MicrohistoriesLike this list

18 items

• 2020

  One City, Seven People, and the Year Everything Changed

  Klinenberg, Eric,

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  A gripping, deeply moving account of a single year in modern history, told through the stories of seven ordinary people trying to survive at the epicenter of a crisis.

• Borgata

  Rise of Empire : a History of the American Mafia

  Ferrante, Louis,

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  A riveting history of the Mafia's first one hundred years, from 1860's Sicily to 1960's America—narrated by a former high-ranking crew leader.

• How to Be a Renaissance Woman

  the Untold History of Beauty & Female Creativity

  Burke, Jill, 1971-

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  An alternative history of the Renaissance—as seen through the emerging literature of beauty tips—focusing on the actresses, authors, and courtesans who rebelled against the misogyny of their era.

• The Freaks Came Out to Write

  the Definitive History of the Village Voice, the Radical Paper That Changed American Culture

  Romano, Tricia,

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  A rollicking history of America's most iconic weekly newspaper told through the voices of its legendary writers, editors, and photographers.

• Philosophers Who Changed History

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  This visual celebration of the world's most celebrated thinkers tells the fascinating stories of their lives and pioneering ideas.

• The Power of Art

  a Human History of Art: From Babylon to New York City

  Campbell, Caroline,

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  An epic work of art history that will transform our understanding of the world by unlocking the human stories behind millennia of art.

• The Secret History of Bigfoot

  Field Notes on a North American Monster

  O'Connor, John (Journalist),

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  From the shrouded forests of the Pacific Northwest to off-the-wall cryptozoological conventions, one man searches high and low for the answer to the question: real or not, why do we want to believe?

• Witchcraft

  a History in Thirteen Trials

  Gibson, Marion, 1970-

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  A global history of witch trials across Europe, Africa, and the Americas, told through thirteen distinct trials that illuminate a pattern of demonization and conspiratorial thinking that has profoundly shaped human history.

• Smoke and Ashes

  Opium's Hidden Histories

  Ghosh, Amitav, 1956-

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  This book unravels the impact of the opium trade on global history and in the author's own family.

• Sunshine State Mafia

  a History of Florida's Mobsters, Hit Men, and Wise Guys

  Kelly, Doug, 1949-

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  Inside accounts and little known stories of criminal networks in Florida’s past.

• The Survivors of the Clotilda

  the Lost Stories of the Last Captives of the American Slave Trade

  Durkin, Hannah,

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  An immersive and revelatory history of the Clotilda, the last slave ship to land on US soil, told through the stories of its survivors—the last documented survivors of any slave ship—whose lives diverged and intersected in profound ways.

• You'll Do

  a History of Marrying for Reasons Other Than Love

  Zug, Marcia A.,

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  An illuminating and thought-provoking examination of the uniquely American institution of marriage, from the Colonial era through today.

• 60 Songs That Explain the '90s

  Harvilla, Rob,

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  This book takes readers through the greatest hits that define a weirdly undefinable decade.

• An Admirable Point

  a Brief History of the Exclamation Mark!

  Hazrat, Florence,

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  The history of a much-maligned punctuation mark.

• After Eden

  a Short History of the World

  Chasteen, John Charles, 1955-

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  This book looks at critical Latin American events ranging from the original encounter of Europeans with the indigenous peoples of Latin America to the present day destruction of the Amazonian rain forest.

• Airplane Mode

  An Irreverent History of Travel

  Habib, Shahnaz,

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  A witty personal and cultural history of travel from the perspective of a Third World-raised woman of color.

• All the Knowledge in the World

  the Extraordinary History of the Encyclopedia

  Garfield, Simon,

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  The encyclopedia once shaped our understanding of the world. Now we get our information from our phones and computers. What have we lost in this transition? And how did we tell the progress of our lives in the past?

• American Childhood

  a Photographic History

  Brewster, Todd,

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  Over 200 stunning photographs of children—from the Civil War era to the present—that captures the ever-changing experience of childhood throughout American history