ancient civilizations

 

The next Books & Beyond meeting will be Tuesday, March 29 at 6:30pm in the library’s conference room.  If you’d like to attend online instead, register your email at https://www.oneallibrary.org/event/5494758.  The topic of discussion will be Academy Award-winning films.  Watch one, read about one, read or listen to the book it was adapted from…the choice is yours.

This week, BAB met to talk about ancient civilizations.  Have a look!

Lost Cities, Ancient Tombs: 100 Discoveries That Changed the World edited by Ann R. Williams

Blending high adventure with history, this chronicle of 100 astonishing discoveries from the Dead Sea Scrolls to the fabulous “Lost City of the Monkey God” tells incredible stories of how explorers and archaeologists have uncovered the clues that illuminate our past.

Venus and Aphrodite: History of a Goddess by Bettany Hughes (not yet available in the JCLC system, request via Interlibrary Loan)

Venus and Aphrodite brings together ancient art, mythology, and archaeological revelations to tell the story of human desire. From Mesopotamia to modern-day London, from Botticelli to Beyoncé, Hughes explains why this immortal goddess continues to entrance us today -- and how we trivialize her power at our peril.

The Inheritors by William Golding

From the author of Lord of the Flies, The Inheritors is a startling novel of the lost world of the Neanderthals, and a frightening vision of the beginnings of a new age.

Dance of the Tiger by Bjorn Kurten (not available in the JCLC system, request via Interlibrary Loan)

Kurten draws on recent anthropological discoveries and his vivid imagination to create a compelling novel of life thirty-five thousand years ago, telling the story of Tiger as he seeks revenge for a savage attack on his tribe.

Written in Stone: A Journey Through the Stone Age and the Origins of Modern Language by Christopher Stevens

In snappy, lively, and often very funny chapters, Written in Stone uncovers the most influential and important words used by our Neolithic ancestors and shows how they are still in constant use today - the building blocks of all our most common words and phrases.

(Great Courses) Ancient Civilizations of North America

In 24 exciting lectures, you’ll learn about the vibrant cities of Poverty Point, the first city in North America, built about 3,500 years ago, and Cahokia, the largest city of ancient North America. You’ll explore the many ways in which the Chacoan environment provided cultural and religious focus for peoples of the southwest. And you’ll learn about the Iroquoian source of some of our most basic “American” values. 

(Great Courses) Maya to Aztec: Ancient Mesoamerica Revealed

Immerse yourself in this epic story with 48 exhilarating half-hour lectures that cover the scope of Mesoamerican history and culture. Although the Spanish eventually conquered all of Mesoamerica, much remains of the original cultures. This course is the ideal way to plan an itinerary, prepare for a tour, or simply sit back and enjoy a thrilling virtual voyage.

(Great Courses) Lost Worlds of South America

Take an adventurous trek to these wilds of South America and the great civilizations of the ancients. In 24 eye-opening lectures, you'll take an in-depth look at the emerging finds and archaeological knowledge of more than 12 seminal civilizations, giving you rich insight into the creative vision and monumental achievements of these wellsprings of human life.

Gods of Jade and Shadow by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

In the company of the strangely alluring Mayan god of death and armed with her wits, Casiopea begins an adventure that will take her on a cross-country odyssey from the jungles of Yucatán to the bright lights of Mexico City—and deep into the darkness of the Mayan underworld.

Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

Welcome to Mexico City, an oasis in a sea of vampires. Domingo, a lonely garbage-collecting street kid, is just trying to survive when a jaded vampire on the run swoops into his life. Atl, the descendant of Aztec blood drinkers, is smart, beautiful, and dangerous. Domingo is mesmerized. Do Atl and Domingo even stand a chance of making it out alive? Or will the city devour them all?

Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee Newitz

Acclaimed science journalist Annalee Newitz takes readers on an entertaining and mind-bending adventure into the deep history of urban life. Investigating across the centuries and around the world, Newitz explores the rise and fall of four ancient cities, each the center of a sophisticated civilization.

Walls: A History of Civilization in Blood and Brick by David Frye

Alternately evocative, amusing, chilling, and deeply insightful as it gradually reveals the startling ways that barriers have affected our psyches. The questions this book summons are both intriguing and profound: Did walls make civilization possible? And can we live without them? 

1177 B.C.: The Year Civilization Collapsed by Eric Cline

A compelling combination of narrative and the latest scholarship, 1177 B.C. sheds new light on the complex ties that gave rise to, and ultimately destroyed, the flourishing civilizations of the Late Bronze Age―and that set the stage for the emergence of classical Greece.

Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization by Paul Kriwaczek

Bringing the people of this land to life in vibrant detail, the author chronicles the rise and fall of power during this period and explores the political and social systems, as well as the technical and cultural innovations, which made this land extraordinary. 

GENERAL DISCUSSION:

Red: A History of the Redhead by Jacky Colliss Harvey

The brilliantly told, captivating history of red hair throughout the ages and across multiple disciplines, including science, religion, politics, feminism and sexuality, literature, and art.

·         In medieval historian Michael McCormick’s opinion, the worst year to be alive was 536.

Life as We Knew It by Sarah Beth Pfeffer

Miranda's disbelief turns to fear in a split second when a meteor knocks the Moon closer to the Earth. How should her family prepare for the future when worldwide tsunamis wipe out the coasts, earthquakes rock the continents, and volcanic ash blocks out the sun? As summer turns to Arctic winter, Miranda, her two brothers, and their mother struggle to hold on to the most important resource of all, hope, in an increasingly desperate and unfamiliar world.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

On a seemingly ordinary Saturday in a California suburb, Julia and her family awake to discover, along with the rest of the world, that the rotation of the earth has suddenly begun to slow. The days and nights grow longer and longer, gravity is affected, the environment is thrown into disarray. Yet as she struggles to navigate an ever-shifting landscape, Julia is also coping with the normal disasters of everyday life.

Melancholia

Justine (Kirsten Dunst) and Michael (Alexander Skarsgård) celebrate their marriage at a sumptuous party in the home of Justine's sister Claire (Charlotte Gainsbourg) and brother-in-law John (Kiefer Sutherland). Despite Claire's best efforts, the wedding is a fiasco with family tensions mounting and relationships fraying. Meanwhile, a planet called Melancholia is heading directly towards Earth threatening the very existence of humankind...

Don’t Look Up (requires Netflix subscription)

Two astronomers go on a media tour to warn humankind of a planet-killing comet hurtling toward Earth. The response from a distracted world: Meh.

The Toilet: An Unspoken History

It's a problem as old as civilization itself, the unspoken question on the pages of every history book. From the latrines of the Roman age to the conveniences of the future, this documentary takes its viewers on a full sanitary experience, visiting countries as diverse as China, Japan, the Netherlands, Spain, India and Britain, meeting all manner of people who work... with toilets.

This Podcast Will Kill You

Grad students studying disease ecology, Erin and Erin found themselves disenchanted with the insular world of academia. They wanted a way to share their love of epidemics and weird medical mysteries with the world, not just colleagues. Plus, who doesn't love an excuse to have a cocktail while chatting about pus and poop?  We discussed the rabies episode in particular.

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World’s Most Diabolical Virus by Bill Wasik

In this fascinating exploration, journalist Bill Wasik and veterinarian Monica Murphy chart four thousand years in the history, science, and cultural mythology of rabies.

The documentary I was trying to remember is Chasing the Equinox and it is a National Geographic documentary on Disney+.  Description: “The ancients hid the secrets of their incredible knowledge of astronomy in their temples and palaces, built to align with the sun, on the same day, all over the world. Revealing our species' obsession with the sun, across thousands of years and every continent, this is architectural magic on a cosmic scale.”

Nag Hammad’i Library

The Nag Hammadi Library, a collection of thirteen ancient books (called "codices") containing over fifty texts, was discovered in upper Egypt in 1945. This immensely important discovery includes many primary "Gnostic Gospels" – texts once thought to have been entirely destroyed during the early Christian struggle to define "orthodoxy" – scriptures such as the Gospel of Thomas, the Gospel of Philip, and the Gospel of Truth. 

·         The Holy Bible

 

horses

I recently finished my second read of Elizabeth Letts heartwarming tale of Cold War-era daring do, The Eighty Dollar Champion: The Horse That Inspired a Nation. Much like Seabiscuit inspired the nation during The Great Depression, Snowman captured the hearts and minds of the public during a time when the they urgently needed a working-class hero.

Laura Hillenbrand’s fabulous work, Seabiscuit: America’s Legendary Racehorse, is on Libby. (click here)

Copies of the ebook are also available via Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library. (click here)

Dutch immigrant Harry deLeyer was only a boy when the Germans invaded Holland in 1940, but he quickly learned about bravery and courage in the face of danger.  His father became a member of the local Resistance and Harry participated as soon as he could. After the war, Harry and his young bride immigrated to the United States with all of their possessions in a small wooden crate and $160 dollars in his pocket.  After a few years of brutal work on a tobacco farm Harry was finally able to get back to his first love, working with horses. 

He lucked into becoming a riding instructor at a prestigious girls’ boarding school on Long Island, the Knox School, and was responsible for procuring good, but cheap, horses for the girls’ lessons.  On a snowy evening in 1956, an underfed, matted with mud and manure, openly wounded large, gray horse was saved from the slaughterhouse for a mere $80. Harry had no idea he’d just made the purchase that would ultimately catapulted him into show jumping fame and sports history.  In 2014, MGM acquired the screen rights to the book.  Fingers crossed, it eventually gets made!

The ebook and eaudio are on Libby. (click here)

The ebook is also available via Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library. (click here)

A documentary, Harry and Snowman, was made in 2016 and is available on Hoopla. (click here)

Ms. Letts’ research on Harry’s experiences during the war eventually led to a second horse-related title that I enjoyed equally as much, The Perfect Horse: The Daring U.S. Mission to Rescue the Priceless Stallions Kidnapped by the Nazis.

This ebook is on Libby. (click here)

There is also a young reader’s edition ebook on Libby. (click here)

If that subtitle sounds familiar to you then, like me, you no doubt watched the Disney film, Miracle of the White Stallions, about the Lippizan stallions of the Spanish Riding School in Vienna.  Check your preferred streaming subscription for availability, but the entire film is currently on Youtube. (click here)

Other inspiring horses in history:

Sgt. Reckless: America’s War Horse by Robin Hutton

A captivating account of how a would-be Korean racehorse became one of the greatest Marine Corps wartime heroes. Sergeant Reckless was her name, and she was the horse renowned for carrying wounded soldiers off the battlefield and making solo trips across combat zones to deliver supplies.

The ebook and eaudio are on Libby. (click here)

The eaudio is available on Hoopla. (click here)

There is a great, short documentary (The Horse Show with Rick Lamb, 18 min) about Sgt. Reckless on Youtube. (click here)

FOR THE KIDS:

Celebrated children’s author Marguerite Henry has enchanted young readers for decades.

A couple of her books are eaudio on Hoopla. (click here)

Catherine Hapka adapted her book, Misty of Chincoteague, into a riding series, Ponies of Chincoteague. These ebooks are on Libby. (click here)

A film adaptation of her book, King of the Wind, is available on Hoopla. (click here)

More of her books are available on Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library. (click here)

Walter Farley, beloved author of the Black Stallion books, still captures the imagination of horse-crazy kids everywhere.

His books are available on Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library. (click here)

FOR THE GROWNUPS:

If you like fantasy fiction, Mary Herbert’s magic-filled tale of adventure, Dark Horse, is available on Internet Archive’s National Emergency Library. (click here)

Another great fantasy outing, complete with magic, a brave stallion, and a villainous dragon is Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown. The ebook and eaudio are on Libby. (click here)

If you have PBS Passport (also check your preferred streaming subscription for additional availability), there are several amazing documentaries.

Equus: Story of the Horse (episode 1: Origins/episode 2: Chasing the Wind)

First Horse Warriors

Indian Relay

Alabama history

This week, the Genre Reading Group met to discuss books on Alabama history.  2019 is the 200th anniversary for the state, so be on the lookout for programs and events celebrating the bicentennial!

They Also Served: Twenty-Five Remarkable Alabama Women by Mildred Griffin Yelverton

Includes information on Tallulah Brockman Bankhead -- Ruth Robertson Berrey -- Myrtle Brooke -- Annie Rowan Forney Daugette -- Loula Friend Dunn -- Hallie Farmer -- Henrietta Magnolia Gibbs -- Amelia Gayle Gorgas -- Dixie Bibb Graves -- Agnes Ellen Harris -- Pattie Ruffner Jacobs -- Elizabeth Johnston Evans Johnston -- Helen Adams Keller -- Kathleen Mallory -- Edwina Donnelly Mitchell -- Sister Chrysostom Moynahan -- Marie Bankhead Owen -- Annie Lola Price -- Ruby Pickens Tartt -- Carrie A. Tuggle -- Loraine Bedsole Tunstall -- Julia Strudwick Tutwiler -- Lurleen Burns Wallace -- Margaret James Murray Washington -- Augusta Evans Wilson.

The Infamous Birmingham Axe Murders: Prohibition Gangsters and Vigilante Justice by Jeremy W. Gray

A reign of terror swept the streets of Birmingham in the 1920s. Criminals armed with small axes attacked immigrant merchants and interracial couples, leaving dozens dead or injured over the course of four years. Desperate for answers, police accepted clues from a Ouija board, while citizens clamored for gun permits for protection. The city's Italian immigrants formed their own association as protection against the Black Hand, an organized band of brutal criminals. Eventually, the police turned to a dangerous and untested truth serum to elicit confessions. Four black men and a teenage girl were charged and tried, while copycat killers emerged from the woodwork. Journalist Jeremy Gray tackles one of the most curious and violent cases in Magic City history.

The Most They Ever Had by Rick Bragg

In the spring of 2001, a community of people in the Appalachian foothills of northern Alabama had come to the edge of all they had ever known. Across the South, padlocks and logging chains bound the doors of silent mills, and it seemed a miracle to blue-collar people in Jacksonville that their mill still bit, shook, and roared. The century-old hardwood floors still trembled under whirling steel, and people worked on, in a mist of white air. The mill had become almost a living thing, rewarding the hardworking and careful with the best payday they ever had, but punishing the careless and clumsy, taking a finger, a hand, more.

The mill was here before the automobile, before the flying machine, and the mill workers served it even as it filled their lungs with lint and shortened their lives. In return, it let them live in stiff-necked dignity in the hills of their fathers. So, when death did come, no one had to ship their bodies home on a train. This is a mill story—not of bricks, steel, and cotton, but of the people who suffered it to live.

Three Capitals: A Book About the First Three Capitals of Alabama by William Brantley

"Three Capitals is an in-depth study of Alabama's first three seats of government--St. Stephens, Huntsville, and Cahawba.... The University of Alabama Press has reprinted the book in a handsome new edition with a pertinent introduction by Malcolm C. McMillan. Brantley's study is a tribute to the accomplishments of an amateur historian and contains a wealth of useful information." --Bulletin of the History of the Early American Republic

Living History in Alabama (NOT AVAILABLE IN THE JCLC)

This vintage travel guide to the state was published in 1969, the 150th anniversary of the state.

Birmingham View: Through the Years in Photographs published by the Birmingham Historical Society

This book traces Birmingham, Alabama's rapid growth from frontier to full-fledged city during the early 20th century through the photographs produced by the Birmingham View Company (1905-1961)

Vintage Birmingham Signs by Tim Hollis

Most people do not stop to realize how many of their fond memories involve advertising signs. Although these neon spectaculars, billboards, and even signs painted directly onto brick walls were created expressly to persuade customers to buy products or patronize businesses, many such signs remained in place for so long that they became beloved landmarks in their own right. For Images of America: Vintage Birmingham Signs, Tim Hollis has scoured the archives of Birmingham’s former sign companies, as well as other private collections, to compile some of the best remembered or most obscure signs that dotted the urban and suburban landscape. Here readers will again see the Buffalo Rock bottle pouring its ginger ale into a glass, the Golden Flake clown smiling down at passersby, the Barber’s milk clock at the Five Points South intersection, and many more. Through these vintage photographs, readers can once again visit such once-thriving destinations as Eastwood Mall, Burger in a Hurry, and the Kiddieland amusement park.

Abandoned Birmingham by Leland Kent

Founded in 1871 after the Civil War, Birmingham rapidly grew as an industrial enterprise due to the abundance of the three raw materials used in making steel--iron ore, coal, and limestone. Birmingham's rapid growth was due to the booming iron and steel industries giving it the nickname "Magic City" and "Pittsburgh of the South." The city was named after Birmingham, England, as a nod to the major industrial powerhouse. The iron and steel industries began to dry up by the early 1970s, leaving behind dozens of abandoned structures that now dot the city's landscape. In the last several years, Birmingham has begun to experience a rebirth. Money has been invested in reconstructing the historic downtown area into a pedestrian-friendly mixed-use district. In Abandoned Birmingham, photographer Leland Kent gives the reader an in-depth look at the forgotten buildings and factories throughout the city.

Mardi Gras in Mobile by L. Craig Roberts

Mardi Gras in Mobile began its carnival celebration years before the city of New Orleans was founded. In the 1700s, mystic societies formed in Mobile, such as the Societe de Saint Louis, believed to be the first in the New World. These curious organizations brought old-world traditions as they held celebrations like parades and balls with themes like Scandinavian mythology and the dream of Pythagoras. Today, more than 800,000 people annually take in the sights, sounds and attractions of the celebration. Historian and preservationist L. Craig Roberts, through extensive research and interviews, explores the captivating and charismatic history of Mardi Gras in the Port City.

Mountain Brook Village: Then & Now published by the Birmingham Historical Society

This is the story of a village, how it was planned and how it grew over eight decades. Lavishly illustrated, this book tells the story, beginning with historic documents prepared by Jemison & Company before the Great Depression. "This is largely a picture book, with a total of 136 photographs and drawings never seen before" says Marjorie White, Director, Birmingham Historical Society. "In many instances, we show original businesses, businesses that came along later, and the current look and layout of the Village." The pages are fascinating, both in their ability to chronicle one of Birmingham, Alabama's upscale retail markets and as a social history. To see the original plans for the Village (included) and know it today is a testament to the incredible investment in quality planning," says White.

Alabama Cemeteries: A Guide to Their Stories in Stone by Donna Booth

As you travel, by car or by armchair, you will discover The Bear Man's Last Tracks, Little Nadine's Playhouse, The Whiskey Bottle Tombstone, the Coon Dog Memorial Graveyard, and many other stories and places that will raise the hair on your neck, make you laugh, or move you to tears. Of special interest to libraries and genealogists in search of local cemeteries. Complete with black-and-white photos, directions, and state map.

Alabama: The History of a Deep South State by William Warren Rogers, Leah Rawls Atkins, Robert David Ward, and Wayne Flynt

Once the home of aboriginal inhabitants, Alabama was claimed and occupied by European nations, later to become a permanent part of the United States. A cotton and slave state for more than half of the 19th century, Alabama declared its independence and joined another nation, the Confederate States of America, for its more than four-year history. The state assumed an uneasy and uncertain place in the 19th century’s last 35 years. Its role in the 20th century has been tumultuous but painfully predictable. This comprehensive history, written in the last decade of that century, presents, explains, and interprets the major events that occurred during Alabama’s history within the larger context of the South and the nation.

Alabama: The History of a Deep South State is the first completely new comprehensive account of the state since A.B. Moore’s 1935 work. Divided into three main sections, the first concluding in 1865, the second in 1920, and the third bringing the story to the present, the book’s organization is both chronological and topical.

General readers will welcome this modern history of Alabama, which examines such traditional subjects as politics, military events, economics, and broad social movements. Of equal value are sections devoted to race, Indians, women, and the environment, as well as detailed coverage of health, education, organized labor, civil rights, and the many cultural elements—from literature to sport—that have enriched Alabama’s history. The roles of individual leaders, from politicians to creative artists, are discussed. There is as well strong emphasis on the common people, those Alabamians who have been rightly described as the “bone and sinew” of the state.

Each section of the book was written by a scholar who has devoted much of his or her professional life to the study of that period of Alabama’s past, and although the three sections reflect individual style and interpretation, the authors have collaborated closely on overall themes and organization. The result is an objective look at the colorful, often controversial, state’s past. The work relies both on primary sources and such important secondary sources as monographs, articles, and unpublished theses and dissertations to provide fresh insights, new approaches, and new interpretations.

Let Us Now Praise Famous Men: The American Classic, in Words and Photographs, of Three Tenant Families in the Deep South by Walker Evans and James Agee

A landmark work of American photojournalism “renowned for its fusion of social conscience and artistic radicality” (New York Times)

 In the summer of 1936, James Agee and Walker Evans set out on assignment for Fortune magazine to explore the daily lives of sharecroppers in the South. Their journey would prove an extraordinary collaboration and a watershed literary event when, in 1941, Let Us Now Praise Famous Men was first published to enormous critical acclaim. This unsparing record of place, of the people who shaped the land and the rhythm of their lives, is intensely moving and unrelentingly honest, and today—recognized by the New York Public Library as one of the most influential books of the twentieth century—it stands as a poetic tract of its time. With an elegant new design as well as a sixty-four-page photographic prologue featuring archival reproductions of Evans's classic images, this historic edition offers readers a window into a remarkable slice of American history.

The Victorian Age

Upcoming events:

3/30 – Bib & Tucker Sew Op, 6:30pm

4/9 – Local Author Stephen Russell, 2pm

4/13 – Neuroscience Café: Autism, 6:30pm

4/14 & 28 – Ages 21+ only and registration is required, $10 for the 2 sessions, Standing Room Only: Weaving with The Ivory Hand, 6:30pm

4/25 – next GRG, John Le Carré Author Study, 6:30pm

4/29 – An appraisal even benefitting the Friends of the Library, Antiques Roadshow appraiser John Jones and other guest appraisers available to value up to 3 items per ticket holder, no jewelry.  Tickets are $25 and available at the 2nd floor reference desk.  Tickets are for 30 minute increments 10am-noon and 2pm-4pm and times are nontransferable.

For more information about any of these programs, give us a call at 205-445-1121!

The Genre Reading Group met this week to discuss the Victorian Age.  April’s topic will be a John Le Carré author study.  Read/listen to/watch any John Le Carré book/audiobook/movie and come tell us about it!

Victorian Fashion in America: 264 Vintage Photographs edited by Kristina Harris

Compelling pictorial archive of 264 vintage photographs, selected from rare tintypes and other authentic materials (1850s–1910), depict little girls in their mothers' hats and clothes, sisters wearing identical plaid dresses and button boots, a young man in an everyday suit and bowler hat, a boy dressed in Little Lord Fauntleroy style, and scores of others.

Ada’s Algorithm: How Lord Byron’s Daughter Ada Lovelace Launched the Digital Age by James Essinger

Over 150 years after her death, a widely-used scientific computer program was named “Ada,” after Ada Lovelace, the only legitimate daughter of the eighteenth century’s version of a rock star, Lord Byron. Why?

Because, after computer pioneers such as Alan Turing began to rediscover her, it slowly became apparent that she had been a key but overlooked figure in the invention of the computer.

In Ada Lovelace, James Essinger makes the case that the computer age could have started two centuries ago if Lovelace’s contemporaries had recognized her research and fully grasped its implications.

It’s a remarkable tale, starting with the outrageous behavior of her father, which made Ada instantly famous upon birth. Ada would go on to overcome numerous obstacles to obtain a level of education typically forbidden to women of her day. She would eventually join forces with Charles Babbage, generally credited with inventing the computer, although as Essinger makes clear, Babbage couldn’t have done it without Lovelace. Indeed, Lovelace wrote what is today considered the world’s first computer program—despite opposition that the principles of science were “beyond the strength of a woman’s physical power of application.”

Based on ten years of research and filled with fascinating characters and observations of the period, not to mention numerous illustrations, Essinger tells Ada’s fascinating story in unprecedented detail to absorbing and inspiring effect.

Young Victoria (DVD)

Emily Blunt and Rupert Friend star in the lavish historical drama, The Young Victoria. Resolved to establish her authority over those who rule in her stead, a young and inexperienced Queen Victoria (Blunt) draws strength from the love of Albert (Friend), the handsome prince who’s stolen her heart. Based on the courtship and early reign of England’s longest-serving monarch, The Young Victoria, is a majestic tale of romance, intrigue and power.

Food and Cooking in Victorian England by Andrea Broomfield

Nine recipes serve as entry points for detailing the history of food production, cooking, and diet throughout Queen Victoria's reign in England. More than that, however, Broomfield offers an introduction to the world of everyday dining, food preparation, and nutrition during one of the most interesting periods of English history. Food procurement, kitchen duties, and dining conventions were almost always dictated by one's socioeconomic status and one's gender, but questions still remain. Who was most likely to dine out? Who was most likely to be in charge of the family flatware and fine china? Who washed the dishes? Who could afford a fine piece of meat once a week, once a month, or never? How much did one's profession dictate which meal times were observed and when? All these questions and more are answered in this illuminating history of food and cooking in Victorian England.

At Her Majesty’s Request: An African Princess in Victorian England by Walter Dean Myers

Myers's discovery of a packet of letters in a rare books shop in London planted the seeds for this fascinating biography, which reconstructs the remarkable life of Sarah Forbes Bonetta. In 1850, orphaned and held as a captive by the Dahomans in West Africa, an Egbado princess faces imminent death as part of a Dahomian sacrificial rite. When Frederick E. Forbes, captain of the British ship Bonetta and a strong opponent to the slave trade, begs that she be spared, Dahomian King Gezo offers her as a gift to Queen Victoria. Under Forbes's protection, the princess is baptized Sarah Forbes Bonetta and escorted to England; Forbes presents her to the queen, who takes an avid interest in her and provides for her education and upbringing. From the princess's life in an England far from her native shores, filled with frequent visits to the queen and royal family, to her education as a young woman of privilege at a missionary school in Freetown, Sierra Leone, to her eventual arranged marriage and early death from consumption, Myers portrays a young woman who never truly belongs. Despite her celebrity, education and proximity to royalty, Sarah remains subject to the prescribed roles for women in her day and to the queen's will--even concerning her marriage--because she possesses no independent financial means; thus the title takes on a somber double entendre. Myers sets Sarah's story within the context of daily life and culture in England, Britain's attitudes toward Africa and slavery and the growing unrest across the Atlantic that would result in the Civil War. Period etchings and photographs, many from the author's own collection, contribute to this moving and very human portrait of a princess. Ages 9-12.

A Woman in Arabia: The Writings of the Queen of the Desert by Gertrude Bell, edited by Georgina Howell

A portrait in her own words of the female Lawrence of Arabia, the subject of the major motion picture Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis, and Robert Pattinson and directed by Werner Herzog, and of the documentary Letters from Baghdad, voiced by Tilda Swinton

Gertrude Bell was leaning in 100 years before Sheryl Sandberg. One of the great woman adventurers of the twentieth century, she turned her back on Victorian society to study at Oxford and travel the world, and became the chief architect of British policy in the Middle East after World War I. Mountaineer, archaeologist, Arabist, writer, poet, linguist, and spy, she dedicated her life to championing the Arab cause and was instrumental in drawing the borders that define today’s Middle East.

As she wrote in one of her letters, “It’s a bore being a woman when you are in Arabia.” Forthright and spirited, opinionated and playful, and deeply instructive about the Arab world, this volume brings together Bell’s letters, military dispatches, diary entries, and travel writings to offer an intimate look at a woman who shaped nations.

Wilkie Collins: A Brief Life by Peter Ackroyd

Short and oddly built, with a head too big for his body, extremely nearsighted, unable to stay still, dressed in colorful clothes, Wilkie Collins looked distinctly strange. But he was nonetheless a charmer, befriended by the great, loved by children, irresistibly attractive to women—and avidly read by generations of readers. Peter Ackroyd follows his hero, "the sweetest-tempered of all the Victorian novelists," from Collins' childhood as the son of a well-known artist to his struggling beginnings as a writer, his years of fame, and his lifelong friendship with that other great London chronicler, Charles Dickens. In addition to his enduring masterpieces, The Moonstone—often called the first true detective novel—and the sensational The Woman in White, he produced an intriguing array of lesser known works. Told with Ackroyd's inimitable verve, this is a ravishingly entertaining life of a great storyteller, full of surprises, rich in humor and sympathetic understanding.

Woman in White by Wilkie Collins

The Woman in White famously opens with Walter Hartright's eerie encounter on a moonlit London road. Engaged as a drawing master to the beautiful Laura Fairlie, Walter is drawn into the sinister intrigues of Sir Percival Glyde and his "charming" friend Count Fosco, who has a taste for white mice, vanilla bonbons and poison.

Pursuing questions of identity and insanity along the paths and corridors of English country houses and the madhouse, The Woman in White is the first and most influential of the Victorian genre that combined Gothic horror with psychological realism.

Victoria & Albert: A Family Life at Osborne House by HRH The Duchess of York

The Duchess of York (Prince Andrew's wife, ``Fergie'') writes about England's 19th-century rulers not as historical figures but as a loving couple and caring parents. Aided by Stoney, a professional researcher, the author gleaned quotes from journals kept by Victoria during her long reign (1837-1901). Such excerpts strengthen this account of how the queen and her beloved consort created a vibrant family life for their nine children despite the pressures of their public roles. As in other vital areas, Albert took the lead here, finding Osborne House on the Isle of Wight which became the family home. There the royals spent as much time as possible, away from the strains of court, enjoying close companionship in the bracing bucolic air. This virtually ideal life was cut short in 1861 by Albert's death at age 41. Although devastated by her loss, Victoria continued to rule until her death 40 years later. This well-written book, telling us much more than has heretofore been known about Prince Albert and his many accomplishments, will have great appeal to a wide audience. 

To Walk Invisible: The Bronte Sisters (DVD)

Learn the extraordinary story of how, against all odds, the famous literary trio had their genius for writing romantic novels recognized in a male-dominated 19th-century world.

The Victorian Undertaker by Trevor May (not available in the PLJC system)

The Victorians were, were relatively at ease with death and there is much in this book to interest social historians, those interested in historical costume and transport enthusiasts, as there is a section on the development of the horse-drawn hearse.

James A. Michener

Our next meeting will be Tuesday, February 26th at 6:30pm to discuss nonfiction books about the Old West.

Mr. Michener once described himself as a citizen of the world and after last night's Genre Reading Group meeting to discuss his work, I fully believe that.  Michener made the most of his 90 years of life, the details of which you can read on his page on the website for Washington D.C.'s Academy of Achievement.  Highlights include acting as secretary of the Pennsylvania Constitutional Convention, acting as a member of the Advisory Council to NASA, receiving honorary doctorates in five different fields, and receiving the Medal of Freedom, the United States' highest civilian award.  His honors and accolades by no means end there, so visit Michener's Academy of Achievement page to see it all.  What a life!

The Bridges at Toko-Ri
Young and innocent, they came to a place they had barely heard of, prepared for war. They were American fighter pilots, trained but frightened, facing an an enemy they couldn't understand, and waging a war they had to win.

Recessional

In his stunning new novel, bestselling novelist James A. Michener draws on his unparalleled gift for storytelling, his deep understanding of American society, and his own life experiences to illuminate the challenges of aging and the folly of youth in a Florida retirement home known as the Palms.
As the new, young director of the Palms, Andy Zorn suffers no shortage of loving support and wise advice from his "elders," a group of five passionate, outspoken residents who refuse to accept the passive roles that both society and family have handed them. Yet past scandal has driven Zorn to despondency, until he meets an extraordinary young woman in the rehab wing, who has been forced to rebuild her life in the face of crippling injuries. Now Zorn finds himself falling in love--and with the help and gentle jabs from his more mature friends, he discovers a wonderful new purpose in life.

Mexico
Here is the story of an American journalist who travels to Mexico to report on the upcoming duel between two great matadors, but who is ultimately swept up in the dramatic story of his Mexican ancestors. From the brutality and brilliance of the ancients, to the iron fist of the invading Spaniards, to the modern-day Mexicans battling through dust and bloodshed to build a nation upon the ashes of revolution, James Michener weaves it all into an epic human story that ranks with the best of his beloved, bestselling novels.

The Eagle and the Raven
James Michener's narrative based on one of the most exciting periods of American history, when a firebrand renegade from Tennessee, Sam Houston, emigrated to the Mexican state of Texas and helped lead the revolution of 1836. It paints portraits of Houston and his adversary, Santa Anna.

Caravans
In this romantic adventure of wild Afghanistan, master storyteller James Michener mixes the allure of the past with the dangers of today. After an impetuous American girl, Ellen Jasper, marries a young Afghan engineer, her parents hear no word from her. Although she wants freedom to do as she wishes, not even she is sure what that means. In the meantime, she is as good as lost in that wild land, perhaps forever.

Creatures of the Kingdom

In these sixteen wonderful stories, bestselling author James A. Michener lights up nature's most awesome and beguiling handiwork--from the sublime shaping and reshaping of earth's land and seas to the ridiculous armadillo whose assault on a bit of Texas real estate paid off handsomely. Chosen from Michener's most popular books--including one story never before published in paperback--these mini-masterpieces take us deep into the secret lives of animals and the hidden world of nature. In them we hear the music of the spheres and feel the heartbeat of creation.

GENERAL DISCUSSION:

The Drifters
In his triumphant best seller, James Michener unfolds a powerful and poignant drama of six young runaways adrift in a world they have created out of dreams, drugs, and dedication to pleasure. With the sure touch of a master, Michener pulls us into the dark center of their private world, whether it's in Spain, Marrakech, or Mozambique, and exposes the naked nerve ends with shocking candor and infinite compassion.

Chesapeake
Once again James A. Michener brings history to life with this 400-year saga of America's great bay and its Eastern Shore. Following Edmund Steed and his remarkable family, who parallel the settling and forming of the nation, CHESAPEAKE sweeps readers from the unspoiled world of the Native Americans to the voyages of Captain John Smith, the Revolutionary War, and right up to modern times.

The Wheel of Life: A Memoir of Living and Dying by Elisabeth Kubler-Ross
Elisabeth Kübler-Ross, M.D., is the woman who has transformed the way the world thinks about death and dying. Beginning with the groundbreaking publication of the classic psychological study On Death and Dying and continuing through her many books and her years working with terminally ill children, AIDS patients, and the elderly, Kübler-Ross has brought comfort and understanding to millions coping with their own deaths or the deaths of loved ones. Now, at age seventy-one facing her own death, this world-renowned healer tells the story of her extraordinary life. Having taught the world how to die well, she now offers a lesson on how to live well. Her story is an adventure of the heart -- powerful, controversial, inspirational -- a fitting legacy of a powerful life.