It Was a Very Good Year: Books about Specific Years in HistoryLike this list

13 items

• 1491

  New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus

  Mann, Charles C.

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  "A groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology that radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492."--the publisher

• One Summer

  America, 1927

  Bryson, Bill

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  "Bill Bryson, one of our greatest and most beloved nonfiction writers, transports readers on a journey back to one amazing season in American life." --the publisher

• The Year 1000

  What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium : An Englishman's World

  Lacey, Robert,

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  "As the shadow of the millennium descended across England and Christendom, it seemed as if the world was about to end. Actually, it was only the beginning... Welcome to the year 1000." --the publisher

• 1812

  the Navy's War

  Daughan, George C.

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  "In 1812: The Navy's War, prize-winning historian George C. Daughan tells the thrilling story of how a handful of heroic captains and their stalwart crews overcame spectacular odds to lead the country to victory against the world's greatest imperial…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• 1776

  McCullough, David G.

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  "America’s beloved and distinguished historian presents, in a book of breathtaking excitement, drama, and narrative force, the stirring story of the year of our nation’s birth, 1776, interweaving, on both sides of the Atlantic, the actions and…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• 1688

  the First Modern Revolution

  Pincus, Steven C. A.

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  "Based on new archival information, this book upends two hundred years of scholarship on England’s Glorious Revolution to claim that it—not the French Revolution—was the first truly modern revolution."--the publisher

• 1912

  Wilson, Roosevelt, Taft & Debs-- the Election That Changed the Country

  Chace, James

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  "Beginning with former president Theodore Roosevelt’s return in 1910 from his African safari, Chace brilliantly unfolds a dazzling political circus that featured four extraordinary candidates." --the publisher

• 1215

  the Year of Magna Carta

  Danziger, Danny

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  "Surveying a broad landscape through a narrow lens, 1215 sweeps readers back eight centuries in an absorbing portrait of life during a time of global upheaval, the ripples of which can still be felt today." --the publisher

• A Year in the Life of William Shakespeare: 1599

  Shapiro, James E.

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  "1599 was an epochal year for Shakespeare and England. During that year, Shakespeare wrote four of his most famous plays: Henry the Fifth, Julius Caesar, As You Like It, and, most remarkably, Hamlet; Elizabethans sent off an army to crush an Irish…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• 1979

  An Allie Burns Novel

  McDermid, Val,

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  "The year started badly and only got worse—blizzards, strikes, power cuts, and political unrest were the norm. For investigative journalist Allie Burns, however, someone else's bad news was the unmistakable sound of opportunity knocking, and 1979 is…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• 1968

  the Year That Rocked the World

  Kurlansky, Mark

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  "In this monumental book, Mark Kurlansky brings to teeming life the cultural and political history of that pivotal year, when television’s influence on global events first became apparent, and spontaneous uprisings occurred simultaneously around the…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• 1453

  the Holy War for Constantinople and the Clash of Islam and the West

  Crowley, Roger, 1951-

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  "The fall of Constantinople in 1453 signaled a shift in history, and the end of the Byzantium Empire. Roger Crowley's readable and comprehensive account of the battle between Mehmed II, sultan of the Ottoman Empire, and Constantine XI, the 57th…Read moreRead more of this annotation

• Countdown 1960

  the Behind-the-scenes Story of the 312 Days That Changed America's Politics Forever

  Wallace, Chris,

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  "Featuring some of history’s most remarkable characters, page-turning action, and vivid details, Countdown 1960 follows a group of extraordinary politicians, civil rights leaders, Hollywood stars, labor bosses, and mobsters during a pivotal year in…Read moreRead more of this annotation