Tag Archives: social history

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England

Posted on February 11, 2018 by smellincoffee

The Time Traveler’s Guide to Medieval England: A Handbook for Visitors to the Fourteenth Century© 2008 Ian Mortimer342 pages Within minutes of being transported to the time of King Arthur,  Mark Twain’s fictional Yankee found himself arrested and facing death.  … Continue reading →

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Amsterdam

Posted on January 16, 2018 by smellincoffee

Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City© 2013 Russell Shorto369 pages In the early 14th century, a group of fisher-folk around the Amstel river came together with a dream: to build a place where people could smoke weed … Continue reading →

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In the City of Bikes

Posted on January 13, 2017 by smellincoffee

In the City of Bikes: the Story of the Amsterdam Cyclist© 2013 Pete Jordan448 pages “It is quite possible that all the bicycles in the world are not in Amsterdam, but you’ll never be able to convince me.”  American tourist, … Continue reading →

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The Chinese in America

Posted on January 7, 2017 by smellincoffee

The Chinese in America: A Narrative History© 2003 Iris Chang558 pages Like most Americans, my earliest notion of the Chinese in America is an association with the Transcontinental railroad. As it happened, their story begins before that, with the California … Continue reading →

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Harvest of Empire

Posted on June 27, 2016 by smellincoffee

Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America©  2000 Juan Gonzalez416 pages Harvest of Empire is a tale of two civilizations, Anglo and Spanish. In general terms, it recounts the history or rather the plight of Latin America, of people … Continue reading →

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The Scotch-Irish

Posted on March 26, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Scotch-Irish: A Social History© 1989 James Leyburn397 pages         Though they have long ceased to be a distinct ethnic group outside of Appalachia, for years the greatest non-English minority in the United States were the Scotch-Irish. … Continue reading →

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Dixie’s Forgotten People

Posted on March 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Dixie’s Forgotten People: the South’s Poor Whites© 1979 Wayne Flynt200 pgs Just poor people is all we were, tryin’ to make a living out of black land dirt.. When Franklin Roosevelt referred to the forgotten man, he was likely thinking … Continue reading →

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Taxi!

Posted on January 30, 2016 by smellincoffee

Taxi! A Social History of the New York City Cabdriver©  2007 Graham Russell Gao Hodges225 pages No film set in New York City is complete without scenes of Manhattan traffic, dense with yellow cars — the patrolling ranks of the … Continue reading →

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The English People on the Eve of Colonization

Posted on June 8, 2015 by smellincoffee

The English People on the Eve of Colonization© 1954 Wallace Notestein302 pages    If there was ever an exemplar for not judging a book by its cover, The English People on the Eve of Colonization is it. The binding is … Continue reading →

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The Fiery Cross

Posted on May 26, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Fiery Cross: The Ku Klux Klan in America© 1998 Wyn Craig Wade528 pages Living in the country as I did,  the bus ride to school always lasted over an hour, and in elementary school I remember being utterly petrified … Continue reading →

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