Tag Archives: history

The Other Side of Western Civilization

Posted on December 15, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Other Side of Western Civilization: Readings in Everyday Life,© 1979 ed. Stanley Chodorow363 pages The Other Side of Western Civilization collects readings in social history ranging from antiquity to the Renaissance. Its subtitle Readings in Everyday Life is largely … Continue reading →

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

A Consumers’ Republic

Posted on November 9, 2013 by smellincoffee

A Consumers’ Republic© 2002 Lizbeth Cohen576 pages What is the meaning of citizenship? To the Romans, and to the early Americans, citizenship was an exclusive state of being that depended on owning land, and so a stake in society. In … Continue reading →

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

Zealot

Posted on October 29, 2013 by smellincoffee

Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth© 2013 Raza Aslan337 pages Reza Aslan’s Zealot searches for the historical Jesus and finds him as a religious revolutionary, one who anticipated the imminent demise of the Roman Empire. No gentle … Continue reading →

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

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 →

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

The Box

Posted on October 8, 2013 by smellincoffee

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger© 2006 Marc Levinson376 pages It’s not every day an invention completely revolutionizes its industry, let alone the world. And yet that’s what the shipping container, … Continue reading →

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

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 →

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

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