The exhibit outside the Fine Arts Library, fourth floor, West Wing of the Main Library, features/featured recently published histories of topics and things, tangible and intangible, that came to our attention because they seemed unusual, mostly not having been written about before. History is often an unpopular subject in school and college. People think studying or reading about famous or infamous individuals, people groups, wars, eras, ideologies, and noteworthy events is boring. We hope by featuring some of these titles to show you another, hopefully more interesting, side of history. With thanks to Anita Ezzo, for many suggestions of books to include.
When the exhibit concludes, the books will be available for checkout. Here is the bibliography of books represented in our third edition of this exhibit, with call numbers:
Aldersey-Williams, Hugh. Periodic Tales, a Cultural History of the Elements, from Arsenic to Zinc. N.Y., Ecco, 2011. QD 467 .A457 2011
Ambrose, Tom. History of Cycling in Fifty Bikes. N.Y., Rodale Press, [2013]. TL 410 .A43 2013.
Barker, Hugh. Hedge Britannia, a Curious History of a British Obsession. London, Bloomsbury, 2012. SB 437 .B37 2012
Basbanes, Nicholas A. On Paper, the Everything of its Two-Thousand-Year History. N.Y., Knopf, 2013. Z 247 .B34 2013
Beaulieu, Denyse. Perfume Lover, a Personal History of Scent. N.Y. St. Martin’s, 2013. TP 983 .A66 B43 2013
Cobain, Ian. Cruel Britannia, a Secret History of Torture. London, Portobello Books, 2012. HV 8599 .G8 C62 2012
Coyle, Diane. GDP [Gross Domestic Product], a Brief but Affectionate History. Princeton, Princeton Univ. Press, [2014]. HC 79 .I5 C725 2014
Deutsch, Jonathan. Barbecue, a Global History. London, Reaktion Books, 2014. TX 840 .B3 D478 2014
Eire, Carlos M.N. Very Brief History of Eternity. Princeton, Princeton Univ. Press, c2010. BT 913 .E74 2010
Forman-Brunell, Miriam. Babysitter, an American History. N.Y., New York Univ. Press, c2009. HQ 769.5 .F67 2009
Franklin’s Thrift, the Lost History of an American Virtue, edited by David Blankenhorn, Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, and Sorcha Brophy-Warren. West Conshohocken, PA., Templeton Press, c2009. HC 110 .S3 F73 2009
Gantz, Carroll. Vacuum Cleaner, a History. Jefferson, N.C., McFarland, c2012. TX 298 .G29 2012.
Hall, Ian R. Taming the Truffle, the History, Lore, and Science of the Ultimate Mushroom. Portland, Ore., Timber Press, 2007. SB 353.5 .T78 H344 2007
Hecht, Jennifer Michael. Stay, a History of Suicide and the Philosophies Against It. New Haven, Yale U.P., 2013. HV 6545 .H372 2013
Hendy, David. Noise, a Human History of Sound and Listening. N.Y., Ecco, [2013]. P 96 .S66 H46 2013
Isacoff, Stuart. Natural History of the Piano, the Instrument, the Music, the Musicians—from Mozart to Modern Jazz, and Everything in Between. N.Y. Knopf, 2011. ML 650 .I83 2011
Jones, David Albert. Angels, a History. Oxford, Oxford U.P., 2010. BL 477 .J66 2010
Kindstedt, Paul. Cheese and Culture, a History of Cheese and its Place in Western Civilization. White River Junction, VT., Chelsea Green, c2012. SF 270.4 .K56 2012
King, Casey. Ambition, a History, from Vice to Virtue. New Haven, Yale U.P., 2013. E 162 .K59 2013
Krampner, Jon. Creamy and Crunchy, an Informal History of Peanut Butter, the All-American Food. N.Y., Columbia Univ. Press, c2013. TX 803 .P35 K73 2013
La Niece, Susan. Gold. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 2009. Fine Arts NK 7106 .L23 2009
Matt, Susan J. Homesickness, an American History. Oxford, Oxford Univ. Press, 2011. BF 575 .N6 M295 2011
Merriman, Philippa. Silver. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 2009. Fine Arts NK 7104 .M47 2009
Metcalf, Allan A. OK, the Improbable Story of America’s Greatest Word. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2010. PE 2831 .M48 2010
Milanović, Branko. Haves and Have-Nots, a Brief and Idiosyncratic History of Global Inequality. N.Y. Basic Books, c2011. NC 79 .I5 M547 2011
Moscoso, Javier. Pain, a Cultural History. N.Y., Palgrave Macmillan, 2012. BF 789 .S8 M6713 2012
Müller-Wille, Staffan. Cultural History of Heredity. Chicago, Univ. of Chicago Press, 2012. QH 438.5 .M8513 2012
Nye, David E. When the Lights Went Out, a History of Blackouts in America. Cambridge, Mass, MIT Press, c2010. HD 9685 .U5 N944 2010
Ott, Cindy. Pumpkin, the Curious History of an American Icon. Seattle, Univ. of Washington Press, c2012. SB 347 .O88 2012
Potts, John. History of Charisma. Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan, 2009. BF 698.35 .C45 P68 2009
Prioleau, Elizabeth Stevens. Swoon, Great Seducers and Why Women Love Them. N.Y. W.W. Norton and Co., 2013. HQ 1090.27 .P75 2013
Quinzio, Jeri. Pudding, a Global History. London, Reaktion Books, 2013. TX 773 .A56 2012
Radkau, Joachim. Wood, a History. Cambridge, Polity, c2012. SD 131 .R3313 2012
Ribbat, Christoph. Flickering Light, a History of Neon. London, Reatkion Books, 2013. Fine Arts TK 4383 .R5313 2013
Rieger, Bernhard. People’s Car, a Global History of the Volkswagen Beetle. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 2013. TL 215 .V6 R54 2013
Rogers, Katharine M. Pork, a Global History. London, Reatkion Books, 2012. TX 749.5 .P67 R64 2012
Rosenfeld, Sophia A. Common Sense, a Political History. Cambridge, Mass., Harvard Univ. Press, 2011. JA 83 .R724 2011
Russell, Sharman Apt. Hunger, an Unnatural History. N.Y., Basic Books, c2005. HN .R88 2005
Salzman, James. Drinking Water, a History. N.Y., Overlook Duckworth, 2012. GB 661.2 .S26 2012
Shaffer, Marjorie. Pepper, a History of the World’s Most Influential Spice. N.Y., Thomas Dunne Books, St. Martin’s Press, 2013. TX 407 .P4 S53 2013
Soar, Hugh D.H. Straight and True, a Select History of the Arrow. Yardley, PA., Westholme, c2012. U 877 .S63 2012
Solomonson, Lesley Jacobs. Gin, a Global History. London, Reatkion Books, 2012. TP 607 .G4 S65 2012
Spacks, Patricia Meyer. Boredom, the Literary History of a State of Mind. Chicago, Univ. of Chicago Press, c1995. PR 408 .B67 S67 1995
Stearns, Peter N. Fat History, Bodies and Beauty in the Modern West. N.Y., New York Univ. Press, c1997. RM 222.2 .S755 1997
Tanselle, G. Thomas. Book-Jackets, Their History, Forms, and Use. Charlottesville, VA, Bibliographical Society of the University of irginia, 2011. Fine Arts NC 973 .T36 2011
Valenze, Deborah M. Milk, a Local and Global History. New Haven, Yale U.P., 2011. GT 2920 .M55 V35 2011
Zipes, Jack. Irresistible Fairy Tale, the Cultural and Social History of a Genre. Princeton, Princeton Univ. Press, c2012. GR 550 .Z59 2012.
Exhibit created and bibliography written by Agnes Haigh Widder, Humanities Bibliographer.
