White Trash: the 400-Year Untold History of Class in America Conventional wisdom holds that seminal social problems in America and Britain are contrasted thusly: “Britain
The President, the Purchase, and the Explorers Who Transformed a Nation In our cultural memory, the Lewis and Clark expedition dominates the early years of
Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape and the Making of Winston Churchill Winston Spencer Churchill (WSC) was in most respects a
The Invention of Nature – Alexander von Humboldt’s New World Territorial Nevadans in the 19th century considered naming their new state-to-be Humboldt. Instead, the famous
Pacific – Silicon Chips and Surf Boards, Coral Reefs and Atom Bombs, Brutal Dictators, Fading Empires and the Coming Collision of the World’s Superpowers Simon
Old Glory, A Voyage Down the Mississippi Who in his right mind would navigate a sixteen-foot, fifteen-horsepower outboard aluminum motorboat down the Mississippi from the
Nein, A Manifesto Home alone, reading Eric Jarosinski’s Nein. A Manifesto, and I’m laughing so hard that tears are running down my cheeks! I don’t
The Fly Trap When I began reading Frederik Sjöberg’s The Fly Trap, I hadn’t a clue as to what a hoverfly is, does, or looks
Pope Francis Among the Wolves, The Inside Story of a Revolution While attending the Northern California Independent Booksellers Association trade show back in October, I
Lafayette in the SOMEWHAT United States I’d venture a guess that few adults remember their 11th grade American history class as being particularly humorous. After all,
The Witch of Lime Street: Séance, Seduction, and Houdini in the Spirit World The “Roaring Twenties” have a reputation, deserved or not, for being a
FRIDAY’S HARBOR No, Friday’s Harbor is not a punctuation gaffe. Instead of referring to the largest community on San Juan Island in Washington state, the
Silent Echoes, Discovering Early Hollywood Through the Films of Buster Keaton For a recent wedding anniversary gift, my wife bought me The Art of Buster
The Taste of War: World War Two and the Battle for Food Admittedly, I take food for granted. Supermarket tomatoes and peaches tend to slice
Off Mike, A Memoir of Talk Radio Michael Krasny always wanted to be a writer like his idols Norman Mailer and Saul Bellow, but other things
SAN FRANCISCO, A MAP OF PERCEPTIONS Andrea Ponsi’s San Francisco: A Map of Perceptions is a small, lovely gem – or, perhaps, a handful of
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