Microhistory

Microhistory is the intensive historical investigation of a well defined smaller unit of research (most often a single event, community of a village, family or person). In its ambition, however, microhistory can be distinguished from a simple case study insofar as microhistory aspires to "[ask] large questions in small places", to use the definition given by Charles Joyner ...more

Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play
Blank Space: A Cultural History of the Twenty-First Century
Neptune's Fortune: The Billion-Dollar Shipwreck and the Ghosts of the Spanish Empire
Human History on Drugs: An Utterly Scandalous but Entirely Truthful Look at History Under the Influence
Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries
Barons: Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry
Beaverland: How One Weird Rodent Made America
The Breath of the Gods: The History and Future of the Wind
The Secret Life of a Cemetery: The Wild Nature and Enchanting Lore of Père-Lachaise
Frostbite: How Refrigeration Changed Our Food, Our Planet, and Ourselves
The Genius Bat: The Secret Life of the Only Flying Mammal
Whack Job: A History of Axe Murder
The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew
The Game Changers: How Playing Games Changed the World and Can Change You Too
The LEGO Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination
Salt: A World History
Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers
Cod: A Biography of the Fish that Changed the World
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary
Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer
Color: A Natural History of the Palette
A History of the World in 6 Glasses
The Ghost Map
The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness, Love, and the History of the World from the Periodic Table of the Elements
The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks
Paper: Paging Through History
Rain: A Natural and Cultural History
The Mass by Guy OuryGothic Pride by Brian ReganThe Last Great Acts of Saint Peter  by Edward N BrownDeception and Dominion by Re'tzon Ha'elMother of God by Miri Rubin
Catholic Microhistories (nonfiction)
39 books — 4 voters
The Zookeeper's Wife by Diane AckermanGod Is Not Great by Christopher HitchensThe Secret Life of a Weight-Obsessed Woman by Iris Ruth PastorMarine Pollution by Judith S. WeisA Natural History of the Senses by Diane Ackerman
Best of Diane Ackerman
26 books — 4 voters

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootStiff by Mary RoachThe Emperor of All Maladies by Siddhartha MukherjeeThe Great Influenza by John M. BarryThe Man Who Mistook His Wife for a Hat and Other Clinical Tales by Oliver Sacks
Medical Microhistories
99 books — 94 voters
Stiff by Mary RoachThe Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca SklootSalt by Mark KurlanskyEats, Shoots & Leaves by Lynne TrussThe Professor and the Madman by Simon Winchester
You Read a Book about What?
4,152 books — 2,564 voters

The Botany of Desire by Michael PollanThe Hidden Life of Trees by Peter WohllebenBraiding Sweetgrass by Robin Wall KimmererLab Girl by Hope JahrenGathering Moss by Robin Wall Kimmerer
Nonfiction Books about Plants
439 books — 152 voters


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History is not merely about kings and their wars. We should know the story of people at large-not necessarily only those of politicians or film stars. How else can we relate to the lives of people influenced by the socio-political milieu, beyond their control?
S.Krishnaswamy

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Tags contributing to this page include: microhistory, micro-history, and microhistories