Category Archives: history

An Edible History of Humanity

Posted on July 11, 2014 by smellincoffee

An Edible History of Humanity© 2010 Tom Standage288 pages Tom Standage offers a course in human history set at the dinner table, beginning with agriculture and moving swiftly to the green revolution.  His A History of the World in Six … Continue reading →

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George Washington’s Secret Six

Posted on July 5, 2014 by smellincoffee

George Washington’s Secret Six© 2013 Brian Kilmead257 pages Wars are not won by soldiers alone. In the shadows are those silently gathering information, sometimes at great risks to themselves,  to give the nation’s leaders an edge over the foe — … Continue reading →

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The American Tory

Posted on July 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

The American Tory© 1972 ed. Morten Borden, Penn Borden 141 pages American colonists yearning for independence from Britain called themselves Patriots, not in opposition against the not-yet-arrived royal army, but to set their cause against that of the Loyalists. Not … Continue reading →

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Power, Inc

Posted on June 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

Power, Inc: the Epic Rivalry between Government and Big Business© 2013 David Rothkopf448 pages      Historians of western civilization are used to viewing its late medieval and early modern period through the lens of a church versus state battle; the … Continue reading →

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The Partly Cloudy Patriot

Posted on June 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Partly Cloudy Patriot© 2003 Sarah Vowell197 pages           The Partly Cloudy Patriot sees cheeky Yank Sarah Vowell muse on history, politics, and American life in general through a series of essays written in 2001. Her familar … Continue reading →

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The Great War at Sea

Posted on June 18, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Great War at Sea: History of Naval Action 1914-1918© 1965 A.A. Hoehling346 pages             The Great War is not called the first world war for nothing, taking place as it did not only across the … Continue reading →

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The Vikings

Posted on June 12, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Vikings: A History© 2010 Robert Ferguson464 pagesUK title: The Hammer and the Cross: A History of the Vikings             VIKINGS!  For students of western civilization, the word has quite the mystique. Invaders from the frozen … Continue reading →

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The Burden of Southern History

Posted on June 2, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Burden of Southern History © 1960, 1968, 1970 C. Vann Wordward 250 pages Louisiana State University Press The publication of these essays on southern character and its tragic history, from Civil War to the abandoned civil rights efforts of … Continue reading →

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Away Down South

Posted on May 31, 2014 by smellincoffee

Away Down South: A History of Southern Identity © 2007 James C. Cobb 416 pages             What does it mean to be southern, beyond a fondness for turnip greens and cornbread?  The answer is an evolving one, as the South’s … Continue reading →

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The White War

Posted on May 15, 2014 by smellincoffee

 The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front, 1915-1919©  Mark Thompson 488 pages By 1915, what began as a conflict between Austria and Serbia had broadened into the Great War, whose largest contenders were not parties to the … Continue reading →

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