Tag Archives: survey

Glimpses of World History

Posted on December 26, 2016 by smellincoffee

Glimpses of World History© 1942 Jawaharlal Nehru1192 pages In 1930,  a man who would later become the first prime minister of India was thrown in jail for a period of two years. There, removed from his family and regretful that … Continue reading →

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When Tigers Fight

Posted on August 31, 2016 by smellincoffee

When Tigers Fight: The Story of the Sino-Japanese War, 1937-1945© 1989 Dick Wilson269 pages “We Japanese cannot win here. We are trying to plow the ocean.” Before plunging into the abyss of hubris and attempting to claim the entire Pacific … Continue reading →

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Our America

Posted on July 4, 2016 by smellincoffee

Our America: A Hispanic History of the United States© 2014  Felipe Fernández-Armesto416 pages Spain disappears from American history books following the Spanish-American war, in which the tired old empire was given a sound thrashing and retreated from the hemisphere, but Spanish … Continue reading →

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The Persians

Posted on May 25, 2016 by smellincoffee

The Persians: Ancient, Mediaeval, and Modern Iran© 2009 Homa Katouzian452 pages Come, let us sit upon the ground and tell sad stories of the death of kings. It’ll take a while, because there’s been a lot of them.The Persians: Ancient, … Continue reading →

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Destiny, Disrupted

Posted on January 12, 2016 by smellincoffee

Destiny, Disruted: A History of the World Through Islamic Eyes© 2009 Tamim Ansary416 pages When Tamim Ansary was a boy, he loved history. Specifically, he loved narrativehistory, the kind of drama that brought the past to life.  The problem was that the … Continue reading →

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The Egyptians

Posted on September 26, 2015 by smellincoffee

The Egyptians© 1997 Barbara Watterson368 pages “We stand where Caesar and Napoleon stood, and remember that fifty centuries look down upon us; where the Father of History came four hundred years before Caesar, and heard the tales that were to … Continue reading →

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American Colonies

Posted on June 13, 2015 by smellincoffee

American Colonies: The Settling of North America© 2001 Alan Taylor526 pages           American Colonies is a sweeping history of the New World,  one that attempts to convey the full American experience, beginning with the arrival of … Continue reading →

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Civilisation: A Personal View

Posted on October 14, 2014 by smellincoffee

Civilisation: A Personal View© 1959 Sir Kenneth Clark359 pages We don’t read and write poetry because it’s cute. We read and write poetry because we are members of the human race, and the human race is filled with passion — … Continue reading →

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The Age of Voltaire

Posted on September 30, 2014 by smellincoffee

The Age of Voltaire: A History of Civilization in Western Europe from 1715 to 1756898 pages© 1965 Will and Ariel Durant             The ninth work in Will Durant’s sweeping Story of Civilization, The Age of Voltaire picks up … Continue reading →

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The American Classics

Posted on July 1, 2014 by smellincoffee

Readers may have noticed in recent weeks American literature appearing with more frequency than usual on a blog that is dominated by nonfiction. This is not an accident; a few weeks ago I arranged a course of reading for myself … Continue reading →

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