Task 10: A Microhistory

[Karin]

oh wow, no I missed that--thanks!

[Kristel]

Hi, I'd like to ask if a book like Greg Grandin's book The Empire of Necessity: Slavery, Freedom, and Deception in the New World would be considered a microhistory. According to what I've heard of it, the book uses an event--a takeover of a slaveship by its prisoners and the subsequent trial about it--as a flashpoint to discuss wider aspects of slavery, the law, etc. This is also apparently the event that inspired Herman Melville's Benito Cereno. Would it still be microhistory if it expands and contracts its scope that way?

I'm choosing between this and Girl of Atomic City for my microhistory choice.

[Rebecca]

I think so! In fact, using the story of one small event or individual person to make comments on the time period /or institutions more broadly is one of the main purposes of microhistory. It's what makes these books different from just any story about a single event or any biographical study.

[Kristel]

Rebecca: Thanks for the reply! I sort of conflated the definition of microhistory you've articulated on this thread with "history from below," which are very close readings of often dismissed sources. Not sure how closely related my idea was with the actual genre, but your response has made the concept much clearer.

[Pauline]

Would it be too much of a stretch to count Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand as Microhistory??

[Mary Sue]

I read by David McCullough for this challenge. This is not a typical genre for me, and I must say that it was quite good.

[Robin P]

Pauline wrote: "Would it be too much of a stretch to count Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand as Microhistory??"

Well, it's really a biography.

[Wellington]

For task 10 I read Being Mortal by Atul Gawande. Here is my review:

This was a truly eye-opening book. It puts elder care in a whole new light. The author gave a nice overview of how medicine works and the state of the industry as it is today. He provided examples showing how the elderly are traditionally cared for and then multiple examples of how people are working to change elderly care and the experiences of those people in these new methods. He doesn’t advocate any particular person or group’s method, but does advocate asking 4 simple questions to find out what the elderly person needs to have a fulfilling end of life experience. He even provided his own example of his family’s experience of his father’s care. His family’s experience covered almost the entire gamut of how doctors, hospitals, facilities, and hospice provide care and their motivations. This example shows that no one is immune from not knowing what to do, but how important it is to have the conversation before things are bad. The elder person’s wants can be known and everyone can figure out how to provide them with a fulfilling end of life experience that ultimately helps the family come through the experience in a better frame of mind.

[Judith]

Just completed reading The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire by Jack Weatherford
Very interesting part of history I knew little about prior to reading this book. Recommended

[Jen]

I read the book, "When Books Went to War" by Molly Guptill Manning. Would recommend. Interesting information on censorship in Nazi Germany, the history of the publishing industry during WWII, and most interesting to me were the reading habits of soldiers during the war. https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2...

[Judith]

Jen wrote: "I read the book, "When Books Went to War" by Molly Guptill Manning. Would recommend. Interesting information on censorship in Nazi Germany, the history of the publishing industry during WWII, and m..."

Sounds like a one I should read. Thanks for sharing.

[Patricia]

I'm currently reading Lazarus is Dead by Richard Beard and I was wondering if this might qualify for this category.

[Rebecca]

I believe that is a work of fiction

[Amber]

Just finished Bonk by Mary Roach for this task. I found it a bit tedious to get through in parts, but it was very entertaining for the most part. I see why many people flock to her for great non-fiction writing.

[Patricia]

Rebecca wrote: "I believe that is a work of fiction"

Yes, but it tells the story of the last few days of Lazarus and Jesus using Biblical and historical detail and not just fictional storytelling. I thought it might fit as an unconventional microhistory, that is, that it didn't have to be a work of nonfiction.

[Andrea]

Would be considered a microhistory? I'm planning to read it for another reading challenge anyway but if I can count it for this too, that would be helpful!

[Leslie (updates on SG)]

Rebecca wrote: "@Karin, did you see the list I created?

https://www.goodreads.com/list/show/8..."

Rebecca, I've come late to this challenge, but really appreciate your clarification of this topic. And thanks to your list, I'll be reading Sara Tilghman Nalle's Mad for God: Bartolome Sanchez, the Secret Messiah of Cardenete.

[Karen]

I just finished "Americans in Paris: Life & Death Under Nazi Occupation" by Charles Glass. It focuses on some of the 5,000 Americans living in Paris who stayed on after the Nazis took over in June 1940. Glass focuses on an interesting cross-section of people, from a businessman willing to work with both sides if it was good for business; to a countess related to FDR who also was an in-law of the collaborationist prime minister Pierre Laval; to Sylvia Beach, owner of Shakespeare & Company; to the American Hospital's chief of surgery who also worked actively with the Resistance.

I found the book fascinating, if a bit repetitive. Glass offers a detailed picture of the bravery of those who actively resisted the occupation and of the ways people ended up collaborating for what seemed to them to be very good reasons. Not only that, it was fairly easy to follow, which isn't always the case with nonfiction, with short chapters that can be absorbed quickly. I did see a few examples of careless editing but they didn't dent my overall enjoyment. Definitely worth reading.

[[deleted user]]

Amber wrote: "Just finished Bonk by Mary Roach for this task. I found it a bit tedious to get through in parts, but it was very entertaining for the most part. I see why many people flock to her for great non-..."

I have Packing for Mars! Have you read that one? It's been sitting on my shelf forever. Maybe I should get to it.

[Amy]

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America by Eric Larson - could this be considered a microhistory?

[Heidi]

I just finished The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life's Work at 72 to complete this task. What a terrific work of literature. I highly recommend it.

[Jen]

I read Alfred Hitchcock and the Making of Psycho for this task. I really enjoyed it, as it read like a fiction story. It gave me a good/better understanding of Alfred Hitchcock, Psycho, and the film industry in general in the '50s-'60s.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Jennifer]

I recently completed Dr. Mütter's Marvels: A True Tale of Intrigue and Innovation at the Dawn of Modern Medicine by Cristin O'Keefe Aptowicz, and I'm going to use this for my micro history requirement. I have no idea if the masses would consider it a micro history, but that's okay. I found the book gruesomely fascinating, and I want to visit the Mutter Museum even more now. I am so very happy that I live in these times and not in Mutter's day. How wretched medicine and medical practices were back then! Thank God for doctors like Mutter who became pioneers in making surgery and the practice of medicine less horrific.

[Katie]

Does "The Six Wives of Henry VIII" count as a microhistory?
The Six Wives of Henry VIII

[Jennifer]

Read South African Battles for this task.

[Loreen ☕️]

I just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It's a fascinating, and disturbing, story.

[Loreen ☕️]

I just finished The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot. It's a fascinating, and disturbing, story.

[Kathy]

For this task, I read A Midwife's Tale: The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich. I enjoyed learning about life and the customs of America during this time period. It was a detailed, challenging book, but very wonderful in that it brought to life a woman's life in early America.

[Jayne]

I have read Between the World and Me by Ta-Nehisi Coates, which chronicles the history of the way "Dreamers" have treated African Americans in the United States. Coates presents a powerful and heartbreaking explanation of why the Black Lives Matter movement has become so important.

[Bea]

I was planning on reading At Home: A Short History of Private Life for this challenge. However, as I am now into it by 200+ pages, I do not think this book is a micro-history at all. I will read The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-century Miller instead when it comes into the library.

[Jo]

Okay, apologies in advance for being yet another 'is this one?' person but I'm really struggling to find a title that fits that I also want to read - I've tried a couple and can't get on with them.

I've asked around at work (academic library) and they've suggested:

The Guga Hunters

The Life and Death of St Kilda

St. Kilda: Island on the Edge of the World

I think they count?

[Rebecca]

Jo wrote: "Okay, apologies in advance for being yet another 'is this one?' person but I'm really struggling to find a title that fits that I also want to read - I've tried a couple and can't get on with them...."
Hi Jo, of the books you listed, The Life and Death of St. Kilda comes the closest to being a microhistory because it's about a single event and a small group of people. What were the books that you tried and didn't like?

[Bonnie G.]

I read Ghettoside: A True Story of Murder in America and recommend it for anyone interested in the history of relationships between police and community, and the influence of gangs in South Central LA (and really in any low income, predominantly Black urban neighborhood.) I don't often say a book is important, but this one is.

[Catherine]

As I am currently hooked on the Outlander series I have decide to read Diana Preston's Bonnie Prince Charlie and the 1745 Rebellion

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6...

[Brian]

I believe this book fits as a microhistory but wanted to get some other thoughts on it I'm thinking of reading John Carter and the Gods of Hollywood by Michael D. Sellers. It's an in depth examination of everything that led to the John Carter film's failure at the box office.

[Jo]

Rebecca wrote: "Jo wrote: "Okay, apologies in advance for being yet another 'is this one?' person but I'm really struggling to find a title that fits that I also want to read - I've tried a couple and can't get on..."

Hi Rebecca - you're the hero of this thread, thank you for replying :) I've tried to read The Professor and the Madman and didn't get on with it, which surprised me because I'm a word nerd usually. I think the other titles I've tried haven't actually been microhistories. This category is proving to be by far the toughest for me.

[Jayne]

I have just finished reading Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari, which I would consider to be a microhistory of dating. This is not a book I would ordinarily have read, but I bought it for my daughter, and she recommended it to me "so you'll understand my generation better." It is entertaining, informative, and thought-provoking. The author is a well-known comedian; I usually don't like books written by celebrities, but this is excellent. If I were a high school teacher or college lit professor, I would put this book on my recommended reading list. It's an outstanding illustration of how to present research in an enjoyable and captivating way.

[Elizabeth]

Would Nelson: A Medical Casebook be considered a microhistory?

[Rebecca]

I think any biography that uses a single life story to make some larger point about a particular time period or regional culture could count as a microhistory. To get technical about it, the original microhistorians wanted to tell the story of non-famous people. Part of the work involves a kind of virtuoso display of historical research and interpretive imagination to piece together stories of forgotten people whose archival traces slim or hard to find. So if the book were mostly about his doctors and the culture of 19th century medicine, that would be more microhistorical than a book about Nelson himself. However, Book Riot is flexible about the challenge.

[Rebecca]

Jo wrote: "Rebecca wrote: "Jo wrote: "Okay, apologies in advance for being yet another 'is this one?' person but I'm really struggling to find a title that fits that I also want to read - I've tried a couple ..."

Hi Jo, that's too bad about the Professor and the Madman. I never read that one. It sounds so good in the description! I can see why microhistory is a tough one. It is kind of an obscure historical sub-genre, which is why I was so surprised that Book Riot made it a challenge cateogry...until I realized that there is another pop-definition of microhistory operating in the world right now. This has been very educational for me to see what kinds of historical works people read outside academia.

[Paulette]

I am just finishing the book At Home: Special Illustrated Edition: A Short History of Private Life on audio read by the author Bill Bryson, as well as having the illustrated print edition on hand. I would recommend both. The writing style is so interesting as the author tends to go wherever his curiosity leads him as he works through every room in his old country house.

[Jodi]

Would either of these work for microhistory challenge 10?
Flappers: Six women by Judith Mackrell
Or
Upstairs girls by Michael Rutter

[Casey]

I'm going to apologize about being another one questioning if a book is a microhistory but here I am because I want to make sure I complete this challenge.

Would Stonewall (Stonewall by Martin Duberman) count as a microhistory?

[Megz]

I read this one: The Triumph of Seeds: How Grains, Nuts, Kernels, Pulses, and Pips Conquered the Plant Kingdom and Shaped Human History
It was an ARC which pushed me to finish it, but I actually really enjoyed it. Which says something, because I definitely prefer human and animal biology to zoology!

[Gwyneth]

Would this count as a microhistory? I'm unfamiliar with the genre.

[Kate]

Just joining the challenge and hoping that the last book I read, The Wright Brothers, by David McCullough, counts. It was excellent about not only their flight, but about the competition for flight at the time and the disbelief that they actually did it, esp on the part of the US govt! Interesting the people the were able to meet including Alexander Graham Bell. Really captivating! I gave it a 5!

[Kate]

Jessica wrote: "I just finished The Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester, about the making of the Oxford English Dictionary, but really more about the relationship between the editor and one of the major c..."
His books are all really good! I love both he and Erik Larsen for what I would definitely call micro-histories. Love reading this thread!

[Kate]

Jillian wrote: "I just finished The Big Oyster History on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky. I enjoyed the book and will probably read some of his other microhistories since they have better reviews."
I have about 4 of his books, from a used book store. The only one I have read is 1968, the Year that Rocked the World. Really enjoyed. Would love not to always say "own it, haven't read it!"...maybe that should be a category next year!

[Kate]

Elizabeth wrote: "I'm reading When Books Went to War: The Stories that Helped Us Win World War II

for the micr..."
OK, this does look great! Just put this on my "want to read" list...heaven help me, it's bad enough being hooked on BookRiot! Now on this challenge and reading responses....I may never leave the house again....

[Bonnie G.]

Kate wrote: "Jillian wrote: "I just finished The Big Oyster History on the Half Shell by Mark Kurlansky. I enjoyed the book and will probably read some of his other microhistories since they have better review..."

I love the idea of that category! I have an entire room in my basement filled with books I have not read. They say the first step is admitting you have a problem...