Micro-Histories
What's a microhistory? Basically, it's a study of the past on a very small scale. Looking at the book titles will give you a sense of how small the scale can be! Microhistories have also been described as focusing 'on small incidents, insignificant in themselves, which reveal larger structures.'
Shards of History - Small Pieces, Big Impact (St. Paul Public Library, MN): Title, author, and webcat link for about 40 microhistories, organised by title, from Aspirin: The Remarkable Story of a Wonder Drug by Diarmuid Jeffreys to Wedding of the Waters: The Erie Canal and the Making of a Great Nation by Philip Steadman.
The Unique, the Unusual, the Bizarre (Lake County Public Library, Merrillville, IN): Non-fiction, most of which is micro-history. Categories are Americana, Discoveries and Discoverers, Flowers, Food and Drink, the Mundane, People, Science, Travel, and Miscellanea. Author and title only for a total of about 70 books.
Microhistories (Nashville PL, TN): Author, title, webcat link for about 30 fiction titles, from The Measure of All Things: The Seven-Year Odyssey and Hidden Error that Transformed the World by Ken Alder to Big Cotton: How a Humble Fiber Created Fortunes, Wrecked Civilizations, and Put America on the Map By Stephen Yafa.
MICROHISTORIES: In-Depth Explanations of the Mundane (Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library, KS): Title only for about 35 microhistories, including ones on buttons, the pencil, the mullet, the zipper, salt, cod, and dust.
Zeroing In (St. Charles Public Library, IL): Author and title only for about 15 "'micro-histories' and other stories of trivia that change the course of human events, shape the universe and lift our spirits." From E=MC2 by David Bodanis to Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It Transformed Our World by Mark Pendergrast. Compiled Nov. 2004.
Non-Fiction Reading - Micro Histories (Palm Beach County Library System, FL): Title, author, and webcat link for 20 micro-histories, about crying, cats, zippers, coal, rats, dust, oranges mosquitoes, the genome, hoboes, etc. May 2006.
Library Thing Books Tagged 'Microhistory' (Library Thing): List of books tagged as microhistories, from people's private collections, with links to more information on each book.
Business Week: The Pages of History Writ Small (Business Week magazine): Article by publisher George Gibson about "his string of short, quirky, page-turners, and why readers can't get enough of them." More than 20 microhistories are listed following the interview. Nov. 2002.
Micro-histories (Clifton Park-Halfmoon Public Library, NY): 'Books that explore a specific subject in depth providing a different way of looking at familiar things.' Author and title for 16 micro-histories, in no particular order, on topics such as cod, vanilla, the number zero, spice, the Cosmopolitan (drink), cadavers, salt, the screwdriver and screw, tears, tea, aspirin, and airports.