History
The white ladder : triumph and tragedy at the dawn of mountaineering
Light, Daniel (Mountain climber), author.
796.522 /Light
Nonfiction, History, Sports
"A sweeping history of mountaineering before Everest, and the epic human quest to reach the highest places on Earth"--
From these roots : my fight with Harvard to reclaim my legacy
Lanier, Tamara, 1962- author.
342.730873 /Lanier
Black History, Nonfiction, Biographies, History
"Tamara Lanier grew up listening to her mother's stories about her ancestors. As Black Americans descended from enslaved people brought to America, they knew all too well how fragile the tapestry of a lineage could be. As her mother's health declined, she pushed her daughter to dig into those stories. "Tell them about Papa Renty," she would say. It was her mother's last wish. Thus begins one woman's remarkable commitment to document that story. Her discovery of an eighteenth-century daguerreotype, one of the first-ever photos of enslaved people from Africa, reveals a dark-skinned man with short-cropped silver hair and chiseled cheekbones. The information read "Renty, Congo." All at once, Lanier knew she was staring at the ancestor her mother told her so much about-Papa Renty. In a compelling story covering more than a decade of her own research, Lanier takes us on her quest to prove her genealogical bloodline to Papa Renty's that pits her in a legal battle against one of the most powerful institutions in the country, Harvard University. The question is, who has claim to the stories, artifacts, and remnants of America's stained history-the institutions who acquired and housed them for generations, or the descendants who have survived? From These Roots is not only a historical record of one woman's lineage but a call to justice that fights for all those demanding to reclaim, honor, and lay to rest the remains of mishandled lives and memories"--
This is a fascinating story that melds historical acts of racism and exploitation with present-day conversations about who owns what, who gets to tell the story, and what people are owed. -Candice
The Paris girl : the young woman who outwitted the Nazis and became a WWII hero
White, Francelle Bradford, author.
940.5344 /White
Nonfiction, Biographies, History
Written by her own daughter, this biography chronicles the astonishing courage Andrée Griotteray, a teenage girl in Nazi-occupied Paris who would become a hero of the French Resistance through her harrowing work as an underground intelligence courier.
There have been several fiction books published recently that focus on women performing acts of derring-do in WWII, and this here is the real thing. -Candice
The waiting game : the untold story of the women who served the Tudor queens
Clark, Nicola (Associate lecturer in history), author.
942.05 /Clark
Nonfiction, History
Every Tudor Queen had ladies-in-waiting. They were her confidantes and her chaperones. Only the Queen's ladies had the right to enter her most private chambers, spending hours helping her to get dressed and undressed, caring for her clothes and jewels, listening to her secrets. But they also held a unique power. A quiet word behind the scenes, an appropriately timed gift, a well-negotiated marriage alliance were all forms of political agency wielded. The Waiting Game explores the daily lives of ladies-in-waiting, revealing the secrets of recruitment, costume, what they ate, where (and with whom) they slept. --
For the reader who might be more intrigued with what was going on in the lives of those who were on the edges of the royal spotlight. -Candice
A history of Ancient Rome in twelve coins
Harney, Gareth, author.
937.06 /Harney
Nonfiction, History
This accessible historical account traces ancient Rome's rise to power through the stories of twelve remarkable coins, revealing how Romans used currency to immortalize their gods, emperors and conquests, connecting modern readers with the empire's epic past.
I'm always a fan of books about Roman history! This one looks less dense and more readable than some others I've attempted. -Candice
A matter of complexion : the life and fictions of Charles W. Chesnutt
Chakkalakal, Tess, author.
ON ORDER BOOK
Black History, Nonfiction, Biographies, History
"A biography of Charles Chesnutt, one of the first Black authors to write for both Black and white readers. In A Matter of Complexion, Tess Chakkalakal gives readers the first comprehensive biography of Charles W. Chesnutt. A complex and talented man, Chesnutt was born in 1858 in Cleveland to parents who were considered "mixed race." He spent his early life in North Carolina after the Civil War. Though light-skinned, Chesnutt remained a member of the black community throughout his life. He studied among students at the State Colored Normal School who were formerly enslaved. He became a teacher in rural North Carolina during Reconstruction. His life in the South of those years, the issue of race, and how he himself identified as Black informed much of his later writing. He went on to become the first Black writer whose stories appeared in The Atlantic Monthly and whose books were published by Houghton Mifflin. Through his literary work, as a writer, critic, and speaker, Chesnutt transformed the publishing world by crossing racial barriers that divided black writers from white and seamlessly including both Black and white characters in his writing. In A Matter of Complexion Chakkalakal pens the biography of a poor teacher raised in rural North Carolina during Reconstruction who became the first professional African American writer to break into the all-white literary establishment and win admirers as diverse as William Dean Howells, Booker T. Washington, Ida B. Wells, and Lorraine Hansberry"--
This is a person I wasn't familiar with until reading the reviews for the book, and his story is so intriguing. A man who could have passed as white during a time when that would have opened many doors, but instead chose to remain in his Black community as a teacher and then writer, his story deserves to be told. -Candice
Why fish don't exist : a story of loss, love, and the hidden order of life
Lulu Miller
590.92 /Miller
Biographies, History, Memoir, Philosophy, Science
Nineteenth-century scientist David Starr Jordan built one of the most important fish specimen collections ever seen, until the 1906 San Francisco earthquake shattered his life's work.
One of those books that fundamentally changed how I view the world. Highly relevant today with a liberating perspective on binary thinking and the human tendency to categorize and control chaos. -Annie
The secret lives of numbers : a hidden history of math's unsung trailblazers
Kate Kitagawa
510.9 /Kitagawa
Nonfiction, History, Science
Mathematics shapes almost everything we do. But despite its reputation as the study of fundamental truths, the stories we have been told about it are wrong--warped like the sixteenth-century map that enlarged Europe at the expense of Africa, Asia and the Americas. In The Secret Lives of Numbers, renowned math historian Kate Kitagawa and journalist Timothy Revell make the case that the history of math is infinitely deeper, broader, and richer than the narrative we think we know.
I'm not even going to pretend that I understood everything in this book (and it's literally a book that just explains numbers and mathematics, you don't even have to do any!), but I found it full of interesting facts and tidbits nonetheless. The book is written in a very friendly fashion (math jokes, anyone?), and does a great service in highlighting brilliant people who made strides in the field of math, some of whom have been more or less lost to history because they didn't make it into the formal books. Eyeopening to the nth degree! -Candice
The other ancient civilisations : decoding archaeology's less celebrated cultures
Raven Todd DaSilva
930 /DaSilva
Nonfiction, History
"The world has always been filled with vibrant cultures and civilisations and mainstream history is dominated by only a select few. In this book, Raven Todd DaSilva invites you on an archaeological expedition across millennia and continents to discover the rich diversity of peoples that are often overlooked but have made monumental impacts that have shaped our modern world. From the world's first peace treaty to daring expeditions across the Pacific, twenty ancient and historic cultures from around the world are highlighted, offering an alternative view of history. Each chapter investigates the archaeological evidence we have for each culture, delving beyond their rise and fall and highlighting the magic in the mundance of everyday life in the past. Relive key historical events, explore ancient sites, and marvel at astounding artefacts that changed the way we understand history." -- From back cover.
This is a great little book. It reminds of the nonfiction works I'd read as a child, super quick, high-interest pieces about history, mysterious places, and events (dinosaurs! outer space! Egyptian pyramids! the Bermuda Triangle!), presented in bite-sized portions but full of all the pertinent facts. This is like that, but for an adult. DaSilva covers 20 ancient cultures in 300 pages, so there's a quick pace; he's covering lots of important details and interesting facts, but doesn't get bogged down in minutiae. Certainly not a comprehensive look at any culture, but just enough to get you on the right track and interested in finding out more. -Candice
Save our souls : the true story of a castaway family, treachery, and murder
Matthew Pearl
910.452 /Pearl
History
In this true story, on December 10, 1887, the Walker family's shark fishing boat was split in two by a storm, and they awoke in the morning on an island inhabited by a ragged man named Hans who seemed helpful but had a dark secret.
Save Our Souls is a shipwreck survival book. It has all the elements of a thrilling adventure--being lost at sea, foraging on a deserted island (in this case one of the Midway Islands), and faction-based mutiny. But there is a twist. Someone is already on the island that makes things far more complicated--he knows the island, but why is he there by himself? And there is also the context of the late-19th century. Pearl deftly explains the economics and politics of a European shark fishing boat in the middle of the Pacific.It is a fascinating read. -Anne M
I have absolutely no interest in climbing mountains, but ever since I read Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" when it came out, I've been obsessed with reading about it. I think this book will be best enjoyed from the comfort of a beach towel, with nary a hill in sight. -Candice