Military history, memoir, and even a novelized series make this list of can’t-miss books about the Great War
Arthur Radebaugh’s Shiny Happy Future
For five years, a popular comic strip gave us a preview of life in Suburbatopia
Burbank’s Aerial Monorail of the Future
A bold vision for a propeller-driven train never quite got off the ground
How the Potato Changed the World
Brought to Europe from the New World by Spanish explorers, the lowly potato gave rise to modern industrial agriculture
Momentous or Merely Memorable
While Great Britain and the Ottoman Empire were fighting World War I, two Afghans opened up a second front in an Australian outback town 12,000 miles away
How do people decide what does or doesn’t look futuristic?
Naval Gazing: The Enigma of Étienne Bottineau
In 1782, an unknown French engineer offered an invention better than radar: the ability to detect ships hundreds of miles away
Today at War, Tomorrow in Stores
Advertisers in the 1940s promised American consumers that they would be rewarded for their wartime sacrifices on the homefront
Steve Jobs: Futurist, Optimist
The innovator wasn’t just this generation’s Thomas Edison, he was also its Walt Disney
In Search of Queen Victoria’s Voice
The British monarch was present when a solicitor demonstrated one of the earliest audio recording devices. But did she really say “tomatoes”?
Alfred W. Crosby on the Columbian Exchange
The historian discusses the ecological impact of Columbus’ landing in 1492 on both the Old World and the New World
Momentous or Merely Memorable
A gunshot rang out in the king’s bedroom in June 1946, ending one reign and beginning another. Uncertainty over how it happened has persisted ever since
Let’s Argue About The Right Things
We seem to be in one of those periods in which basic reasons for doing what we do as a nation are called into question
Momentous or Merely Memorable
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