, 2018 by smellincoffee

Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City© 2013 Russell Shorto369 pages In the early 14th century, a group of fisher-folk around the Amstel river came together with a dream: to build a place where people could smoke weed … Continue reading →

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Empires of Light

Posted on December 9, 2017 by smellincoffee

Empires of Light: Edison, Tesla, Westinghouse, and the Race to Electrify the World © 2004 Jill Jonnes464 pages Empires of Light is less a history of how the United States became electrified and more a biography of three electrical titans – … Continue reading →

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China, Japan, and New Mexico

Posted on November 24, 2017 by smellincoffee

In the last couple of weeks I’ve finished some books  that haven’t gotten full reviews. Here are some quick shots! First up: New Mexico, A History. This is…exactly what it says it is, a history of New Mexico. Published to … Continue reading →

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These Rugged Days

Posted on November 22, 2017 by smellincoffee

These Rugged Days: Alabama in the Civil War© 2017 John Sledge296 pages Although Alabama was not the site of as many bloody battles as Virginia and Tennessee in the Civil War, it was not a quiet backwater only troubled at … Continue reading →

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The Hemingway Patrols

Posted on November 14, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Hemingway Patrols: Ernest Hemingway and his Hunt for U-boats © 2009 Terry Mort 272 pages For some people, getting involved in the war effort meant collecting cans. For Ernest Hemingway, it meant patrolling the waters between the Florida Keys … Continue reading →

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Conquest of the Skies

Posted on November 7, 2017 by smellincoffee

Conquest of the Skies: A History of Commercial Aviation in America© 1979 Carl Solberg441 pages If ever you wanted a history of commercial aviation in the United States, Conquest of the Skies is it. Beginning with the origins of flight … Continue reading →

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Korea Reborn

Posted on October 15, 2017 by smellincoffee

Korea Reborn: A Grateful Nation Honors Veterans for 60 Years of Growth© 2015 Republic of Korea’s Ministry of Patriots161 pages Like most Americans, I have very little knowledge of the Korean War, outside of knowing Douglas MacArthur’s role there.  When … Continue reading →

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German Resistance to Hitler

Posted on October 14, 2017 by smellincoffee

German Resistance to Hitler© 1988 Peter Hoffman188 pages Peter Hoffman’s research into the German resistance culminated in a 900-page History of the German Resistance 1933-1945, but this work – simply titled German Resistance to Hitler —  is a much smaller … Continue reading →

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