This slim book is part of the “How Things Worked” series, and is subtitled “How European Immigrants Entered America”. However, the author describes not only Ellis Island and its predecessor Castle Garden, but also compares Angel Island, the West Coast entry point for many Asian immigrants. When I first started working on my family tree, Read More
Category: Nonfiction
Liar Temptress Soldier Spy, by Karen Abbot
These are the true stories of four women who all felt compelled to take action at the outbreak of the Civil War. Two worked to help the Union, two were loyal to the Confederacy. All risked their reputation, fortune, and/or life, and all paid a price for their dedication to their cause. But after reading Read More
Sod Busting by David B Danbom
The subtitle of this slim book is “How Families Made Farms on the Nineteenth-Century Plains”, and is part of a series of books called “How Things Worked”. The focus of this book is mainly Kansas, Nebraska, and North and South Dakota, between about 1862 and 1900. And the author does not describe just how farms Read More
Fourteenth Colony, by Mike Bunn
The subtitle of this book is “The Forgotten Story of the Gulf South During America’s Revolutionary Era”. We have all heard about the original thirteen colonies of the northeast and eastern coast, but we forget that West Florida was occupied by the British at this point in time, as well. While residents of this colony Read More
The Devil in the White City, by Erik Larson
This is almost two books, one about the creation of the Chicago World’s Fair, or World’s Columbian Exposition; the other basically a true crime story about a serial killer who took advantage of the Fair to lure some of his victims. He is the “devil” of the title; the White City was the nickname for Read More
Appetite for America, by Stephen Fried
The subtitle of this book is “How Visionary Businessman Fred Harvey Built a Railroad Hospitality Empire That Civilized the Wild West”. While I had heard of Fred Harvey, and about the “Harvey Girl” movie starring Judy Garland, I didn’t realize the impact these restaurants had on the country. The person Fred Harvey was an Englishman Read More
Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick
If you are looking for just the history of the people who arrived on the Mayflower, then this might not be the book you are looking for. If you want to not only learn about the passengers of the Mayflower, but also about their children and grandchildren, then this will fit the bill. The first Read More
Love & Hate in Jamestown, by David A Price
Jamestown predated Plymouth Plantation as the first continuous English settlement in North America. However, due to poor planning, disease, and conflict with Native populations, it almost did not survive. Much of the story at the beginning of the colony has come down to us in a mythologized form. While there is some truth behind the Read More
The Great Influenza, by John M Barry
This is a book not only about the influenza in 1918, its impact on America and the world in a time of war, but also about the men (and a few women!) who were trying desperately to stop it. The first part of book is actually more of a history of the development of modern Read More
Westering Women and the Frontier Experience 1800-1915 by Sandra L Myres
This is a non-fiction book, and is basically a review and analysis of the diaries and letters of women who made the journey west, along with what was written about these women, both at the time and much later on. While this may not be easily available at your local library, if you had ancestors Read More