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History nerd in need of some books about the 19th century

DuffelDuffel jacobkoshRegistered User regular
edited May 2010 in Help / Advice Forum
I'm looking for some good, preferably non-fiction books of the kind you would read in an upper-level university or grad school class. I'm specifically interested in the 19th and early 20th centuries (pre-WWI).

Topics I'm interested in lean mostly toward anthropological topics - rules of social interaction, class issues, and lifeways in general. I'm especially interested in topics related to crime and the people who live on the borders of society. For example, I just got done reading The Victorian Underworld by Kellow Chesney, which was a good read but probably a bit dated. It also focused exclusively on the UK, which was interesting, but I'd also like to read about the US and continental Europe during the same period. I'd also be interested in fiction, provided it was well-written, accurate and did justice to the setting.

One caveat is that I would generally prefer that they aren't too politically slanted or have an evident author's bias. In other words, I'm not looking for either laudatory works or exposes - just good descriptive information about the time period.

Thanks!

Duffel on

Posts

  • Continental_OpContinental_Op Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Well, trying to find anything without a bias is pretty much impossible, but good historians are aware of their biases, alert the reader to them, and attempt to put a check on them as they write (they're humans, they can't help having ideas and opinions). With that said, there are tons of books on these kind of things.

    Vengeance and Justice: Crime and Punishment in the Nineteenth-Century American South by Edward L. Ayers. This covers dueling, preferred weapons for dueling, eye gouging, prisons and a bunch of other stuff.

    The Murder of Helen Jewett by Patricia Cline Cohen is about one of the first high profile murder cases in the U.S. of a prostitute in New York and all the press coverage and social reaction to it. It also has a lot of background on the reality of prostitution in 19th century NYC and how it changed during that time.

    The Manly Art: Bare-Knuckle Prize Fighting in America by Elliot J. Gromm is a very interesting book on the evolution of boxing in America and how it moved from a back alley, low brow spectacle to being acceptable to the upper classes.

    Rudeness and Civility by Manners in 19th Century Urban America by John F. Kasson. Pretty self explanatory title, really interesting and probably right up your alley.

    Low Life by Luc Sante is one of the best known books, and reputedly most readable books, about crime and lower class culture in New York in the 19th century.

    Jesse James: The Last Rebel of the Civil War by T.J. Stiles is a great book about the culture of ante-bellum Missouri and how this shaped Jesse James and his post-war exploits, framing them in the context of the para-military violence and terror used by several gangs/units, both Confederate and Union, on the frontiers of the war.

    Crime and Punishment in American History by Lawrence Meir Friedman covers the entire history of crime and penal systems in the U.S. from the colonies to the modern times.

    I can find more if you want, but that's a decent start. For fiction I'd recommend the Aubrey/Maturin series by Patrick O'Brian (the books Master and Commander are based on) as having tons of little nuggets about social culture of the Royal Navy and England, classical music (great little bit on Bach in one of the books), and also naval battles to spice things up.

    Continental_Op on
    XBL - TeenageHead
  • DuffelDuffel jacobkosh Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    Yeah, I worded that section of the OP very poorly. What I meant to say was that I'm mainly interested in social interaction, as opposed to social processes. Those two subjects are obviously intertwined, but I'm more interested in the former.

    So, the sort of questions I'm interested in are, "What was life like in a Bostonian brothel in the mid-19th century?" Or, "Two people of different social class (or whatever other variable) run across each other. How could they be expected to interact with one another according to prevailing social norms of their era?"

    I'll definitely look those books up. Low Life and Rudeness and Civility sounds particularly interesting.

    Duffel on
  • Limp mooseLimp moose Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    This is a good thread. Not only have you picked one of the coolest time periods on the planet but you managed to pick one with a TON of great books.

    Some current ones off the top of my pile,

    First your anthropology type books,

    For all the Tea in china. By Sarah Rose.

    This is the story of Robert Fortune. A Scotsman, who was enlisted by the east India tea company to go to china and steal tea plants, it would be one of the greatest acts of industrial espionage throughout history. This book talks all about his journey and tea. In the 1840s after the first opium war china only had a few ports open to outsiders and the interior was completely off limits. Most of England’s economy was based on selling Indian opium for tea. If the Chinese stopped buying opium Britain wouldn’t have the money for tea. So in goes our hero to sort it out. Through disguises, bribes, and sheer balls, Mr. Fortune goes up river deep into the interior to steal the secret of making great tea, as well as the plants themselves. He then smuggles it to India where it can be grown by the British tea company for huge profits. A great book about his interaction with the Chinese, as well as just a great adventure story.

    Up next,

    The lost city of Z by David Gran.

    The story of another English explorer Colonel Parry Faucet. He explored the Amazon and was convinced there was a hidden civilization based on El dorado. He vanished mysteriously and with no trace on his final attempt with his son. Lots of what you are looking for in this book. He goes to far away places as a Victorian Englishmen and runs into all sorts of characters. Most of the book takes place before WW1 however he also fought in the war and his final mission was in the post war years. This is a fast read and has some really neat stuff about the Amazon and it’s people. The chapter on parasites made me terrified to set foot in the jungle.

    Imbibe by David Wondrich

    Two centuries of American cocktails and stories. Just a fun book to read if you like drinking and want to know where famous cocktails came from and all sorts of other fun facts. He explains America’s obsession with alcohol and why the temperance movement ever got off the ground in the first place.

    And this last one is just for fun but oh man is it fun.

    Abraham Lincoln, Vampire hunter. By seth grahame (the pride prejudice and zombies guy)
    This book was awesome. Imagine famous letters and correspondence and speeches by Lincoln read intact but with subtle vampire hints added. The book manages to take itself seriously enough that when you see doctored pictures from the period with vampires in it you believe. This book is pretty much a must read for any student of Lincoln or the civil war. You will like it. Also the idea that Jefferson Davis was a vampire stooge is hilarious.


    If you have any other questions about stuff let me know. I majored in history and my focus was WW1 Lots of great stories to be had in the period. If I ever bother to get my masters my thesis will be about the Hats of the period. (Great hats back then.)

    Limp moose on
  • Continental_OpContinental_Op Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I forgot Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America by Lawrence Levine. It's on the distinctions, generally entirely arbitrary ones, made between what was considered high class and low class in the 19th century from everything from Shakespearean theater to what kind of music should be enjoyed by whom.

    I'm not sure what section you thought was worded poorly (is it the Aubrey/Maturin stuff I recommended?). If it is and you wanted what happened between social classes, they are great for that too, albeit very early 19th century and English/European, it deals with what the English thought of people from other countries and how they interacted, how low class sailors felt towards English Lords being their officers vs. someone of their own class moving up the ranks, etc. They're not just full of little factoids about the period, which is probably my fault for wording it poorly. I also apologize if I seem to be pushing them a little hard, I just really like them so I might be a little over zealous.

    I just thought of The Alienest, by Caleb Carr. Great little novel about the beginnings of psychological profiling in NYC during Teddy Roosevelt's tenure as the civilian head of the police department. Might be slightly off from exactly what you are looking for, but it deals with problems between educated and un-educated cops, ethnic and religious tensions in the city and general conditions of life for the poor in the city contrasted with the lifestyles of the wealthy.

    But anyway, I agree with Limp Moose, this was a period of immense social upheaval, population booms and migrations, war and technological advancement by leaps and bounds, which makes it extremely interesting from a historical standpoint. Would things outside the urban areas interest you as well? There are a plethora of books on American Indian history that deal with similar issues (particularly your scenario of "what happened when two people from different backgrounds/class/etc. meet.")

    Continental_Op on
    XBL - TeenageHead
  • CauldCauld Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    This is a subject I have no inherent interest in, however, that "For all the tea in China" book sounds awesome and I just ordered it from library. Thanks OP and Limp Moose!

    Cauld on
  • kaliyamakaliyama Left to find less-moderated fora Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    The Alcoholic Republic by WJ Rorabaugh is an excellent look on how alcohol mediated between cultural and class splits in 19th century america.

    kaliyama on
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  • DuffelDuffel jacobkosh Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I forgot Highbrow/Lowbrow: The Emergence of Cultural Hierarchy in America by Lawrence Levine. It's on the distinctions, generally entirely arbitrary ones, made between what was considered high class and low class in the 19th century from everything from Shakespearean theater to what kind of music should be enjoyed by whom.

    I'm not sure what section you thought was worded poorly (is it the Aubrey/Maturin stuff I recommended?). If it is and you wanted what happened between social classes, they are great for that too, albeit very early 19th century and English/European, it deals with what the English thought of people from other countries and how they interacted, how low class sailors felt towards English Lords being their officers vs. someone of their own class moving up the ranks, etc. They're not just full of little factoids about the period, which is probably my fault for wording it poorly. I also apologize if I seem to be pushing them a little hard, I just really like them so I might be a little over zealous.

    I just thought of The Alienest, by Caleb Carr. Great little novel about the beginnings of psychological profiling in NYC during Teddy Roosevelt's tenure as the civilian head of the police department. Might be slightly off from exactly what you are looking for, but it deals with problems between educated and un-educated cops, ethnic and religious tensions in the city and general conditions of life for the poor in the city contrasted with the lifestyles of the wealthy.

    But anyway, I agree with Limp Moose, this was a period of immense social upheaval, population booms and migrations, war and technological advancement by leaps and bounds, which makes it extremely interesting from a historical standpoint. Would things outside the urban areas interest you as well? There are a plethora of books on American Indian history that deal with similar issues (particularly your scenario of "what happened when two people from different backgrounds/class/etc. meet.")
    I just meant that, in my OP, "free from political bias" was a poor way of phrasing what I actually meant, which was more along the lines of "doesn't preach at me on viewing this period of history through the lens of some kind of -ism". I've looked up lots of the books in this thread on Amazon and they all seem to be free from that, so don't worry about it.

    I think I'll definitely check out the Master and Commander books though; I'd actually been considering picking them up anyway.

    I've actually studied Native American history (specifically, religious history) a little bit, but that's always fascinating to me, so I'd be interested in that, too. Really, anything to do with this time period is probably going to make a fun read IMO.

    Also looking forward to Mooses' suggestion of All the Tea in China. I've always been curious about opium dens.

    EDIT: Also, forgot to mention - primary sources are good, too, if you know of any that are still in print.

    Duffel on
  • Muse Among MenMuse Among Men Suburban Bunny Princess? Its time for a new shtick Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    I am keeping an eye on this thread, I find the same subject matter to be very interesting as well.

    Good taste in eras :)

    Muse Among Men on
  • PlatyPlaty Registered User regular
    edited May 2010
    This might be one of the best book on the subject, but alas, it's currently only available in German.

    "Barricades and Borders: Europe 1800-1914" by Robert Gildea is also an excellent book which I had to read for an introductory course at my university. It focusses only on Europe, however.

    Platy on
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