Microhistories

[surrey_sucks]

I just found out the name of the genre I like to read (at least according to Good Reads): microhistory (I never knew what to call it when people would ask me what kind of books I liked to read--I'd be like, "Uh, books about things.")

Does anyone else like reading books from this genre? Any good recommendations? Also, has anyone read Spice: The

Comments

[bastardsword]

A classic work of microhistory is Carlos Ginzberg's "The Cheese and the Worms," about an Italian man with two problems: (a) he's juuuuust literate enough to have him misinterpret what he reads (b) he lives in the middle of an Inquisition, and because of (a), he falls on their bad side.

If you don't care about the theory, you can skim over most of it.

Of the books on that list, I can especially recommend:
Most books by Erik Larson (the one about the wireless was... not terribly interesting)
Ghost Map by Steven Johnson (if you like that, I have a veritable 'CDC reading list'--"this epidemic shows us important things about the society as a whole")
Simon Winchester is pretty good

[surrey_sucks]

Thanks for the recommendations. I've read a couple of Simon Winchester books ages ago, and should read some more.

[maldeluxx]

Very interesting list *makes a note for later reading* <3

[karena]

I like! If a term makes it easier to describe books, I'm all for it. Like "speculative fiction."

I would recommend The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary .

[surrey_sucks]

I read that years ago, and should reread it!

I've never heard of "speculative fiction." BRB, googling it...