I remember hearing about this fire, which occurred in 1911, in my Social Studies class, which was long enough ago that it obviously made an impression, since I can still remember it now. That was only a paragraph or two, and this is an entire book. Obviously, the story is even more memorable when you Read More
Tag: Family History
Team of Rivals, by Doris Kearns Goodwin
This book is not a weekend read, or a beach book. But if you are interested in Lincoln’s presidency, and the Civil War era, it is a book you should read. This book is not just about Lincoln; as the title suggests, Kearns also discusses the members of his cabinet, some of whom were his Read More
The Oregon Trail, by Francis Parkman
This is one of the few books I have reviewed that is historical non-fiction, that is, a book that was written in a specific time frame that covers then-current events. In 1846, Francis Parkman set off from St. Louis to explore the west. Although he was a young man, he had some health issues, so Read More
The Reckless Decade, by H W Brands
The subtitle of this book is “America in the 1890’s”, and Brands does a good job of describing many of the major issues of the decade. And it was a tumultuous ten years. I have read about several of the events from this decade separately, and some events have entire books written about them. That Read More
Our First Civil War, by H W Brands
The subtitle of this book is “Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution”. The title makes the point that before the war, colonists considered themselves to be British. That is one reason they were upset when they felt their rights as British citizens were being slighted by those in charge back in England. The subtitle Read More
Over My Dead Body, by Greg Melville
The subtitle of this book is “Unearthing the hidden history of America’s cemeteries”, and that is basically what Melville accomplishes with this book. Each of the seventeen chapters discusses at least one cemetery, and sometimes more when he compares and contrasts other, sometimes nearby, cemeteries. For example, the (previously) whites only cemeteries, compared with the Read More
That’s not in my American history book, by Thomas Ayres
This book is a compilation of people and incidents in American history that most people either don’t know about, or have learned incorrect information about. These short essays range in time from before the founding of the country, up to about the most recent turn of the century. Ayres is an investigative reporter, so he Read More
America Walks into a Bar, by Christine Sismondo
This is a fairly comprehensive look at drinking establishments from before the Revolution through Prohibition and up to the more recent past. The author had a little fun with the book and chapter titles. The chapters track the bar’s evolution: from A Pilgrim Walks into a Bar, to A Crusader Walks into a Bar, and Read More
Plentiful Country, by Tyler Anbinder
This book works to disprove the long accepted idea that the Irish who came to America fleeing the Potato Famine arrived as unskilled labor, and remained at the lowest rungs of society for the rest of their lives. Anbinder, with help from a number of assistants, undertook a ten year study, and this book is Read More
Hell on Wheels, by Dick Kreck
Apparently, the title is the phrase people used to describe the towns that popped up along the route of construction of the Union Pacific Railroad in the late 1860’s. This was due to the high proportion of individuals in these towns whose main goal was to separate railroad construction workers from their pay. Some of Read More