Tag Archives: history

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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A Splendid Exchange

Posted on May 6, 2014 by smellincoffee

A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World© 2009 David Bernstein496 pages            History oft moves with the caravans and trade fleets, and its journeys along the routes  of the past and present are given a storied account … Continue reading →

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More Work for Mother

Posted on May 5, 2014 by smellincoffee

More Work for Mother: the Ironies of American Housework © 1985 Ruth Cowan            288 pages        Throughout the 20thcentury,  households were transformed by a new abundance of labor-saving devices, from washing machines to toaster ovens, and processed … Continue reading →

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The Age of Revolution

Posted on April 25, 2014 by smellincoffee

History of the English-Speaking Peoples: The Age of Revolution© 1955 Sir Winston Churchill332 pages The third volume in Winston Churchill’s “History of the English Speaking Peoples” begins with the most dramatic assumption of power in modern English history.  In the … Continue reading →

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