Chanterelle Dreams, Amanita Nightmares
the Love, Lore, and Mystique of Mushrooms
Welcome to the weird, whimsical world of microhistory, where the intricacies of ordinary life are liberated from the generalized milieu of traditional histories and given proper historiographic treatment. Microhistories originated in response to the weaknesses of broad historical analysis and have become popular mainly for their inherent flexibility and the infinite possibilities of focus. They are the phenomenon that occurs when a historian (or journalist, hobbyist, whatever) becomes uniquely obsessed with one very specific thing (shopping malls? taxidermy? uhh...the body of Abraham Lincoln?) and produces an entire book focusing in on that stimulating subject. Happening upon a microhistory in a library is often a happy accident, they can be found under practically any number of the dewey decimal system in the nonfiction section because when you reduce the historical scale to the everyday life, it connects with everywhere and with everything. This list is only a small sample of the rich curiosities that line our shelves in the form of the microhistory. What sparks your interest?


100 items
the Love, Lore, and Mystique of Mushrooms
a Cultural History of Shoplifting
a Perfectly Natural History
the Cultural Story of Menstruation
a History
the Fine + Foul Art of Dentistry
the Untrivial Pursuit
the Louse That Conquered Napoleon's Army & Other Diabolical Insects
Bibliophiles, Bibliomanes, and the Eternal Passion for Books
the Weed That Killed Lincoln's Mother & Other Botanical Atrocities
a Cultural History of the Elements, From Arsenic to Zinc
Tales of History's Boldest Heroines, Hellions, and Heretics
Adventures in Taxidermy
How, Why, Where, and When Humankind Has Gotten Merry From the Stone Age to the Present
a Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and Mysteries of Blood
Paging Through History
a Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet
a History of Heads Lost and Heads Found
a People's History of the American Public Library
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