19th Century history

“My son, I loved my native land with energy and pride ‘Til a blight came over all my crops and my sheep and cattle died”

Rot: An Imperial History of the Irish Famine by Padraic X. Scanlan

May 23, 2025 by bjornsnipe Leave a Comment

In 1845, European potato fields from Spain to Scandinavia were attacked by the pathogen phytophthora infestans. But it was only in Ireland, then part of the United Kingdom, that the blight’s devastation reached apocalyptic levels, leaving more than a million people dead and causing millions more to emigrate. It was not until 2020 that the population of Ireland hit pre-Famine levels again. Padraic X. Scanlan covers how Ireland got to the point of the majority of its inhabitants being solely dependent on the potato crop […]

Reflections in a Carnival Mirror

July 13, 2017 by Lipton Leave a Comment

“This combination of raw suffering in the workers’ tenements and indifference in the mansions of the ruling elite created a fertile breeding ground for a class of social radical who came to see the dynamite stick and the pistol as the only way to break the cycle of servitude.” – Scott Miller

The Kind of Stuff They Don’t Teach You About At Church

April 12, 2017 by Lipton 4 Comments

“A Mormon has a right to believe what he will. His thoughts may be as free as the unconfined air, and his conscience should by no means be restrained by legal enactments. But his acts are quite a different thing.” -Raleigh News and Observer, July 20, 1881

Everyone Just LOVED Each Other

July 20, 2016 by Ale Leave a Comment

This was my first experience with YA non-fiction, and while this was incredibly well researched, interesting, and at times even heartbreaking, I found myself slightly annoyed at the word choice for much of this book. “Charles and Emma” chronicles an exceptionally detailed account of Charles and Emma Darwin’s life both professionally and familial from right before their wedding in 1839 to Emma’s death in 1896. It’s beautifully researched, with quotations from articles, diaries, personal letters, and an abundance of primary documentation. But the language….As usual, […]

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I can see this being one of my top reads this year. I keep thinking about it
faintingviolet
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The cat gets an okay amount of page time. She is an 18 year old senior lady who belongs to...
Esmemoria
on “The wonder is that you could start life with nothing, end with nothing, and lose so much in between.”
I loved this book. One of my top five reads from last year.

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