In July, we asked our alumni: What's the best historical book you've read lately? Tell us about it!" Read on to see what they said.
Deborah Abbott (MA '90): "Anyone looking for light, deliciously gossipy, snarky writings on the periphery of 'historical books' will enjoy Caroline Blackwood's The Last of the Duchess; James Pope-Hennessy and Hugo Vickers, The Quest for Queen Mary; and Craig Brown's Ninety-Nine Glimpses of Princess Margaret. Then there's Tracy Borman's Elizabeth's Women, from which Anna Whitelock borrowed heavily without citing or listing in the bibliography of her book The Queen's Bed: An Intimate History of Elizabeth's Court. But that's another story."
Ellen Boettrich (BA '71): "The Oregon Trail."
Mirlin Moorefield (BA '14): "1920: The Year of Six Presidents by David Pietrusza. (I love to read about past presidents and their biographies. This covers Waren G. Harding, Calvin Coolidge, Theodore AND Franklin Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, and Herbert Hoover.)"
Maureen Schild (BA '71): "1776 by David McCullough. It was written a while ago but is absolutely fascinating."
Christina Shaver Kelly (BA '72): "Ways and Means: Lincoln and his Cabinet and the Financing of the Civil War by Roger Lowenstein."
Graeme Pente (MA '13): "Enzo Traverso, Revolution: An Intellectual History (2021)."
Stella Sexmith (BA '70): "Clark and Division - Naomi Hirahara."
David Wisner (PhD '92): "Last summer I read 1774: The Long Year of Revolution and interviewed author Mary Beth Norton on my web tv program, in an episode devoted to recent scholarship on the American Revolution. (Greek colleague Aris Hatzis joined us for a preview of his new book on the Greek Revolution of 1821.) I am a student of the French Revolution, and Mary Beth's book got me thinking about how we conceptualize the origins of revolutionary movements. I recommend it."
Amanda Zambito (BA '14): "Index, A History of the: A Bookish Adventure from Medieval Manuscripts to the Digital Age by Dennis Duncan. I never would have thought a book about the history of indexes would be a thrilling read, but this witty and comprehensive account by historian Dennis Duncan surprised me in the best way. Duncan’s account of the history of indexes is exhaustive and unexpectedly hilarious. Ever since the invention of indexes, they have been weaponized in snark battles between historians. Who knew! The book includes many photographs of the earliest indexes, and the back matter even includes an AI-generated index and an index written by a professional indexer for comparison. Book lovers, history lovers, and information professionals alike will find this book fascinating."