Seattle Picks: Microhistory
Place a Hold
The Horse, the Wheel, and Language
How Bronze-Age Riders from the Eurasian Steppes Shaped the Modern World
(Book - 2007)
950.1 An866H 2007
All copies in use
Availability details
The Dirt on Clean
An Unsanitized History
(Book - 2007)
391.64 As352D 2007
All copies in use
Availability details
Holds: 7 on 4 copies
Brilliant
The Evolution of Artificial Light
(Book - 2010)
621.3209 B826B 2010
Available
in some locations
Marriage, A History
From Obedience to Intimacy or How Love Conquered Marriage
(Book - 2005)
306.8109 C783M 2005
Available
in some locations
Holds: 1 on 4 copies
Just My Type
A Book about Fonts
(Book - 2011)
686.224 G18J 2011
Available
in some locations
Holds: 7 on 30 copies
Mauve
How One Man Invented A Color That Changed the World
(Book - 2001)
666.257 G18M 2001
Available
in some locations
Holds: 1 on 4 copies
The Alchemy of Air
A Jewish Genius, A Doomed Tycoon, and the Scientific Discovery That Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler
(Book - 2008)
540.92244 H1134H 2008
Available
in some locations
The Ghost Map
The Story of London's Most Terrifying Epidemic-- and How It Changed Science, Cities, and the Modern World
(Book - 2006)
614.514 J6375G 2006
Available
in some locations
Holds: 4 on 12 copies
Gunpowder
Alchemy, Bombards, and Pyrotechnics : the History of the Explosive That Changed the World
(Book - 2004)
662.26 K2971G 2004
All copies in use
Availability details
Banana
The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World
(Book - 2008)
634.772 K8196B 2008
Available
in some locations
Holds: 1 on 5 copies
Salt
A World History
(Book - 2002)
333.85632 K9659S 2002
All copies in use
Availability details
Holds: 11 on 5 copies
The Box
How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller and the World Economy Bigger
(Book - 2006)
387.5442 L5789B 2006
Available
in some locations
Holds: 2 on 3 copies
A History of the World in 100 Objects
(Book - 2011)
930.1 M1788H 2011
Available
in some locations
Holds: 4 on 29 copies
OK
The Improbable Story of America's Greatest Word
(Book - 2011)
427.973 M5651o 2011
Available
in some locations
Uncommon Grounds
The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World
(Book - 2010)
338.17373 P373U 2010
All copies in use
Availability details
Holds: 8 on 4 copies
For All the Tea in China
How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed History
(Book - 2010)
382.41372 R7208F 2010
Available
in some locations
Holds: 1 on 6 copies
The Most Powerful Idea in the World
A Story of Steam, Industry, and Invention
(Book - 2010)
909.81 R7229M 2010
Available
in some locations
One Good Turn
A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the Screw
(Book - 2000)
621.972 R96o 2000
Available
in some locations
The Immortal Game
A History of Chess or How 32 Carved Pieces on A Board Illuminated Our Understanding of War, Art, Science, and the Human Brain
(Book - 2006)
794.109 Sh458i 2006
All copies in use
Availability details
The Victorian Internet
The Remarkable Story of the Telegraph and the Nineteenth Century's On-line Pioneers
(Book - 2007, c1998)
384.109 St241V 2007
Available
in some locations
The Map That Changed the World
William Smith and the Birth of Modern Geology
(Book - 2001)
550.92 Sm684W 2001
Available
in some locations
Blood, Iron, & Gold
How the Railroads Transformed the World
(Book - 2010)
385.09 W836B 2010
Available
in some locations
Uranium
War, Energy, and the Rock That Shaped the World
(Book - 2009)
546.431 Z73U 2009
Available
in some locations
Holds: 1 on 5 copies
A Shared List by Seattle Librarians 
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These books focus on different time periods, but they all share a passion for viewing history and its larger themes through the examination of a singular object, event or idea. This list highlights readable narrative nonfiction. Many of the books study a seemingly insignificant object or concept and trace its fascinating impact throughout history.
English