Abby Epplett, Historian

Continuing through my history book pile, I recently read an antique pamphlet, One Hundred Years of Banking Service published by Blackstone National Bank in 1925. At two hundred years of service, the Uxbridge-based bank is now a branch of UniBank. The book is only thirty-three pages in length but offers a wealth of insight into local history along with photographs and engravings of important people, places, and things. While a product of its time in some aspects, I was impressed by the research that went into the publication.

Having a master’s degree in Museum Education means one is gifted many books related the topic. Footnotes from the Most Fascinating Museums by Bob Eckstein was published just last year in 2024, and I received it for my birthday. The small hardcover with glittery gold title text and a watercolor painting of the MET on the front cover made for a lovely coffee table book. Inside, the contents was light and humorous, making an easy read for museum enthusiasts. While overall a delightful experience, my issue with this book was the disconnect between the title, the author’s original intention, and his apparent methodology of choosing the “most fascinating museums”.

During my winter holiday break, I began working through my pile of history books. I had found The Poison Eaters: Fighting Danger and Fraud in Our Food and Drugs by Gail Jarrow in a giveaway pile at my local library and decided to give the book a new home. I was familiar with the story of the poison eaters, young men who volunteered in a study to assess how food preservatives altered the human body, after listening to the episode “A Pure Food Father and His Poison Squad” for the podcast Stuff You Missed in History Class , which was released in 2011. The two questions I needed to answer were 1) What else was there to this story? and 2) Why was this book “weeded” from the library collection?

During my relaxing winter break, I began reading through my stack of history-themed books that I accrued throughout the year. The first book I completed was A Pictorial History of Costume by Wolfgang Bruhn and Max Tilke, which I found for a mere $7.00 at the Book Barn in Niantic, CT . The book combined a pair of earlier books: Deutsche Kultur-Bilder: Deutsches Leben [ German Culture Pictures: German Life ] published by Bruhn in German in 1934, and Kostümschnitte und Gewandformern [ Costume Patterns and Garment Designs ] published by Tilke in German in 1948. I read the 1988 English language edition with a publisher’s note on the “archaism” found within the book, a polite way of warning readers that some depictions would not be politically correct. The book was divided into two sections. In the front half were written descriptions of the costumes, which include information on the culture represented through clothing, famous people who might have worn the clothing, and o...

For my birthday, I received the book Greek and Roman Technology by K.D. White , published in 1984 by Thames & Hudson with Cornell University Press . While the author claimed this book was “no more than a survey, and a starting-off point” (173), his work was by far the most extensive information I have found on the subject. The book was divided into two parts. In Part I, White outlined the technologies available in Ancient Greece and Rome while explaining the environment in which these were developed. In Part II, White divided technologies into categories and explains each category in detail. At the back of the book were extensive information on White’s sources, several appendices, tables, a bibliography, endnotes, and an index. White opened his book with his “Introduction” pointing out what he claims to be inaccurate work done by other historians and archaeologists. He had written this book to fill “the need for an up-to-date account of the technical resources of the...

I recently finished the book One Goal: A Coach, A Team, and the Game that Brought a Divided Town Together by Amy Bass , published by Hachette Book Group in 2019. Bass is a professor of history and career writer with a special focus in the history of sports. This modern history book covers the state championship winning boy’s Lewiston High School soccer team from Lewiston, Maine . Known both as the location of Bates College and a longtime mill town, Lewiston has more recently become a refugee city for people fleeing from conflict in Somalia and other East African countries. In the book, Bass described the importance of a local kids team in bringing together a town filled with people from different backgrounds. Bass introduced the top players of the soccer team, almost all refugee children with a handful of Mainers. She quickly juxtoposed the family-oriented, East African, Muslim culture of the refugees to community-oriented, French-Canadian, Catholic culture of long-time ...

I recently finished reading A Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington: Senator George P. McLean, Birdman of the Senate written by Will McLean Greeley and published by RIT Press in January 2023. I previously watched a talk hosted by the United States Capitol Historical Society where Greeley discussed his new book , and he sent me a digital copy to review. While I have read and reviewed several great history books in the past months — Path Lit by Lightning and Slaves for Peanuts were two favorites — this book generated a wider range of emotional responses, including laughter, sadness, and triumph. A Connecticut Yankee follows the life of underrecognized Senator McLean (R-CT) who survived an underprivileged childhood to become a wealthy lawyer and career politician. He worked during the Progressive Era in the United States from the 1880s after Reconstruction through the early 1920s during World War I. McLean’s proudest achievement was the passing of the Migratory Bird Trea...

On August 17, 2023 at 12:00 p.m., I took a lunch-and-learn break to watch the talk Birdman of the Senate: George P. McLean and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act presented by Will McLean Greeley and hosted by the United States Capitol Historical Society . I received a special invitation from Greeley to watch his talk, and I was immediately drawn by his book title, A Connecticut Yankee Goes to Washington published earlier this year by RIT Press , which alludes to the novel A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court by Connecticut author Mark Twain . During both the talk and the book, Greeley proudly shared the work of his great-great-uncle, Senator George P. McLean (R-CT) , in passing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 (MBTA) . Greeley began by noting how most American history classes focuses on charismatic presidents rather than other political figures such as state legislatures, governors, and congressional representatives. Although McLean worked with five US Presidents...

A few months ago, I received a perfect gift, the revised and expanded second edition of Old Testament Parallels: Laws and Stories from the Ancient Near East . Few other readers will be quite so pleased by the book as I was, but for those who are interested in mythology from Egypt, the Akkadians, and other ancient cultures, this is an easy-to-read primer. Authors Dr. Victor H. Matthews of Missouri State University and Dr. Don C. Benjamin of the Kino Institute of Theology wrote the book with the intention of creating “a readable, affordable, and portable anthology of ancient Near Eastern law and stories”, beginning with their first edition published by Paulist Press in 1991. I read the 1997 edition, which includes black-and-white illustrations and runs about 380 pages in length. Along with this book, the authors co-wrote The Social World of Ancient Israel 1250-587 B.C.E. in 1993, while Dr. Matthews published Manners and Customs in the Bible in 1988. I knew a conside...

On Thursday, March 2 at 7:00 p.m., Dr. Megan Kate Nelson kicked off the 2023 season of Parked at Home , a series of Zoom webinars hosted by Blackstone River Valley National Historic Park . Dr. Nelson gave a talk on her new book, Saving Yellowstone: Exploration and Preservation in Reconstruction America , published by Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster , in 2022. Park ranger Mark Mello acted as the moderator for the session, reviewing the history of BRVNHP and the motivation behind the parked at home series before sharing a clip from Ken Burns’ documentary National Parks: America’s Best Idea . Dr. Nelson’s new perspective about the creation of Yellowstone was inspired by her previous book, The Three-Cornered War: The Union, the Confederacy, and Native Peoples in the Fight for the West , which received numerous accolades for its explanations on the effects of the American Civil War and Reconstruction period. She shared a map demonstrating the size of Yellowstone ,...

I recently finished listening to the audiobook A Fool’s Errand: Creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture in the Age of Bush, Obama, and Trump by Lonnie G. Bunch III, museum director at NMAAHC . The book was read by Golden Voice Hall of Fame inductee JD Jackson , recorded by HighBridge Audio , published by Smithsonian Books , and distributed by Recorded Books, Inc . The recording won a 2019 Earphone Award, given by AudioFile Magazine for excellence in narration, along with recognition on the AudioFile Best of Nonfiction & Culture list.

I recently read The Great Book of Alaska: The Crazy History of Alaska with Amazing Random Facts & Trivia by Bill O’Neill, which contained random facts and trivia about the largest state in America. As a prolific self-published author, O’Neill has written about other popular states, including Texas, California, and New York, along with books of movie trivia and random facts. The book is divided into six section: Modern History Culture of Alaskan Natives Pop Culture and Sports Attractions Inventions Supernatural Each section is divided into quick bites of related facts, perfect for reading if you only have a few minutes. The simple writing style make it accessible to upper elementary school and older. The comprehensive table of contents at the front of the book make finding a favorite fact super easy. The short quizzes at the end of each chapter allowed readers to check memory and reading comprehension. This w...

I recently finished reading the book Beautiful News: Positive Trends, Uplifting Stats, Creative Solutions by David McCandless , also the author of Information Is Beautiful , also called The Visual Miscellaneum (2010), and Knowledge Is Beautiful (2014), both of which I own and frequently reread. The book was published by Harper Design , an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers focused on “stunning, gorgeously produced illustrated, award-winning books”. I purchased my copy from Barnes & Noble. The charts and diagrams featured in Beautiful News originally appeared on the website, Information Is Beautiful , named for the first book in the series. As with his past books, McCandless is unmatched in his ability to transform raw data into gorgeous, colorful, and understandable images. His techniques range from the classic word cloud, bar charts, and maps to complex multipage spreads. Even the table of content and index are precisely designed. Picking favorite charts i...

Disclaimer: I received this book from Goodreads to review. I recently finished reading Slaves for Peanuts: A Story of Conquest, Liberation, and a Crop That Changed History , the debut book of journalist Jori Lewis published by The New Press , a nonprofit publisher with a focus on social justice. Slaves for Peanuts fits the bill, describing the role that peanuts have in slavery, colonialistion, and evangelism in Western Africa — especially modern Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Gambia — during the mid to late 19 th century. The book follows the lives of multiple figures important to the area while tracking local events, along with those in France and its other colonies. Reverend Walter Samuel Taylor , a missionary with the Paris Evangelical Missionary Society, appears throughout the book as a brave but chronically ill man who hid former slaves in his home until their could receive freedom papers, all while fighting the racism and anti-Protestantism of the French g...

I recently finished reading Stuff You Should Know: An Incomplete Compendium of Mostly Interesting Things written by Josh Clark, Chuck Bryant, and Nils Parker. This book was published on November 24 2020, and will soon celebrate its second birthday. I read the Barnes & Noble edition of the book, which contains twenty-seven standard chapters plus a “bonus” chapter about Superman and is 293 pages long. The book based on the similarly named podcast “Stuff You Should Know” , or SYSK, which debuted in 2008 and is now distributed by iHeartRadio. Red podcast icons indicate when a topic mentioned in the book has an accompanying podcast episode, which are listed at the back of the book. Both the book and podcast cover a wide range of topics in history, culture, and science. I enjoyed every part of this book. The writing style is light and easy-to-read, with plenty of “dad jokes” and silly footnotes. Most chapters are fun read-aloud material for the whole family. The illustration...

Note: I received this book as an advance copy from Goodreads. This is the first time I read a book by award winning author-editor David Maraniss , and the book did not disappoint. Path Lit by Lightning: The Life of Jim Thorpe is an incredibly detailed biography of an internationally renowned athlete whose reputation as a dominant figure in multiple sports was frequently overshadowed by his Native American ancestry. The book’s title emphasizes this overshadowing, as it is one translation of his Sac and Fox name, Wa-Tho-Huk. I won’t roll off additional facts about Jim Thorpe, as the book does this plenty, dispelling myths about his life while adding concrete dates and locations to the lore. Maraniss has clearly done his research, more so than any previous writer of a Thorpe biography. The information on Thorpe’s relatives, teammates, coaches, and failed business ventures clears up the mistruths floating around the internet, originally propagated by contemporaries...