The subtitle of this book is “A Culinary History of the Great Depression”, which is what tempted me to read it. I was assuming that there would be recipes. Well, you know what they say about the word “assume”. There are a several recipes from that era, very few of which I would want to Read More
Geneature
Middling Folk, by Linda H Matthews
This book tells the saga of one family, the Hammills, through several generations. Matthews starts her story in Scotland, moves to Ireland, and then brings her ancestors into the American colonies, before the Revolution. The title refers to the fact that the people she writes about were neither very rich and at the top of Read More
The Poisoner’s Handbook, by Deborah Blum
The subtitle is “Murder and the Birth of Forensic Medicine in Jazz Age New York”. What I did not expect was for a book with that subtitle to begin with a discussion of the Periodic Table of Elements. But it all fits together as you go through the book. In the early Twentieth Century, scientists Read More
Mrs. Lincoln’s Sisters, by Jennifer Chiaverini
Much has been written about Abraham Lincoln. Much less has been written about his wife, Mary Todd Lincoln. During her lifetime, especially during her husband’s years as President, she was frequently maligned. Some of the bad press she garnered was at least somewhat justified; she did spend quite a lot of money redecorating the White Read More
The Edge of Anarchy, by Jack Kelly
It’s amazing to me all of the things that were so impactful to people, and our county, when they happened, that we have forgotten about today. This is a book about one of those things – the railroad strike in 1894. Also, as I was reading it, I kept wondering if this was something I Read More
The Divorce Colony, by April White
While divorce is somewhat unremarkable these days, in the not-so-distant past, it was remarked upon quite a bit. We forget how relatively recent that attitude shift happened. Divorces were not always easy to obtain. In the early days of this country, it literally took an act of the legislature to grant someone a divorce. While Read More
Savage Liberty, by Eliot Pattison
While this is historical fiction, and not a fictionalized version of an actual historical event, if you enjoy mysteries, then it is an interesting read. The author did do his research, and name-drops a number of actual historical figures. The main plot of the book, the mystery to be solved, is completely created by the Read More
The Great Kosher Meat War of 1902, by Scott D Seligman
This book tells the story of Orthodox Jewish women finding their voices in New York in the early 1900’s. The subtitle is “Immigrant Housewives and the Riots that shook New York City”. In the spring of 1902, the price of kosher beef had risen 50% in a few short weeks. It had gone from 12 Read More
The Boston Massacre: A Family History, by Serena Zabin
We all learned about the Boston Massacre in school when we studied the American Revolution. We saw the image of the uniformed British soldiers firing on the unarmed citizens. We learned that it was one of the events that pushed us inexorably to the point of war. But we didn’t learn the whole story. I Read More
Paper Promises, by Mazie M Harris
This is almost a coffee-table book, which is interesting, since it actually mentions what was probably the first “coffee-table” book, although I’m not sure people even had what we consider coffee tables in 1861. The subtitle is Early American Photography, and while this book does discuss photography – a bit of the history, a little Read More