Tag Archives: history

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

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 →

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

Garbage Land

Posted on May 16, 2013 by smellincoffee

Garbage Land: on the Secret Trail of Trash© 2006 Elizabeth Royte335 pages Where does the garbage go? In an impressive attempt to answer that most pressing question of modern life, Elizabeth Royte spends a year following her trash to landfills, … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The New World

Posted on April 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

A History of the English-Speaking Peoples, Volume II: The New World© 1956 Winston Churchill400 pages Shortly before the eruption of the Second World War, Winston Churchill was busy at work authoring a history of the English and American people, of … Continue reading →

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

Straphanger

Posted on April 6, 2013 by smellincoffee

Straphanger: Saving Our Cities and Ourselves from the Automobile336 pages© 2012 Taras Grescoe The cheap energy era is over, unless someone invents a Star Trek replicator that can magick barrels of oil into existence. Cities across the world are working … Continue reading →

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

Railroad Stations

Posted on February 26, 2013 by smellincoffee

Railroad Stations: the Buildings that Linked the Nation© 2012 ed. David Naylor336 pages For the past couple of weeks I’ve been slowly enjoying Railroad Stations: the Buildings that Linked the Nation, a collection of photographs of the United States’ wide … Continue reading →

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

Waiting on a Train

Posted on February 9, 2013 by smellincoffee

Waiting on a Train: the Embattled Future of Passenger Rail Service© 2009 James McCommons304 pages You leave the Pennsylvania Station ’bout a quarter to four, Read a magazine and then you’re in Baltimore! Dinner in the diner, nothing could be … Continue reading →

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