Book Ordering and Updates
Fall is in full swing here in quaint little Hermann, Missouri.
As the air cools and the leaves silently change overnight, I'm itching for some more time to research and read about history. There is something about fall that feels like the right time to connect with your ancestors and the world they lived in. I also am hoping to start really dedicating myself to posting weekly about historical themes and helpful information. I decided that to do that, I really need to dive, head first, into the research I've been putting off for "lack of time" or.... laziness. Hah. So I did some research! I spent a couple hours tracking down books that I might find helpful in putting myself into the world that my ancestors existed in. Take a look at my own list and maybe it will inspire you to find some of your own.
I ordered:
1. The New Man : Twenty-Nine Years a Slave, Twenty-Nine Years a Free Man. Recollections of Henry Clay Bruce. A memoir of a man who was kept as a slave on a plantation in Missouri. I can't wait to read a first hand account of what life was like for slaves in Missouri. Plus, this is an even more interesting concept considering the book is written about the 29 years he was a slave, and the 29 years after he was freed. So excited about this one.
2. Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent :
The Goodreads description says it all! "This is the biggest, grandest, most sprawling epic ever told, filled with battles and hardship, courage, determination, daring voyages into the unknown, and eye-opening discoveries... From the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of FDR, Winston Churchill, and Somerset Maugham, Wilderness At Dawn is the sprawling, roughhouse epic of the unsung heroes, heroines, and rogues who tamed the rugged continent t that became our country. Here is a masterpiece of history, research, and storytelling, the panoramic epic of the North American continent and the vast array of characters who thought they could civilize it. Concentrating on those previously ignored by "polite histories" (ordinary settlers, unknown soldiers, scalawags, pioneer women, slaves, and Native Americans), Morgan uses scenes and dialogue from actual letters, journals, and diaries to recreate the odysseys, adventures, human dramas, and inhuman suffering that shaped America." YES. What was ever more epic than the journey those regular men and women made to and across the New World?
3. Life on The Mississippi by Mark Twain
Hey, what girl researching life in Missouri in the 1800's doesn't need some understanding of
Mark Twain?
4. Common People: In Pursuit of my Ancestors by Alison Light
As Goodreads puts it so eloquently, "In the last weeks of her father’s life, she embarked on an attempt to trace the history of her family as far back as she could reasonably go. The result is a clear-eyed, fascinating, frequently moving account of the lives of everyday people, of the tough decisions and hard work, the good luck and bad breaks, that chart the course of a life."
5. More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women by Elaine Warner
Because women deserve to take up their half of our history books!
*6. The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke
This one has that nice little asterisk because technically, it doesn't really fit in with MY particular research, but when I saw the descriptions... I knew I wanted to at least give it a try. A strange disappearance, cultural phenomenon, and folklore?! Sign me up. I read a book called "The Butcher's Tale" (which I loved) in a college history class and this feels similar. I'll be happy to give it a try. Plus, it seems mighty atmospheric for the autumn!
Who's ready for some book reviews?
Research can be so pointed and specific and without cultural context, we can miss out on so much of what our documents are telling us. I, like I'm sure most of you, don't want to just know names and dates... I want to know who my people were, how they lived, and what their world was like. Because a piece of YOU was there too. Their story is your story... don't forget!
What books are you going to read this fall? What books have you found helpful in your own research? What books, movies, or music makes you think of your family or your ancestors?
Love always and happy hunting,
Morgan
As the air cools and the leaves silently change overnight, I'm itching for some more time to research and read about history. There is something about fall that feels like the right time to connect with your ancestors and the world they lived in. I also am hoping to start really dedicating myself to posting weekly about historical themes and helpful information. I decided that to do that, I really need to dive, head first, into the research I've been putting off for "lack of time" or.... laziness. Hah. So I did some research! I spent a couple hours tracking down books that I might find helpful in putting myself into the world that my ancestors existed in. Take a look at my own list and maybe it will inspire you to find some of your own.
I ordered:
1. The New Man : Twenty-Nine Years a Slave, Twenty-Nine Years a Free Man. Recollections of Henry Clay Bruce. A memoir of a man who was kept as a slave on a plantation in Missouri. I can't wait to read a first hand account of what life was like for slaves in Missouri. Plus, this is an even more interesting concept considering the book is written about the 29 years he was a slave, and the 29 years after he was freed. So excited about this one.
2. Wilderness at Dawn: The Settling of the North American Continent :
The Goodreads description says it all! "This is the biggest, grandest, most sprawling epic ever told, filled with battles and hardship, courage, determination, daring voyages into the unknown, and eye-opening discoveries... From the Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer of FDR, Winston Churchill, and Somerset Maugham, Wilderness At Dawn is the sprawling, roughhouse epic of the unsung heroes, heroines, and rogues who tamed the rugged continent t that became our country. Here is a masterpiece of history, research, and storytelling, the panoramic epic of the North American continent and the vast array of characters who thought they could civilize it. Concentrating on those previously ignored by "polite histories" (ordinary settlers, unknown soldiers, scalawags, pioneer women, slaves, and Native Americans), Morgan uses scenes and dialogue from actual letters, journals, and diaries to recreate the odysseys, adventures, human dramas, and inhuman suffering that shaped America." YES. What was ever more epic than the journey those regular men and women made to and across the New World?
3. Life on The Mississippi by Mark Twain
Hey, what girl researching life in Missouri in the 1800's doesn't need some understanding of
Mark Twain?
4. Common People: In Pursuit of my Ancestors by Alison Light
As Goodreads puts it so eloquently, "In the last weeks of her father’s life, she embarked on an attempt to trace the history of her family as far back as she could reasonably go. The result is a clear-eyed, fascinating, frequently moving account of the lives of everyday people, of the tough decisions and hard work, the good luck and bad breaks, that chart the course of a life."
5. More Than Petticoats: Remarkable Missouri Women by Elaine Warner
Because women deserve to take up their half of our history books!
*6. The Burning of Bridget Cleary by Angela Bourke
This one has that nice little asterisk because technically, it doesn't really fit in with MY particular research, but when I saw the descriptions... I knew I wanted to at least give it a try. A strange disappearance, cultural phenomenon, and folklore?! Sign me up. I read a book called "The Butcher's Tale" (which I loved) in a college history class and this feels similar. I'll be happy to give it a try. Plus, it seems mighty atmospheric for the autumn!
Who's ready for some book reviews?
Research can be so pointed and specific and without cultural context, we can miss out on so much of what our documents are telling us. I, like I'm sure most of you, don't want to just know names and dates... I want to know who my people were, how they lived, and what their world was like. Because a piece of YOU was there too. Their story is your story... don't forget!
What books are you going to read this fall? What books have you found helpful in your own research? What books, movies, or music makes you think of your family or your ancestors?
Love always and happy hunting,
Morgan
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