The History Reader

The month of May marks several key events in the timeline of WWII, including the official end of the war in Europe on V-E Day (or Victory in Europe Day) on May 8, 1945, as German troops surrendered to Allied forces. On May 10th, the U.S. began the process of bringing three million American troops […] The post Stirring WWII History Book Recommendations for May 2026 appeared first on The History Re…

by Justin Garson In the 1950s, the field of psychiatry had nothing to show for itself. While polio was being cured, antibiotics were being discovered, and cancer research was developing, the mental health world had no wins. Asylums were full and nobody had figured out how to fix insanity—specifically schizophrenia, the severest mental illness. Scientists […] The post Featured Excerpt: <i>The Madn…

by Joe Pappalardo After the Civil War, many American families moved west seeking new lives, heavily supported by the Homestead Act and the completion of the Transcontinental Railroad. In some areas though, lawlessness still prevailed, which author Joe Pappalardo entertainingly portrays in his book, Boomtown: The True Story of the Wickedest Town in Texas. Read […] The post Featured Excerpt: <i>Boo…

by James H. McCommons When people think of endangered animals, the Canada goose does not come to mind. In fact today, they are one of the most commonly found birds across America. However, just a century ago, these birds were in dire straits. Author James H. McCommons shares how the rise of the bird conservation […] The post Where the Wild Goose Goes appeared first on The History Reader .

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by Matt Kaplan From Darwin to Pasteur to modern-day scientists, Matt Kaplan’s I Told You So! is an energetic, historical exploration of overlooked scientists who have had to fight for their revolutionary ideas to be accepted. Read on for a featured excerpt focusing on Hippocrates and how his ideas had a resurgence during the Renaissance […] The post Featured Excerpt: I Told You So! appeared first…

From society belles teaming up with gun manufacturers to save America’s birds in The Feather Wars to a revelatory, behind-the-scenes account of the conflict between America and Japan during WWII in Safe Passage, March is bringing us five new eye-opening history reads. From the time the country was founded, early Americans assumed that the land’s […] The post Five History Books Coming This March! …

by Tom Clavin Two weeks after the death of Sitting Bull, tensions were high between the U. S. Army and the Lakota and Cheyenne people. What came next would effectively end the resistance of indigenous people in the United States. Tom Clavin joins us to discuss the Battle of Wounded Knee. As the 7th Cavalry had […] The post The Battle of Wounded Knee appeared first on The History Reader .

Terence Ward and Idanna Pucci with a foreword by Suzy Menkes When people think of fashion designer Emilio Pucci, it is of his bright, swirling colors and easy, freeing fabrics, and everyone from Sophia Loren to Jackie Kennedy donning the eye-catching dresses that personify La Dolce Vita. What few know about Pucci, however, is that […] The post Featured Excerpt: Emilio Pucci appeared first on The …

by Jane Ziegelman Once Upon a Town author Jane Ziegelman credits her studies in cultural anthropology for making her aware of how the most mundane item is still culturally significant. In a similar approach, the writers of yizkor books aimed to write every detail about their mostly Jewish towns, no matter how seemingly insignificant, so […] The post The Importance of Mud appeared first on The His…

by Gregory E. O’Malley When most Americans think of slavery, they do not picture the colonial or revolutionary eras. Yet, in fact, one of six inhabitants of the thirteen original colonies was enslaved. The Escapes of David George: an Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution reveals a remarkable, untold experience of the American revolutionary […] The post Featured Excerpt: The Esc…