Category Archives: history

Sky Walking

Posted on September 15, 2013 by smellincoffee

Sky Walking: An Astronaut’s Memoir© 2007 Tom Jones384 pages Although the exploration of space has a scientific edge, the first astronauts were not scientists: they were military pilots. Thomas Jones is no exception, establishing the foundation for his career in … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, science | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Satisfaction Guaranteed

Posted on September 12, 2013 by smellincoffee

Satisfaction Guaranteed: the Making of the American Mass Market© 2004 Susan Strasser348 pages America was born of the frontier, its citizens people who by necessity often manufactured their own household requirements.  This was the case throughout most of the 19th … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Two Sides of the Moon

Posted on September 5, 2013 by smellincoffee

Two Sides of the Moon© 2006 Alexei Leonov and David Scott448 pages Remember the fifties, those fat complacent days when the Future seemed a century away? Then up went Sputnik, gave the world a butt-kick, and made it clear tomorrow … Continue reading →

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

Radicals for Capitalism

Posted on September 1, 2013 by smellincoffee

Radicals for Capitalism: A Freewheeling History of the Modern American Libertarian Movement© 2008 Brian Doherty740 pages Libertarianism has been in the news recently: Julian Assange referred to its rising wave in the Republican party as America’s best hope for halting … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

This week at the library: France, airborne chivalry, and Wendell Berry

Posted on July 29, 2013 by smellincoffee

Dear readers: This past week saw the conclusion of my annual tribute to France after reading An Outline of French History, by Rene Sedillot. The work is translated from French, but bears no weakness on that account: it is as … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Getting There

Posted on July 19, 2013 by smellincoffee

Getting There: the Epic Struggle  between Road and Rail in the American Century© 1996 Stephen Goddard366 pages Regardless of the status of George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, and William Pitt, each man of power traveled at the same speed as the … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

American Creation

Posted on June 29, 2013 by smellincoffee

American Creation: Triumphs and Tragedies at the Founding of the Republic© Joseph Ellis304 pages In Founding Brothers, Joseph Ellis used a series of nonfictional ‘stories’ about the founding fathers of the United States to illustrate how their personal relationships with … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

This week at the library..money, Gandhi, and the American revolution

Posted on June 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

This week at the library, I am in the middle of my Revolutionary War reading, having finally finished the massive biography of Alexander Hamilton. I found it lived up to the recommendation as an antidote to the anti-Hamilton bias of … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Alexander Hamilton

Posted on June 25, 2013 by smellincoffee

Alexander Hamilton© 2005 Rob Chernow832 pages Who is  Alexander Hamilton? The greatest founder save George Washington, or the Antichrist?  The latter is the view of Hamilton one may derive from the accounts of John Adams and Thomas Jefferson, whereas Rob … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , | 1 Comment

Salt, Sugar, Fat

Posted on June 6, 2013 by smellincoffee

Salt, Sugar, Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us© 2013 Michael Moss480 pages Between the fresh produce, meat, and dairy sections that ring the perimeter of the average supermarket,  millions of unique foodstuffs are offered and advertised. But their apparent … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment