Tag Archives: America

The Men Who United the States

Posted on December 27, 2013 by smellincoffee

 The Men Who United the States: America’s Explorers, Inventors, Eccentrics and Mavericks, and the Creation of One Nation, Indivisible© 2013 Simon Winchester496 pages The Men who United the States is a storied account of how the American people came to … Continue reading →

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Bicycle: the History

Posted on October 18, 2013 by smellincoffee

Bicycle: The History© 2006 David Herlihy480 pages Where did the bicycle come from? Bicycle: the History tells the story in exacting detail, beginning in the 19th century. An age of progress  and scientific triumph, wherein everyday life was constantly being … Continue reading →

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Crabgrass Frontier

Posted on October 3, 2013 by smellincoffee

Crabgrass Frontier:  The Suburbanization of the United States© 1985 Kenneth Jackson432 pages For thousands of years, people lived in either the country or the city, but with the coming of the industrial revolution that changed, and especially in America.   … Continue reading →

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Astronaut Wives Club

Posted on September 7, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Astronaut Wives Club© 2013 Lily Koppell288 pages When a gang of test pilots joined the Mercury program, they and those who followed them didn’t have an inkling of what was to come– and their wives, their unwitting partners in … Continue reading →

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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 →

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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 →

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1632

Posted on August 4, 2013 by smellincoffee

1632© 2000 Eric Flint608 pages Tremble, lords of Germany. A new breed has come into the world. What happens when you throw a small American mining town from the 20th century into the middle of Germany…during the 17th-century’s Thirty Years … Continue reading →

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It Can’t Happen Here

Posted on July 24, 2013 by smellincoffee

It Can’t Happen Here© 1935 Sinclair Lewis400 pages The Great Depression sent the entire western world reeling, destroying faith in the existing order and creating opportunities for charismatic, forceful leaders with vision to sweep into power and create societies anew … Continue reading →

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Jayber Crow

Posted on July 3, 2013 by smellincoffee

Jayber Crow: the Life Story of Jayber Crow, Barber of the Port William Membership, As Written by Himself© 2000363 pages “Telling a story is like reaching into a granary full of wheat and drawing out a handful. There is always … Continue reading →

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Never Done

Posted on June 1, 2013 by smellincoffee

Never Done: A History of American Housework © 1982 Susan Strasser 365 pages Every time I turn around there’s something else to do Cook a meal or mend a sock or sweep a floor or two… (“Gonna Be an Engineer”, … Continue reading →

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