Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella: Curiouser and Curiouser Adventures in History

by Michael Olmert

We've been taught that history is the story of great events and important people -- but is it? In Milton's Teeth and Ovid's Umbrella , Michael Olmert shows how the most ordinary artifacts of everyday life can also be important sources of information.

For the modern historian it's the little things that count, and these intriguing essays force us to take another look at the odds and ends of life we so often take for granted.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Reference, Trivia

256 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1996

About the author

Michael Olmert is a professor of English at the University of Maryland, College Park and a writer. His specialty is British Literature. He has a Ph.D. from Maryland in medieval English literature.

Olmert has written over 90 television documentaries, two plays, and two books. He has been awarded 3 Emmy Awards for his work on the Discovery Channel.

Olmert's two plays are entitled Shakespeare and Lopez and Great Creating Nature. He was inducted into the University of Maryland Hall of Fame in 2005.

Reviews

[Denice · Rating 3 out of 5]

If you are a fan of cultural history, many of the histories of the objects described in this book will probably be of interest to you. I only gave it three stars, because many of them weren't that interesting to me, and since Olmert jumps quickly from one tidbit to the next for each history, it wasn't as engaging as I'd have liked it to be for the objects I wasn't originally interested in.

[Simm Cook · Rating 3 out of 5]

Each chapter was interesting in its own right but I couldn't find one that was engaging. I did find the content to be well researched and will likely be fascinating to a different audience.

[Laurie Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

Amusing, informative, and trivial.

[Jason Kurtz · Rating 3 out of 5]

An odd collection of curiosities from the Barnes and Noble bargain rack, the tidbits in this book are facsinating though it reads more like a list than a narrative. There are so many good stories in here that are begging to be told...

[Jessica Morgan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, this is an interesting collection of essays. I enjoyed the fact that every chapter is a different subject. I did find that some subjects and/or polishing of certain chapters varied my enjoyment of the subject matter. The chapter on Cowboys far outshines the other chapters in the book.

[Diane · Rating 2 out of 5]

Interesting tidbits but could be more rounded out