Hey all,
I’m looking for a good microhistory to read but idk where to start. Something that focuses on like ONE small thing (an event, a person, an object, a town, whatever) but somehow makes it interesting and connects to bigger history stuff.
Not super picky about time period or place. Just want:
- nonfiction
- not dry or textbooky
- more story vibes than academic vibes
- ideally about everyday life or some weird/forgotten thing
I don’t want a huge sweeping history, my brain can’t do that right now haha just something narrow but still cool.
If you’ve read one you liked, pls drop it. Thanks!!
by Antique_Ad_6806
11 Comments
The Mysterious Case of Rudolph Diesel — Douglas Brunt
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything
The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History
*Assassination Vacation* by Sarah Vowell — it is humorois and you will learn a lot about the Lincoln assassination including that Secretary of State William Seward was attacked simultaneously.
I’m listening to *Everything is Tuberculosis* right now by John Green.
The Cheese and the Worms by Carlo Ginzburg
Cræft: An Inquiry Into the Origins and True Meaning of Traditional Crafts by Alexander Langlands
The Genius of Birds by Jennifer Ackerman
Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural History of Mosses by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Amsterdam: A History of the World’s Most Liberal City by Russell Shorto
The Serpent and the Rainbow: A Harvard Scientist’s Astonishing Journey into the Secret Societies of Haitian Voodoo, Zombies, and Magic by Wade Davis
The Utopians: Six Attempts to Build the Perfect Society by Anna Neima
I do not like nonfiction books typically but I loved Devil in the White City, about a serial killer during the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. It read more like a fiction book.
“The Bear: History of a Fallen King” by Michel Pastoureau, is an interesting history of the Bear as a symbol! Its just fanciful enough it avoids being too pocket histou
*The Killer Angels* by Michael Shaara
July 1914by Sean McMeekin might fit this brief. It’s about the prelude to the first world war and reads very story like, not exactly a small event, but the Jouy Crisis is somewhat overlooked.
Killers of the Flower Moon or anything else David Grann has written would also be a good choice
Boom Town by Sam Anderson
All about OKC. Great read. Funny and serious, smart and agile.