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Turn Up the Dial with These Popular Microhistories (On Audiobook!)
The term “microhistory” is a useful label for certain kinds of nonfiction books that tend to go deep into one particular subject (cemeteries, say, or sheep) or else zoom in on a particularly narrow strip of history—for instance, a totally fascinating 19th-century destination for women.
Anyone who's had a serious podcast habit will recognize that this angle of approach, with its emphasis on good writing and classic storytelling techniques, also plays especially well in the audiobook format. There’s something about the audio format that seems to optimize the microhistory experience.
We’ve collected here some recent microhistory audiobooks that have shown consistent popularity with Goodreads members. You’ll find some familiar names – like Bill Bryson on the history of our familiar domestic routines, or Mary Roach on the history of one domestic routine in particular. The one that’s the most fun, actually.
Click around elsewhere for some other fascinating subjects, like the amazing story of the Green Book guide, or a history of popular music in seven genres, or an exploration on deep-sea creatures. And of course, we must salute that celebration of humankind’s most glorious anatomical specific—Butts: A Backstory.
Click on the cover images for more details and use the Want to Read button for organizing your future audio queue.
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Now it's your turn! Tell us about your favorite microhistories in the comments below. Bonus points if you listened to them on audiobook!
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Tina H
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Jul 28, 2023 02:25AM
Semicolon is so good! I recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in language. It's surprisingly engrossing, and Watson's writing is superb.
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Tina wrote: "Semicolon is so good! I recommend it to anyone with even a passing interest in language. It's surprisingly engrossing, and Watson's writing is superb."Thanks. I just downloaded it from the library.
God bless you for this list :) I had half those titles marked "Want to Read" already and now I have the rest!
Thank you for the list, as people we don’t understand the world AROUND us, these microhistories exemplify the massive amount of history that is behind things we use or do regularly. We are socially unconscious of the elegant and powerful histories that have gave us our privileged lives.
Re: podcasts, many of these topics I find worthy of a one hour long podcast as opposed to an 8, 10 or more hours book. When history or other nonfiction authors go on a podcast to promote their book, at the end of the podcast I often feel I've learned enough and no need to read the book. Thanks for reminding me, though, that I want to listen to Overground Railroad, which I think/hope is worthy of a full book.
Amazing list, added them to my to read list. Can't wait to start reading !
“Plant Hunters”, “The Dangerous World of Butterflies”, and “The Devil’s Cup: Coffee, the Driving Force in History” are all great micro histories. Thank you for this list.
Female Husbands: A Trans History, Everyday Utopia: What 2,000 Years of Wild Experiments Can Teach Us About the Good Life, and The Secret History of Home Economics: How Trailblazing Women Harnessed the Power of Home and Changed the Way We Live are great as audiobooks
I would definitely recommend Overground Railroad as an actual book instead - it’s colorful photographs interspersed all throughout the book.
