8. A microhistory

[Crumb]

Ann wrote: "Crumb wrote: "Can anyone recommend a microhistory that deals with psychology or mental institutions?"

I haven't read it, but plan to. [book:Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at Amer..."

Thanks, Ann! This one looks promising.

[Srividya]

Does A Short History of Nearly Everything count? It's been in my TBR for two years...

[Nadine in NY]

I really enjoyed "Short History" and I recommend it, but I don't think it's a microhistory. It's the opposite really, more of a macrohistory.

[Crumb]

Question: Does a microhistory need to be short? Because I was planning on reading Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital by David M. Oshinsky.. and it's 384 pages.. I know this may be a silly question, but I thought i'd ask.

[Nadine in NY]

No I think a micro history can be any length, it just needs to focus on one thing.

[Kaitlyn]

Can someone tell me if City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris counts as a microhistory? I believe it does as the entire book is about one topic, but I’m not sure what all applies.

[Linda]

I would assume this book would work? Has anyone here read it? Thoughts?
The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women

[Chinook]

I’d say yes to both of those.

[Megan]

Would any of Edward Rutherford's works work? Granted, they're fiction and he takes liberties, but they ARE about one thing: London, Paris, New York.
I only ask because I saw one of his books on sale through bookbub and it got me wondering.

[Nicole]

I'm thinking of reading:
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
The Drunken Botanist: The Plants That Create the World's Great Drinks
Wicked Plants: The Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother and Other Botanical Atrocities
The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex
Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

[Chinook]

Megan wrote: "Would any of Edward Rutherford's works work? Granted, they're fiction and he takes liberties, but they ARE about one thing: London, Paris, New York.
I only ask because I saw one of his books on sal..."

Not really - like True Crime, this genre is non-fic.

If you wanted to stretch it and use a similar fiction books because you don’t read non-fic, that’s a good choice, though.

[Megan]

Chinook wrote: "Megan wrote: "Would any of Edward Rutherford's works work? Granted, they're fiction and he takes liberties, but they ARE about one thing: London, Paris, New York.
I only ask because I saw one of hi..."

I'm not using his books (I'm using Salt)--like I said, I saw one and it made me curious.

[Laura • lauralovestoread]

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
A Night to Remember
Salt: A World History

[Crumb]

Could Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania work as a book set a sea?

I just saw it mentioned by Laura in the post above this one..

[Crumb]

Would Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster work for this one?

[Nadine in NY]

Crumb wrote: "Would Into Thin Air: A Personal Account of the Mount Everest Disaster work for this one?"

I haven't read it, so I'm not sure, but I don't think so. It looks like it's more of a memoir or biography. If the book is about the history of explorers climbing Mount Everest, then yes it works, but I don't know if he does that.

[Chinook]

No, it’s more of a memoir, I think. It’s really good though and would work for sport.

[Crumb]

OK, thanks. Can I do Bellevue: Three Centuries of Medicine and Mayhem at America's Most Storied Hospital by David M. Oshinsky. It's only about Bellevue, so I don't see why it shouldn't work.

[Erin]

I plan on -finally- reading The Other Hollywood: The Uncensored Oral History of the Porn Film Industry. I totally LOVED Legs McNeil's Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk and Louder Than Hell: The Definitive Oral History of Metal (not by McNeil), so wanted to try the same style of book about a different and also interesting subject!

[Kim]

Going with either At Home: A Short History of Private Life or Fox Tossing, Octopus Wrestling and Other Forgotten Sports

[Lauren]

I think The Case Against Sugar would count... right?

[Kim]

Srividya wrote: "Does A Short History of Nearly Everything count? It's been in my TBR for two years..."

If you like Bill Bryson At Home: A Short History of Private Life might work.

[poshpenny]

Crumb wrote: "Could Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania work as a book set a sea?

I just saw it mentioned by Laura in the post above this one.."

Yes, Dead Wake is set at sea, both on the Lusitania and the U-boat that sank her.

[Crumb]

I'm pretty sure this would work.. and it looks really interesting.. The Butchering Art: Joseph Lister's Quest to Transform the Grisly World of Victorian Medicine by Lindsey Fitzharris. It's about Victorian Medicine. Is that an OK choice since it is focused on victorian medicine?

[Wendy]

Tytti wrote: "I got Montaillou: The Promised Land of Error from my friend who had an extra. It sounds quite interesting."

Read that MANY years ago in college and still remember it fondly!

[Wendy]

Molly wrote: "Might Young Men and Fire count? It's been on my list for a while..."

I'd think so!

[Ann]

Huge list of Microhistorieshttps://medium.com/@valkyrie8411/micr...

[Teresa]

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers should feed my morbid side. :)

[Anita]

Anna wrote: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a great one for this prompt. "

This one interests me so much, but then most of the medical/science ones do

[Nadine in NY]

Anita wrote: "Anna wrote: "The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks is a great one for this prompt. "

This one interests me so much, but then most of the medical/science ones do"

read it!! I was amazed at how good it was!

[Danielle]

I think I'm going to go with The Radium Girls: The Dark Story of America's Shining Women for this

[Amy]

Radium Girls would work, right?

[Lisa]

Seeking opinions - would this one work? The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and One of the Deadliest Days in American Firefighting by Fernanda Santos

[Nicole]

More suggestions that look interesting to me:

Rain: A Natural and Cultural History
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
Color: A Natural History of the Palette
The Worst Hard Time: The Untold Story of Those Who Survived the Great American Dust Bowl
Brunelleschi's Dome: How a Renaissance Genius Reinvented Architecture
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
Just My Type: A Book About Fonts
Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's Most Unwanted Inhabitants
Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
Tulipmania
Traffic: Why We Drive the Way We Do
A Perfect Red
The Secret Life of Lobsters: How Fishermen and Scientists Are Unraveling the Mysteries of Our Favorite Crustacean
Spice: The History of a Temptation
Coal: A Human History
Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind
The True History of Chocolate
Tea: A History of the Drink That Changed the World
The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History
The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service
Bachelor Girl: The Secret History of Single Women in the Twentieth Century
Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found
Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World
The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History

[Hazel]

Nadine wrote: "I've been meaning to read Salt: A World History for quite some time now. Is 2018 the year I finally read it? Maybe!"

I've been meaning to read that book too! Will add that to my list this year!

[Bert]

Ally (the.imperfect.library) wrote: "This is an intriguing prompt. Would a book about witch trials in the UK/US count as a microhistory?"

I would think so.

[[deleted user]]

Kaitlyn wrote: "Can someone tell me if City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris counts as a microhistory? I believe it does as the entire book is about one ..."

I'm reading that one too!

[Shelley]

Jenny wrote: "Kaitlyn wrote: "Can someone tell me if City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris counts as a microhistory? I believe it does as the entire bo..."

I would definitely say it counts. It's a really interesting read and gives a view I hadn't seen before into French aristocracy. Those people were nuts.

[Conny]

I am really struggling with this category because I am not a non-fiction reader at all.
Would any of the various Jack the Ripper books count? I've seen The Complete Jack the Ripper on a friend's bookshelf^^

[Lisa]

Seeking opinions - would this one work? The Fire Line: The Story of the Granite Mountain Hotshots and One of the Deadliest Days in American Firefighting by Fernanda Santos

[Cendaquenta]

Since a lot of people are mentioning various Mark Kurlansky books, I'm just popping in to recommend Paper: Paging Through History by him. Read it in November last year and it was fascinating.

[Ali]

I picked this up a while back, and think it may fit the prompt - Van Diemen's Women: A History of Transportation to Tasmania by Joan Kavanagh
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[Amy]

Conny wrote: "I am really struggling with this category because I am not a non-fiction reader at all.
Would any of the various Jack the Ripper books count? I've seen The Complete Jack the Ripper on..."


Hi Conny,
I would say the Ripper books definitely count.

I use to struggle with nonfiction, too, but I've learned to hack it: I listen to it in the car and/or read a novel simultaneously (I read the nonfiction, chapter at a time before beginning the novel). Good luck!

[Cornerofmadness]

I read The Murder of the Century: The Gilded Age Crime that Scandalized a City and Sparked the Tabloid Wars for this one (but it could be used for true crime too) looking mostly at the tabloid wars between Hearst and Pultizer.

[Jill]

I’m reading Proof: The Science of Booze, well, I’m trying to. Not really my genre. All I can say is it’s interesting, but I hope there isn’t a quiz afterwards. :)

[willaful]

I just read In the Land of Invented Languages: Esperanto Rock Stars, Klingon Poets, Loglan Lovers, and the Mad Dreamers Who Tried to Build a Perfect Language, which was a very good read and I think would fit.

I just started reading Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything which sounds good for this one.

[Jen from Quebec :0)]

I am REALLY sorry to bother anyone but before I jump into the book, I want to make sure that it fits the category!! Would this one be OK?? It is about the Black Death specifically, but covers many many years and places....Just worried it is not MICRO enough!

The Black Death: A History From Beginning to End

If anyone can help me THANK YOU SO MUCH!! ---Jen from Quebec :0)

[Rachel]

Nicole wrote: "I'm thinking of reading:
Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
[book:The Drunken Botanist: The Plan..."

I've read Banana: The Fate of the Fruit . . . and I think it would count!

[Amanda]

I'm going with Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers. I used Google to find some options.

[Jackie]

Jennifer Lynn wrote: "I am REALLY sorry to bother anyone but before I jump into the book, I want to make sure that it fits the category!! Would this one be OK?? It is about the Black Death specifically, but covers many ..."

Sounds like a microhistory to me.