History

The History of White People (Paperback)

By Nell Irvin Painter

$18.95

ISBN: 9780393339741

Availability: In Stock: Click Title to See if it's in CAMBRIDGE or BOSTON

Published: W. W. Norton & Company - April 18th, 2011

Add to Wish List

A wide-ranging look at how whiteness has been defined throughout history, from the marble statues of ancient Greece and Rome (back in the day, they were colorful) to how "Caucasian" became part of the language (you can thank Ottoman harems for that).

Sarah

Commander in Chief: FDR's Battle with Churchill, 1943 (FDR at War #2) (Hardcover)

By Nigel Hamilton

Not Available

ISBN: 9780544279117

Availability: Out of Print

Published: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt - June 7th, 2016

Commander in Chief is the second volume of Nigel Hamilton’s masterful reexamination of FDR’s crucial role in the planning and execution of the Allied war strategy during World War II. This volume centers on the decision making process after the North African invasion beginning  with Roosevelt’s summit with Churchill in Casablanca in 1943 and how it took all of Roosevelt’s diplomatic skill and resolve to set the course for ultimate victory.

Dale

 

West of Eden: An American Place (Hardcover)

By Jean Stein

$30.00
It's Complicated--Contact Us for More Information

ISBN: 9780812998405

Published: Random House - February 9th, 2016

This oral history of Hollywood and Los Angeles, looks at five different  families/individuals who lived, struggled, worked, and played there - the actress Jennifer Jones, movie mogul Jack Warner, tycoon Edward Doheny, troubled Jane Garland and Stein's own fascinating family.  Their stories are woven into an intense, illuminating and sometimes tragic tapestry.

 

Nathan

 

A History of the Twentieth Century in 100 Maps (Hardcover)

By Tim Bryars, Tom Harper

$45.00
It's Complicated--Contact Us for More Information

ISBN: 9780226202471

Published: University of Chicago Press - October 22nd, 2014

Whether or not you're a map geek, you will want to buy this book as a gift and then keep it for yourself and not give it away.  Maps are much more than geography - 20th century history and culture can be viewed through its maps, and this is an eclectic, diverse and beautiful collection.  A 1901 map of Jewish East London, the world map of Orwell's 1984, a trench map used by soldiers

in the Somme offensive - and 97 more.    

David

 

SPQR: A History of Ancient Rome (Hardcover)

By Mary Beard

$37.50

ISBN: 9780871404237

Availability: Available to Order from Supplier: Arrives at Store in a Week(ish)

Published: Liveright - November 9th, 2015

Add to Wish List

Informed by the many new discoveries and interpretations of contemporary scholarship, yet eminently readable and conversational in tone, Beard engagingly reexamines what we know of ancient Roman history, in process revising many myths of its thousand year span.

Dale

 

Map: Exploring The World (Hardcover)

By Phaidon Editors, John Hessler (Introduction by), Daniel Crouch (Contributions by)

$59.95
It's Complicated--Contact Us for More Information

ISBN: 9780714869445

Published: Phaidon Press - September 28th, 2015

More than just a collection of beautiful maps from around the world and throughout history, this book uses critical juxtaposition to create new perspectives on history, politics, and geography. Easily the most interesting coffee table book this year.

Josh

 

Lafayette in the Somewhat United States (Hardcover)

By Sarah Vowell

Not Available to Order

ISBN: 9781594631740

Published: Riverhead Books - October 20th, 2015

Sarah Vowell is certainly not your typical historian. There's been some great colonial history published in the past few years, but hers is chatty, sassy, snarky, and hilarious and thus eminently readable. Lafayette really was as great a friend of the United States as he's chalked up to be, and this unconventional and insightful recounting of his adventures is combined with a larger view of the dysfunction of the early US government and its often inept political and military establishments.

David

 

Drowned City: Hurricane Katrina and New Orleans (Hardcover)

By Don Brown

$18.99

ISBN: 9780544157774

Availability: Available with a Delay: On Order at Supplier: Email online@portersquarebooks.com for More Info

Published: Clarion Books - August 4th, 2015

Add to Wish List

This remembrance of the events in New Orleans ten years ago is a very powerful and straightforward portrayal of the tragedy. The graphic novel format helps the reader feel the desperation,despair and hopelessness of the terrible circumstances and the spirit of those who lived through it.Recommended for kids and adults 12 and up.

Carol