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Jewels: A Secret History
by
4.15 avg rating — 1,656 ratings
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| 2 |
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The Phone Book: The Curious History of the Book That Everyone Uses But No One Reads
by
3.50 avg rating — 136 ratings
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| 3 |
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The Bear: History of a Fallen King
by
4.13 avg rating — 251 ratings
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| 4 |
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The Devil's Cloth : A History of Stripes
by
3.70 avg rating — 451 ratings
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| 5 |
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Salt: A World History
by
3.75 avg rating — 76,481 ratings
Laura
rated it 4 stars
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| 7 |
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Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
by
4.06 avg rating — 239,285 ratings
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| 8 |
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Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
by
3.99 avg rating — 76,175 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 9 |
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
by
3.81 avg rating — 33,663 ratings
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| 10 |
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Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
by
3.92 avg rating — 25,037 ratings
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| 11 |
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The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
by
4.34 avg rating — 113,841 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 12 |
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At Home: A Short History of Private Life
by
3.99 avg rating — 98,367 ratings
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| 13 |
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The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History
by
3.98 avg rating — 42,506 ratings
Laura
rated it 3 stars
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| 14 |
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Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
by
3.85 avg rating — 60,162 ratings
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| 15 |
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The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
by
4.30 avg rating — 28,897 ratings
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| 16 |
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Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
by
3.81 avg rating — 5,378 ratings
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| 17 |
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The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
by
3.82 avg rating — 14,110 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 18 |
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Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea
by
3.97 avg rating — 11,749 ratings
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| 19 |
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Color: A Natural History of the Palette
by
3.79 avg rating — 72,678 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 20 |
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Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
by
3.69 avg rating — 3,048 ratings
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| 21 |
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Twinkie, Deconstructed: My Journey to Discover How the Ingredients Found in Processed Foods Are Grown, Mined (Yes, Mined), and Manipulated Into What America Eats
by
3.38 avg rating — 2,330 ratings
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| 22 |
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The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 4,660 ratings
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| 23 |
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A History of the Wife: An Intellectually Vigorous Cultural History of Marriage―From Medieval Europe to Contemporary America
by
3.84 avg rating — 1,653 ratings
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| 24 |
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Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower & the Extraordinary Passions It Aroused
by
3.66 avg rating — 2,923 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 25 |
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Milk: The Surprising Story of Milk Through the Ages
by
3.62 avg rating — 557 ratings
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| 26 |
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Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants
by
3.71 avg rating — 4,544 ratings
Laura
rated it 4 stars
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| 27 |
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A Perfect Red
by
3.88 avg rating — 3,081 ratings
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| 28 |
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London: The Biography
by
3.96 avg rating — 5,987 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 29 |
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Spice: The History of a Temptation
by
3.64 avg rating — 2,565 ratings
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| 30 |
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The True History of Chocolate
by
3.80 avg rating — 1,540 ratings
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| 31 |
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The Calendar : The 5000 Year Struggle to Align the Clock and the Heavens and What Happened to the Missing Ten Days
by
3.84 avg rating — 1,108 ratings
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| 32 |
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No Idle Hands: The Social History of American Knitting
by
4.04 avg rating — 702 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 33 |
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The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World
by
3.61 avg rating — 568 ratings
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| 34 |
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Flu: The Story Of the Great Influenza Pandemic of 1918 and the Search for the Virus That Caused It
by
3.91 avg rating — 7,653 ratings
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| 35 |
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The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
by
3.84 avg rating — 121,623 ratings
Laura
rated it 5 stars
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| 36 |
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Gunpowder: Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics: The History of the Explosive That Changed the World
by
3.95 avg rating — 395 ratings
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| 37 |
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The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell
by
3.96 avg rating — 5,279 ratings
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| 38 |
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The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance
by
3.81 avg rating — 651 ratings
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| 39 |
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The Story of Corn
by
3.57 avg rating — 116 ratings
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| 40 |
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Nathaniel's Nutmeg: How One Man's Courage Changed the Course of History
by
3.82 avg rating — 5,363 ratings
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| 41 |
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Mauve: How One Man Invented a Colour That Changed the World
by
3.67 avg rating — 1,893 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 42 |
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A History of the Breast
by
3.96 avg rating — 592 ratings
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| 43 |
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The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History
by
3.72 avg rating — 2,511 ratings
Laura
rated it 4 stars
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| 44 |
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The Devil's Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee
by
3.64 avg rating — 2,062 ratings
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| 45 |
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E=mc²: A Biography of the World's Most Famous Equation
by
4.10 avg rating — 8,330 ratings
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| 46 |
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Tea: The Drink that Changed the World
by
3.72 avg rating — 580 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 47 |
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Coal: A Human History
by
3.73 avg rating — 2,266 ratings
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| 48 |
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The Big Necessity: The Unmentionable World of Human Waste and Why It Matters
by
4.01 avg rating — 2,629 ratings
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| 49 |
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The Orchid Thief
by
3.66 avg rating — 21,840 ratings
Laura
rated it 5 stars
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| 50 |
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Just My Type: A Book About Fonts
by
3.95 avg rating — 61,612 ratings
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| 51 |
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The Invention of Air
by
3.82 avg rating — 3,296 ratings
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| 52 |
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The Coffee House: A Cultural History
by
3.66 avg rating — 178 ratings
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| 53 |
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Uranium: War, Energy and the Rock That Shaped the World
by
3.87 avg rating — 2,431 ratings
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| 54 |
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Wide as the Waters: The Story of the English Bible and the Revolution it Inspired
by
really liked it 4.00 avg rating — 447 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 55 |
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The Search for the Giant Squid: The Biology and Mythology of the World's Most Elusive Sea Creature
by
3.70 avg rating — 622 ratings
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| 56 |
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The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger
by
3.86 avg rating — 6,899 ratings
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| 57 |
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A Short History of Rudeness: Manners, Morals, and Misbehavior in Modern America
by
3.10 avg rating — 144 ratings
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| 58 |
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Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born
by
4.05 avg rating — 2,953 ratings
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| 59 |
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Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over War and Hard Times
by
4.06 avg rating — 681 ratings
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| 60 |
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Taste: The Story of Britain Through Its Cooking
by
3.91 avg rating — 458 ratings
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| 61 |
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Hotel: An American History
by
3.71 avg rating — 65 ratings
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| 62 |
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Food in History
by
3.97 avg rating — 1,611 ratings
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| 63 |
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Waste and Want: A Social History of Trash
by
3.81 avg rating — 461 ratings
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| 64 |
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Dancing in the Streets: A History of Collective Joy
by
3.85 avg rating — 1,551 ratings
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| 65 |
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Sweetness and Power: The Place of Sugar in Modern History
by
3.78 avg rating — 2,804 ratings
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| 66 |
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Flushed: How the Plumber Saved Civilization
by
3.61 avg rating — 410 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 67 |
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Vanilla: Travels in Search of the Ice Cream Orchid
by
3.68 avg rating — 249 ratings
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| 68 |
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For All the Tea in China: Espionage, Empire and the Secret Formula for the World's Favourite Drink
by
3.79 avg rating — 4,322 ratings
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| 69 |
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The Tiger in the House: A Cultural History of the Cat (New York Review Books Classics)
by
3.55 avg rating — 288 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 70 |
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Wanderlust: A History of Walking
by
3.90 avg rating — 6,403 ratings
Laura
added it to currently-reading
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| 71 |
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Never Satisfied: A Cultural History of Diets, Fantasies & Fat
by
3.71 avg rating — 48 ratings
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| 72 |
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Robbing the Bees: A Biography of Honey--The Sweet Liquid Gold that Seduced the World
by
3.99 avg rating — 1,018 ratings
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| 73 |
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The Golden Ratio: The Story of Phi, the World's Most Astonishing Number
by
3.80 avg rating — 6,254 ratings
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| 74 |
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The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Persistence of the Product that Defined America
by
4.09 avg rating — 496 ratings
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| 75 |
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Moon: A Brief History
by
3.50 avg rating — 120 ratings
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| 76 |
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Bears: A Brief History
by
3.74 avg rating — 178 ratings
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| 77 |
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The Ocean at Home: An Illustrated History of the Aquarium
by
3.74 avg rating — 43 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 78 |
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The Billionaire's Vinegar: The Mystery of the World's Most Expensive Bottle of Wine
by
3.56 avg rating — 8,283 ratings
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| 79 |
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Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food Preserving Changed the World
by
3.74 avg rating — 207 ratings
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| 80 |
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In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food
by
3.67 avg rating — 1,302 ratings
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| 81 |
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Clean and Decent: The Fascinating History of the Bathroom and WC
by
3.58 avg rating — 62 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 82 |
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The Pawprints of History: Dogs and the Course of Human Events
by
3.78 avg rating — 189 ratings
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| 83 |
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Ether Day: The Strange Tale of America's Greatest Medical Discovery and The Haunted Men Who Made It
by
3.67 avg rating — 307 ratings
Laura
added it to to-read
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| 84 |
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Scotch Whisky: A Liquid History
by
4.10 avg rating — 41 ratings
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| 85 |
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Striptease: The Untold History of the Girlie Show
by
3.69 avg rating — 87 ratings
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| 86 |
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Blazers, Badges and Boaters: A Pictorial History of School Uniform
by
3.40 avg rating — 5 ratings
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| 87 |
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The Story of Tea: A Cultural History and Drinking Guide
by
3.93 avg rating — 668 ratings
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| 88 |
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Peppers: A Story of Hot Pursuits
by
3.64 avg rating — 80 ratings
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| 89 |
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Sacred Gifts, Profane Pleasures: A History of Tobacco and Chocolate in the Atlantic World
by
3.69 avg rating — 167 ratings
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| 90 |
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Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit
by
3.94 avg rating — 176 ratings
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| 91 |
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Beans: A History
by
3.67 avg rating — 224 ratings
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| 92 |
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Deluxe: How Luxury Lost Its Luster
by
3.90 avg rating — 4,030 ratings
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| 93 |
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Plague's Progress: A Social History of Man and Disease
by
3.97 avg rating — 71 ratings
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| 94 |
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Potato: A History of the Propitious Esculent
by
3.82 avg rating — 483 ratings
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| 95 |
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The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea
by
3.93 avg rating — 3,396 ratings
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| 96 |
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Pigeons: The Fascinating Saga of the World's Most Revered and Reviled Bird
by
3.82 avg rating — 1,325 ratings
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| 97 |
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Liquid Jade: The Story of Tea from East to West
by
3.80 avg rating — 237 ratings
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| 98 |
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Consider The Eel: A Natural And Gastronomic History
by
3.97 avg rating — 92 ratings
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| 99 |
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Much Depends on Dinner: The Extraordinary History and Mythology, Allure and Obsessions, Perils and Taboos of an Ordinary Meal
by
3.88 avg rating — 856 ratings
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| 100 |
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Culture of the Fork: A Brief History of Everyday Food and Haute Cuisine in Europe
by
3.55 avg rating — 71 ratings
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