Tag Archives: history

The 100 Most Influential Books Ever Written

Posted on August 7, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Most Influential Books Ever Written: the History of Thought from Ancient Times to Today© 1998 Martin Seymour-Smith498 pages In retrospect, the introduction should have served as a warning to me.  Author Martin Seymour-Smith opened his The 100 Most Influential … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , , , | 3 Comments

La Belle France

Posted on August 3, 2010 by smellincoffee

La Belle France: a Short History© 2005 Alistair Horne485 pages I have rarely enjoyed any book as much as La Belle France, a quick sprint through French history that begins in the Roman era. Initially focusing on a small town … Continue reading →

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

Citizens

Posted on July 28, 2010 by smellincoffee

Citizens: a Chronicle of the French Revolution© 1989 Simon Schama948 pages Aux armes, citoyens, Formez vos bataillons, Marchons, marchons! Qu’un sang impur Abreuve nos sillons! Mon dieu, this was a read. My first mentor and first college-level history professor recommended … Continue reading →

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

The Life of Elizabeth I

Posted on July 18, 2010 by smellincoffee

The Life of Elizabeth I© 1998, 2003 Alison Weir542 pages “She certainly is a great queen […]. Just look how well she governs! She is only a woman, only mistress of half an island, and yet she makes herself feared by Spain, … Continue reading →

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

Chainbreaker’s War

Posted on June 29, 2010 by smellincoffee

Chainbreaker’s War: a Seneca Chief Remembers the American Revolution© 2002 ed. Jeanne Winston Adler224 pages On the eastern seaboard, young militia men marched around their town squares, tea-chests floated in Boston Harbor, and the bells of war tolled. Only a … Continue reading →

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

The World Through Maps

Posted on June 23, 2010 by smellincoffee

The World Through Maps: A History of Cartography© 2003 John Short224 pages Cartography has interested me ever since elementary school, when I read that Christopher Columbus worked in a cartographer’s shop. The idea that people made maps fascinated me, and … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged | Leave a comment

Memories of Old Cahaba

Posted on June 12, 2010 by smellincoffee

Memories of Old Cahaba © 1905 Anna M. Gayle Fry 122 pages I live perhaps fifteen miles from the conjunction of the Alabama and Cahaba Rivers, where once sat a booming and stately city — home to the Alabama legislature … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews | Tagged , | 3 Comments

Africa

Posted on June 2, 2010 by smellincoffee

Africa: a Biography of the Continent© 1997  John Reader816 pages And we are scatterlings of Africa, both you and I  We’re on the road to Phelemanga, beneath a copper sky; And we are scatterlings of Africa, on a journey to … Continue reading →

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

Homage to Catalonia

Posted on May 26, 2010 by smellincoffee

Homage to Catalonia© 1952 George Orwell232 pages On 17 July 1936, conservative and reactionary forces inside Spain opted to seize power by force, rather than allow the Popular Front government — an increasingly liberal, democratic, and progressive entity that undermined … Continue reading →

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

North Korea: Another Country

Posted on May 22, 2010 by smellincoffee

North Korea: Another Country© 2004 Bruce Cumings241 pages “It helps in understanding North Korea if you have lived in a fundamentalist Christian community…just like the North Koreans, we believed in the absolute purity of our doctrines. We focused inward and … Continue reading →

Posted in history, Reviews, World Affairs | Tagged , , | 2 Comments