Become thoroughly educated with these captivating microhistories. From salt and eyeliner to horses and groceries, uncover the surprising stories behind the everyday things you thought you knew.
The gripping story of the most important overlooked commodity in the world--sand--and the crucial role it plays in our lives.
One tiny rock. One epic history. Filled with an unending series of fascinating details, Salt is a supremely entertaining, multi-layered masterpiece.
From the author of the New York Times bestseller Salt, an unexpected, energetic look at world history via the humble cod fish.
A dazzling gift, the unforgettable, unknown history of colors and the vivid stories behind them in a beautiful multi-colored volume.
A dazzling exploration of the intersections of beauty and power around the globe, told through the lens of an iconic cosmetic.
An adventurous dive into the obsessive world of sommeliers, uncovering the science, history, and culture that make wine so intoxicating.
In the vein of Mark Kurlansky's bestselling Salt and Cod, a gripping chronicle of the myth, mystery, and uncertain fate of the world’s most popular fruit.
Provoking a reconsideration of what it means to be connected to faraway people and places, Coffeeland tells the hidden and surprising story of one of the most valuable commodities in the history of global capitalism.
An engaging exploration of refrigeration, tracing its evolution from scientific mystery to globe-spanning infrastructure, and an essential investigation into how it has remade our entire relationship with food.
The unexpected and unexplored ways that ice has transformed a nation—from the foods Americans eat, to the sports they play, to the way they live today—and what its future might look like on a swiftly warming planet..
In the tradition of Fast Food Nation and The Omnivore’s Dilemma, an extraordinary investigation into the human lives at the heart of the American grocery store.
The Horse is a riveting narrative of this noble animal’s unrivaled and enduring reign across human history. To know the horse is to understand the world.
A pioneering and groundbreaking work of narrative nonfiction on the history of humankind, showing how through millennia, the mosquito has been the single most powerful force in determining humanity’s fate.
In the tradition of Mark Kurlansky's Cod and Salt, this endlessly revealing book reminds us that the fiber we think of as ordinary is the world's most powerful cash crop, and that it has shaped the destiny of nations.
Drink investigates the history of this Jekyll and Hyde of fluids, tracing mankind's love/hate relationship with alcohol from ancient Egypt to the present day.
This is a tale of human obsession, one intrepid tuna, the dedicated fisherman who caught and set her free, the promises and limits of ocean science, and the big truth of how our insatiable appetite for bluefin transformed a cottage industry into a global dilemma.
