Netflix debuted this new original series, starring Nick Cage, in January 2021. The not-safe-for-work trailer states that the series will discuss the “history, evolution, and cultural impact” of swear words. Full explorations of small slices of history have become popular in the past few years. If you enjoy these microhistories, check out some of these titles!
Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything by Lydia Kang and Nate Pedersen
Doctor Lydia Kang and librarian Nate Pedersen present this “lively, at times unbelievable, history of medical misfires and malpractices” throughout history, including the use of liquefied gold to cure mortality and literal snake oil for everything that ails you. “This book seamlessly combines macabre humor with science and storytelling to reveal an important and disturbing side of the ever-evolving field of medicine.” Check out copy here.
The Monopolists: Obsession, Fury, and the Scandal Behind the World’s Favorite Board Game by Mary Pilon
Pilon reveals the true story behind the board game in this book. “A fascinating social history of corporate greed that illuminates the cutthroat nature of American business over the last century, The Monopolists reads like the best detective fiction, told through Monopoly’s real-life winners and losers.” At 313 pages, it will probably take you the same amount of time to read the book than it would to play a real game of Monopoly. Check out the ebook or place a hold on a print copy here.
Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World by Aja Raden
“In this brilliant account of how eight jewels shaped the course of history, jeweler and scientist Aja Raden tells an original and often startling story about our unshakeable addiction to beauty and the darker side of human desire.” From why diamonds became the engagement ring must-have to the evolution of wristwatches, you’ll discover how society has been manipulated and coerced into believing that some rocks have value over others. Check out a copy here.
Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex by Mary Roach
Author Mary Roach is a master of the microhistory subgenre. Her previous titles include Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal, Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers, Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife, and many, many more. In Bonk, Roach “turns her outrageous curiosity and insight on the most alluring scientific subject of all: sex.” Check out one Mary Roach’s readable, humorous, behind-the-scenes titles here.
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer by Siddhartha Mukherjee
This unique microhistory won a Pulitzer Prize and became a documentary by Ken Burns. In it, “Physician, researcher, and award-winning science writer, Siddhartha Mukherjee examines cancer with a cellular biologist’s precision, a historian’s perspective, and a biographer’s passion. The result is an astonishingly lucid and eloquent chronicle of a disease humans have lived with—and perished from—for more than five thousand years.” Check out a copy here.
All quoted text is from publisher’s descriptions.
