Tag Archives: history

Great Rulers of the African Past

Posted on November 9, 2018 by smellincoffee

Great Rulers of the African Past120 pages© 1965 Lavinia Dobler and William Brown Most of African history is a complete unknown for me; what few kings I can name outside of Egypt and Carthage are familiar to me only through … Continue reading →

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An Iron Wind

Posted on October 11, 2018 by smellincoffee

An Iron Wind: Europe Under Hitler©  2016 Peter Fritzsche376 pages That crowds that cheered Neville Chamberlain’s return to England with a promise of peace in his hand are easy to condemn in hindsight. But no one in the 21st century … Continue reading →

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The Iran Wars

Posted on October 3, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Iran Wars: Spy Games, Bank Battles, and the Secret Deals that Reshaped the Middle East © 2016 Jay Solomon 352 pages When the young people of Iran hit the streets in protest about suspicious election returns in 2009, the … Continue reading →

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The Looming Tower

Posted on September 28, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Looming Tower: Al-Queda and the Road to 9/11 © 2006 Lawrence Wright 480 pages “[…] we’re told that they were zealots, fueled by religious fervor…religious fervor. And if you live to be a thousand years old, will that make … Continue reading →

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A Nation Challenged

Posted on September 23, 2018 by smellincoffee

A Nation Challenged: A Visual History of 9/11 and Its Aftermath© 2002 The New York Times240 pages The first few anniversaries of 9/11 had a weight as they approached — not only for what memories they evoked, but for the … Continue reading →

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Fly Girls

Posted on September 11, 2018 by smellincoffee

Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied the Odds and Made Aviation History© 2018 Keith O’Brien352 pages “Women must try to do things as men have tried. Where they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others.” – … Continue reading →

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Antiquity

Posted on September 10, 2018 by smellincoffee

Antiquity: The Civilization of the Ancient World© 2003 Norman F. Cantor256 pages Perhaps western history is all Greek to you. In that case, Norman Cantor’s Antiquity may shed a little light on the subject. It is a brief work, scarcely over … Continue reading →

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The New Tsar

Posted on August 14, 2018 by smellincoffee

The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin© 2012 Steven Lee Myers592pages When the Soviet Union collapsed abruptly at the dawn of the 1990s, the world order changed overnight. Optimists predicted the ‘end of history’.   Such an end … Continue reading →

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Broad Band

Posted on August 9, 2018 by smellincoffee

Broad Band: The Untold Story of the Women Who Made the Internet © 2018 Claire Evans288 pages When the ENIAC was first displayed for the public, its proponents bragged that it could do complex mathematical calculations in seconds which would have … Continue reading →

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How the Post Office Created America

Posted on July 5, 2018 by smellincoffee

How the Post Office Created America:  A History© 2016 Winifred Gallagher336 pages Once the conduit of revolution, then a mainstay of communities both rural and urban, the post office has fallen on rough times as of late.   Amid speculation that … Continue reading →

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