American Nations by Colin Woodard -- Do you ever wonder why
Americans seem so divided? In this book the author tells about the
eleven nations that make up North America. He argues that the reason we
have divisions now is because we've always had divisions. From New
England which had a more communal Puritan base to the Deep South settled
first by the sons of English slavelords who lived in Barbados, to the
more libertarian Far West and the Scots-Irish throughout Appalachia --
this book covered the beginnings of each nation, what they fought for
and against and how their influences linger even today.
These were some things I shared as trivia questions on Facebook.
I'll include them in my notes here since they are already typed.
In
the early 1600s the Netherlands was the most modern and sophisticated
country on Earth, producing art, laws, business practices, and
institutions that became standards for the rest of the world. They
invented modern banking, creating at [their bank] the first
clearinghouse for the disparate coins and currencies of the world, all
exchangeable for [their money], which became the preferred medium of
international exchange. (pg. 67)
"Rather than trying to produce cash crops for export, the
Borderlanders embraced a woodland subsistence economy...Life in Britain
had taught them not to invest too much time and wealth in fixed
property, which was easily destroyed in time of war. Instead, they
stored their wealth in a very mobile form: herds of pigs, cattle, and
sheep. When they did need cash, they distilled corn into a more
portable, storable, and valuable product: whiskey, which would remain
the de facto currency of Appalachia for the next two centuries." (pg.
104)
In South Carolina the backcountry made up three-quarters of the
colony’s white population but had only two of forty-eight seats in the
provincial assembly; this arrangement led one agitator to denounce the
planters for keeping “half their subjects in a state of slavery,” by
whom he meant not blacks but Borderlanders like himself. Here
few “loyalists” cared about Britain, but they aligned themselves with
the king simply because he was fighting their lowland enemies. (pg. 137)
"When
confederal and federal authorities started trying to collect taxes and
seize property, the Borderlanders took up arms and tried to leave the
union they now thoroughly disapproved of. This Appalachian resistance
movement raged for more than a decade ... It began in 1784, when people
in the western territories of North Carolina (now eastern Tennessee)
became disgusted with Tidewater control. Their solution was pure
Borderlander: they created their own sovereign State of Franklin
on nobody's permission but their own. They drafted a constitution that
prohibited lawyers, clergy, and doctors from running for office, set up a
government in the village of Greeneville, and passed laws making apple
brandy, animal skins, and tobacco legal tender. They even applied for
membership in the Continental Congress and were supported by seven
states; opposition from Tidewater and the Deep South delegates denied
them the necessary two-thirds majority." (pg. 160)
Peace Meals: Candy-Wrapped Kalashnikovs and Other War Stories by
Anna Badkhen -- I found this book at a dollar store for $1 and it was
very much worth it. This Soviet-born journalist shared stories from war
zones and places of famine all the while telling stories about life
back home in Russia and friends she'd met along the way. Each chapter
talked about food shared in these places and she includes recipes. And
they are often written with funny things thrown in there. Like when she
boils a lobster for the first time and is glad her sons didn't get to
see it because it was a bit more traumatic than she thought. And when
she talks about caviar, she doesn't bother with a recipe, but writes
"wait! you have caviar? Can I come over?" I enjoyed her sense of humor
even though much of the book was about sad things. These were just two
bits from it that I shared on Facebook.
"In preying on the
women of a vanquished nation, the fighters continued a millennia-old
tradition that proliferates in all wars. Japanese troops raped Chinese
women in Nanking in 1937 and early 1938; Allied troops raped all the
women they could lay their hands on in defeated Nazi Germany in 1945;
Hutu men raped Tutsi women in Rwanda in 1994. In this century, Somali
nomads called the Janjaweed raped women farmers in Darfur. In Iraq, I
have interviewed Sunni and Shiite Muslims, Christians and Sabean women
who had been raped by men of other sects or religions. Rape is a common
front line of war, a front line that often remains hidden because of the
stigma attached to sexual violence by many societies, and because in
many societies, the targets - women and girls - are considered less
important than men, the fighters." (pg. 90)
In speaking about reporting across the Middle East, the author
says "the Jewish state is a country That-Must-Not-Be-Named, and that the
very mention of the I-word is bound to rile someone. This is why
Western reporters in Afghanistan, Iraq, Iran, Syria, Egypt, Lebanon, and
the Gulf States refer to Israel among each other as 'Dixie' - as in,
'Justin Sullivan from Getty Images and I worked together in Dixie in
2002.'" (pg. 140)
In A Sunburned Country
by Bill Bryson -- Travel journalist talks about his days exploring
Australia. I enjoyed the tidbits of information about places to visit
and the people, sights and so forth. His humor was an added bonus.
Many non-native animals were introduced to Australia and "the
consequences for native species have often been devastating. About 130
mammals in Australia are threatened. Sixteen have gone extinct - more
than in any other continent. And guess what is the mightiest killer of
all? According to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, it is the
common cat." (pg. 137)
