prone to enthusiasms….
A could-have-been historian’s notes. And so forth.
This is a terrific book. The writing is lucid, the research–though predominantly from secondary sources–is excellent. If you plan to read one book about the ARPA computing effort, this should be that book.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Semi-Geekery
Posted on
March 30th 2012
Rickard examined the mining practices of most of the major mines on the range, with the significant exceptions of the Calumet and Tamarack mines, where non-employee mining engineers were not welcome. For the mines he did examine, he highlighted what they did best, the roots of their technical preferences, and any glaring weaknesses he identified in their processes. He then did the same for the associated mills (including, interestingly, the C&H mill on Torch Lake). There’s a wealth of technical detail, and enough economic detail that one could estimate the entire cost of production for many of the mines.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Mitten State
Posted on
December 14th 2011
Roughly fifty maps of towns and mining locations on the Keweenaw peninsula, with only a minimal amount of text. These are sort of idealized maps, actually, showing each town/mine’s main features but not tied to specific dates. So (according to the author/mapmaker) some of the maps include structures which not only are no longer there but which never coexisted on the specific site. The result is that each map locates both current (2009) buildings and construction which was dismantled 70 years ago.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Mitten State
Posted on
December 12th 2011
This is, I imagine, the sort of book Arcadia’s business model intends: A well thought out picture book whose captions actually tell a coherent story. Nicely done.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Mitten State
Posted on
October 29th 2011
This reads for all the world like a well-polished set of class notes for a college course with the book’s title. One would assume the course to be intended for sophomores or juniors.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Posted on
October 10th 2011
I’ve seen this book described as “indispensable.” It might well be that, but it’s odd. There is, indeed, a history of the express companies in here, which covers the territory in great detail, including long lists of key players and word portraits of the communities served by the agencies. Stimson was amazingly well-connected, and interested in everything about the trade. The narrative is constantly interrupted, though, by not-very-relevant asides, and he’s prone to offering political opinions. Stimson’s also thoroughly convinced that the express agencies played a major role in the settlement of the American west–an opinion with some validity, to be sure, but not to the degree this author claims. The long lists he likes to compile often seem pointless. The author’s also prone to word play, to a degree that’s positively annoying. And the book ends with over a hundred pages of miscellaneous material.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Posted on
October 1st 2011
A great book, written as a Columbia doctoral dissertation. Mussey’s contention is that market forces consistently forced prices down on Great Lakes iron ore over the course of the nineteenth century, which inevitably led to high capital outlays and in turn led to consolidation on the ranges and domination of the mining industry by the steelmakers. It logically ought, he argued, to lead to complete domination by a single firm, though he retreats from that conclusion.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Posted on
September 28th 2011
The 11/29/1940 Dallas Evening News (my thanks to GenealogyBank) tells me that R.H. Johnson’s military career mostly occurred during WWI, as an enlisted man in Artillery, which was before his West Point stint. At the USMA he was quite active in sports, including baseball; he captained the basketball team. Johnson subsequently served for a few years as a ROTC instructor in the NYC area before resigning his commission to enter the banking business on Wall Street. In 1929 he founded R.H. Johnson & Company, and in 1947 began Franklin Investments.
Filed under
Baseball CrankSpace
History Scrapbook
Posted on
April 18th 2011
This is a well-researched history of baseball’s origins. Baseball wasn’t really invented, of course, but Thorn makes a good case that certain individuals were very important to its development as an institution. This is, in one sense, obvious; what’s perhaps less obvious is who some of those individuals actually were. This part of the book is well-done and, on the whole, convincing.
Filed under
Baseball CrankSpace
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Posted on
April 18th 2011
All that said: Worth reading if you’re interested in either the Kalamazoo asylum or the history of mental health treatment in America. There’s lots of interesting material here, despite some issues in its presentation. I’m planning to read Decker’s book about the Traverse City asylum, where he never worked; I expect to learn interesting things.
Filed under
Bookworm Alley
History Scrapbook
Posted on
March 8th 2011
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