A Small Slice of Life

Sometimes history can be daunting so why not break it down into a smaller slice? Micro-histories are accounts of a specific item or event that focus on that subject within the context of the larger historical events of the time period. Try one of the following micro-histories this summer and make history fun!

Bananas: An American History by Virginia Scott Jenkins

Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations and Put America on the Map by Stephen Yafa

Coal: A Human History by Barbara Freese

Cod: A Biography of a Fish that Changed the World by Mark Kurlansky

Crying: The Natural and Cultural History of Tears by Tom Lutz

Electric Universe: The Shocking True Story of Electricity by David Bodanis

Glass: From the First Mirror to Fiber Optics, the Story of the Substance That Changed the World by William Ellis

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel

One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw by Witold Rybczynski

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance by Henry Petroski

Olives: The Life and Lore of a Noble Fruit by Mort Rosenblum

Rats: Observations on the History and Habitat of the City’s Most Unwanted Inhabitants by Robert Sullivan

Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky

The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen Counter by Hannah Holmes

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers by Mary Roach

Tank: The Progress of a Monstrous War Machine by Patrick Wright

Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced Civilization by Iain Gately

The True History of Chocolate by Sophie Coe

Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World’s Favorite Flavor and Fragrance by Patricia Rain