Category Archives: history
Island of Vice
The subtitle of Richard Zacks’s Island of Vice: Theodore Roosevelt’s Doomed Quest to Clean Up Sin-Loving New York (2012) gives away the result — hard-charging reformer Teddy Roosevelt aims to clean up New York City as a Police Commissioner, but … Continue reading
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Survival City
Tom Vanderbilt’s Survival City (2002) is more thanĀ just a trip back to the post-World War II era when — it’s good reading in preparation for the inevitable zombie apocalypse. It is the fascinating story of the nation’s preparation for … Continue reading
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Drake’s Fortune
In Drake’s Fortune (2002), Richard Raynor tells the story of what may be the greatest long con in history. Depression-era con man Oscar Hartzell convinced thousands of Midwesterners that he was the executor of 16th century English explorer Francis Drake’s … Continue reading
The Big Roads
In The Big Roads, Earl Swift tells the history of the conception and creation of the Interstate Highway System. Ā For those of us who have lived only in the age of super highways, it is an interesting and well-told … Continue reading
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Gentlemen’s Blood: A History of Dueling
“The definitive guide to courtly violence.” A fascinating history of (sanctioned) male violence throughout western history.
The Man Who Saved New York
Seymour Lachman and Robert Polner’s The Man Who Saved New York (2010) tells the story of New York City’s near financial meltdown in 1975, and how newly-elected New York Governor (the “man” of the title) and his aides were able … Continue reading
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American Eve
In American Eve: Evelyn Nesbit, Stanford White, the Birth of the āItā Girl, and the Crime of the Century (2008), Paula Uruburu tells the story of millionaires behaving badly, with a mix of glamour, sex, madness, and murder, at the … Continue reading
Wild Bill Donovan
In Wild Bill Donovan (2011), Douglas Waller tells the story of the Buffalo native who help create and oversee most of the nation’s espionage activities during World War II. Donovan was quite a character.Ā A World War I hero, he … Continue reading
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Tales from the Sausage Factory: Making Laws in New York State
In Tales from the Sausage Factory: Making Laws in New York State, Dan Feldman and Gerry Benjamin have written a thoughtful, interesting and insightful explanation of how New York’s legislature functioned in the 1980’s and 1990’s. It should be considered … Continue reading
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Married to the Mouse
In Married to the Mouse (2001), Richard Foglesong tells the fascinating story of Disney’s relationship with the local governments of central Florida.Ā Not the city of Orlando, actually, but Orange and Osceola counties.Ā And the Reedy Creek Improvement District, basically … Continue reading
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