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Post by kanding on Sept 30, 2014 4:04:57 GMT -4
I had no idea that there had been so many slave rebellions or escaped slave militias until I read 1493 by Charles C. Mann. I didn't get anything like that in high school. I always had the idea that slaves, particularly in the States, suffered quietly until abolition movement and the war, involving mostly whites, freed them. It was a revelation to see that slave uprisings were pretty common.
ETA: My quick google shows me that Kurlansky did write Salt and Cod, two books that I'm putting on my wishlist now!
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Deleted
Posts: 0
Nov 24, 2024 7:32:27 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Sept 30, 2014 8:13:43 GMT -4
Slave revolts are something I'm only just now learning about myself. In the States anyway there were periodic revolts basically since the beginning, they're a big part of why laws regarding slaves were so restrictive in parts of the South.
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Post by chonies on Sept 30, 2014 8:42:20 GMT -4
I had no idea that there had been so many slave rebellions or escaped slave militias until I read 1493 by Charles C. Mann. I didn't get anything like that in high school. I always had the idea that slaves, particularly in the States, suffered quietly until abolition movement and the war, involving mostly whites, freed them. It was a revelation to see that slave uprisings were pretty common. ETA: My quick google shows me that Kurlansky did write Salt and Cod, two books that I'm putting on my wishlist now! Basque History of the World and 1968 were also good. Kurlansky said once that Cod spun off from his Basque research. Also look for the Food of a Younger land, which is both food history and based on WPA stuff (which I love). Thanks, sugarhigh! This is fantastic. My previous brushes with Dominica were Wide Sargasso Sea, and a handful of House Hunters International episodes, with several Americans attending Ross University. Reading about the history of Dominica has just added approximately four thousand layers to WSS--the HHI episodes, not so much, except I learned that Ross is owned by DeVry, which makes the episodes kind of weird, somehow. |
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Post by tabby on Sept 30, 2014 8:55:32 GMT -4
If you're thinking of a smaller geographical era, you might try The Big Oyster by Mark Kurlansky. It's a history of New York City through its relationship with oysters. Great reading and it flies right along. His book "Salt" was so good and didn't he write a book about cod? Yes, he did - Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World. I really enjoyed it (and Salt). Ooh, Food of a Younger Land, that was a good one, too! I love the Oxford Companion to Food, which includes a lot of history and is great fun. |
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Post by sugarhigh on Sept 30, 2014 9:53:48 GMT -4
Haha, chonies, you should view the Dominica episode of Naked and Afraid if you get a chance. I think it's on Discovery. The people are so terrible and inept but amusing.
There are so many great book recommendations here, I might have to put away my current trashy romance novels *coughNoraRobertscough* and get into something more educational.
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Libelle
Lady in Waiting
Posts: 279
Mar 31, 2005 9:37:55 GMT -4
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Post by Libelle on Nov 9, 2014 13:54:30 GMT -4
Today is the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall. This means that there are a lot of documentaries about those events and all the things leading up to it shown on TV here today, and I've been watching some of them, remembering my own experience of the events as an eleven year old living in West Germany, and thinking about how much the world changed in those few years in the late 80s and early 90s, and how much more it has changed since then.
It's weird to think that it's only been 25 years, so much has happened since then.
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Post by chonies on Nov 9, 2014 14:07:26 GMT -4
It's getting a lot of coverage here, too. I remember it so clearly, but it seems like ancient history now. What I find kind of shocking is that now, it's been down nearly as long as it was up.
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Post by sardonictart on Nov 9, 2014 14:28:22 GMT -4
The Google Doodle celebrates the fall today. I remember this event with awe.
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Post by magazinewhore on Nov 9, 2014 19:02:38 GMT -4
It is weird that it was 25 years ago. It almost seems like we've gone backward (in some ways) in that time. I don't know; things seemed more optimistic then.
I forgot it was also Kristallnacht. I was wondering how the protests actually started (even though I was around) and I found this: "In 1989, a series of radical political changes occurred in the Eastern Bloc, associated with the liberalization of the Eastern Bloc's authoritarian systems and the erosion of political power in the pro-Soviet governments in nearby Poland and Hungary. After several weeks of civil unrest, the East German government announced on 9 November 1989 that all GDR citizens could visit West Germany and West Berlin. Crowds of East Germans crossed and climbed onto the wall, joined by West Germans on the other side in a celebratory atmosphere."
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Deleted
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Nov 24, 2024 7:32:27 GMT -4
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Post by Deleted on Nov 10, 2014 0:46:06 GMT -4
I was only seven years old when the wall went down. I remember when it happened and that it was a big deal, but I had no idea why it was such a big deal. I still remember all the news footage of people celebrating as they pulled down pieces of the wall. Even though I didn't know what it meant the image still stuck with me.
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