As we close in on the final month of 2017 – I get a TON of email/messages/calls this time of year regarding book recommendations for adults and students for gifts for the holidays. I also get inquiries about “What have you been reading Bill?” So, here you go:
I. Best Book Gifts for the 2017 Holiday Season:
1. Timothy Egan – ANY book he has written are superb gifts for the holidays. I have brief reviews of 6 of his 7 on my site (http://www.BillDahl.net) . Just use the search feature on this site for Timothy Egan…particularly for readers who enjoy tremendous stories about the Pacific Northwest and the American West – stories you have never heard of before. My favorite writer. PERIOD.
2. Sapiens – A Brief History of Humankind – by Yuvall Noah Harai – just a spectacular treatise on our species.
II. Recently Read by Bill Dahl (2017)
I am in a three year process (12/31/2017 is the end of year one) writing a non-fiction book. Thus, my reading in 2017 (and 2018 and beyond) is solely focused on research/study and resource materials for this book. Needless to say, my reading and research has been very robust and wide ranging – yet – invigorating in 2017. Some of the works below are 6-800 page tomes. (The list below does not include journal articles, periodicals devoured etc. I have probably left a dozen or so books out of the list below – my apologies to the authors) So, here you go:
Aikens, Melvin C. Connolly, Thomas J. and Jenkins, Dennis L. Oregon Archaeology, Oregon State University Press Corvallis, Oregon Copyright (c) 2011 by C. Melvin Jenkins, Thomas J. Connolly and Dennis L. Jenkins
Allen, Frederick Lewis Only Yesterday – An Informal History of the 1920’s, Perrennial Classics – Published by Perrennial – An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. New York, NY Copyright (c) 1931 by Frederick Lewis Allen
Ambrose, Stephen E. Undaunted Courage – Meriwether Lewis, Thomas Jefferson, and the Opening of the American West, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, NY, NY Copyright © 1996 by Ambrose-Tubbs, Inc.
Anderson, Benedict, Imagined Communities – Copyright © Benedict Anderson, 2006 published by Verso Brooklyn, NY
Bain, David Haward Empire Express – Building the First Transcontinental Railroad, Copyright © 1999 by David Haward Bain, Viking Penguin – A Member of Penguin Putnam New York, NY.
Bair, Sheila Bull By The Horns – Fighting to Save Main Street from Wall Street – And Wall Street From Itself, Copyright © 2012 by Sheila Bair, Simon & Schuster Paperbacks – A Division of Simon & Schuster, Inc. New York, NY
Barnes, Christine Central Oregon – View From The Middle, Copyright (c) 1996 by Christine Barnes and American & World Geographic Publishing Helena, MT
Bernstein, Peter L. Against The Gods -The Remarkable Story of Risk, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. New York, NY Copyright (c) 1996, 1998 by Peter L. Bernstein.
Boyd, Brian On The Origins of Stories – Evolution, Cognition and Fiction, Copyright © 2009 by Brian Boyd, The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England
Caldwell, Erskine Some American People, Copyright © 1935 by Erskine Caldwell, Robert M. McBride and Company, New York, NY
Cannato, Vincent J. American Passage – The History of Ellis Island, Harper – An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers, New York, NY Copyright (c) 2009 by Vincent J. Cannato
Cashill, Jack Popes & Bankers – A Cultural History of Credit & Debt From Aristotle to AIG, Thomas Nelso Publishers Nashville, TN Copyright (c) 2010 by Jack Cashill
Casti, John L. X-EVENTS – The Collapse of Everything, William Morrow – An Imprint of HarperCollins Publishers New York, NY Copyright © 2012 by John L. Casti
Chernow, Ron The House of Morgan – An American Banking Dynasty and the Rise of Modern Finance, Copyright © 1990 by Ron Chernow, 20th Anniversary Edition, Grove Press New York, NY
Coe, Urling C. Frontier Doctor – Observations on Central Oregon and the Changing West, Oregon State University Press, Third Printing 2003 by OSU Press, 101 Waldo Hall Corvallis OR. Initial printing was 1940 by The MacMillan & Co. New York, NY. Copyright (c) 1940 by The MacMillan Company
Cressman, Luther S The Sandal and the Cave – The Indians of Oregon, Original publication 1962 by Beaver Books, Portland, OR . Copyright © 1962 by Luther Sheeleigh Cressman, Second printing of Beaver Books edition by Oregon State University Press with permission from Champoeg Press Copyright © 1981 by Luther S. Cressman
Diamond, Jared Guns, Germs and Steel – The Fates of Human Societies, W.W. Norton & Company New York, NY and London, UK Copyright © 199, 1997 by Jared Diamond
Harari, Yuvall Noah Sapiens– A Brief History of Humankind, Harper – An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers New York, NY Copyright © 2015 by Yuvall Noah Harari
Egan, Timothy Lasso The Wind – Away To The New West, Vintage Departures – Vintage Books – A Division of Random House, Inc., New York, NY – Copyright © 1998 by Timothy P. Egan
Egan, Timothy The Good Rain: Across Time and Terrain in the Pacific Northwest, Vintage Departures -Vintage Books – A Division of Random House, Inc. New York, NY – Copyright © 1990 by Timothy Egan
Egan, Timothy The Immortal Irishman – The Irish Revolutionary Who Became An American Hero, Houghton, Mifflin Company Harcourt Boston & NY – Copyright © 2016 by Timothy Egan
Egan, Timothy Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher – The Epic Life and Immortal Photographs of Edward Curtis, Mariner Books – Houghton, Mifflin Company Harcourt Boston & NY – Copyright © 2012 by Timothy Egan
Egan, Timothy The Big Burn: Teddy Roosevelt & The Fire That Saved America, Mariner Books – Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt Boston & NY – Copyright © 2009 by Timothy Egan
Egan, Timothy The Worst Hard Time – The Untold Story of Those Who Survived The Great American Dust Bowl, Houghton, Mifflin Company Harcourt Boston & NY – Copyright © 2006 by Timothy Egan
Galbraith, John Kenneth A History of Economics – The Past as the Present, Copyright © 1987 by John Kenneth Galbraith, Penguin Books LTD New York, NY and London, UK
Graeber, David DEBT: The First 5,000 Years, Melville House Publishing, Brooklyn, NY & London, UK Copyright 2011, 2012,2014 by David Graeber
Grayson, Donald K. Giant Sloths and Sabertooth Cats – Extinct Mammals and the Archaeology of the Ice Age Great Basin, University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, Copyright © 2016 by the University of Utah Press.
Gregory, Ronald L Life in Railroad Logging Camps of the Shevlin-Hixon Company 1916-1950, Copyright © 2001 by Ronald L. Gregory , Oregon State University, Department of Anthropology.
Guterl, Fred The Fate of the Species – Why The Human Race May Cause Its Own Extinction and How We Can Stop It, Bloomsbury USA New York, NY Copyright © 2012 by Fred Guterl
Haeg, Larry Harriman vs. Hill – Wall Street’s Great Railroad War, Copyright © 2013 by Larry Haeg, University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis, MN
Hammond, Bray Banks Politics in America- From the Revolution to the Civil War Copyright © 1957 BY Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
Harari, Yuvall Noah Homo Deus – A Brief History of Tomorrow, Harper – An Imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers New York, NY Copyright © 2017 by Yuvall Noah Harari
Hedges, Chris Empire Of Illusion – The End Literacy and The Triumph Of Spectacle, Copyright © 2009 by Chris Hedges, Nation Books New York, NY
Joslin, Les Legendary Locals of Bend, Arcadia Publishing Charleston, SC. Copyright (c) 2016 by Les Joslin
Kaku, Michio Parallel Worlds – A Journey Through Creation, Higher Dimensions, and the Future of the Cosmos, Anchor Books – A Division of Random House, Inc. New York, NY Copyright © 2015 by Michio Kaku
Kindleberger, Charles P. and Aliber, Robert Z. Foreword by Robert Solow Copyright 2005 by Charles P. Kindleberger and Robert Z. Aliber; Manias, Panics and Crashes – A History of Financial Crises – Fifth Edition, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. Hoboken, New Jersey
Klare, Michael T The Race For What’s Left – The Global Scramble for the World’s Last Resources, Metropolitan Books – Henry Holt & Company, LLC New York, NY Copyright © 2012 by Michael T. Klare
Knowlton, Christopher Cattle Kingdom – The Hidden History of the Cowboy West, An Eamon Dolan Book – Houghton, Mifflin, Harcourt Publishing Company, New York, NY Copyright © 2017 by Christopher Knowlton
Kolbert, Elizabeth The Sixth Extinction – An Unnatural History, Picador – Henry Holt & Company New York, NY Copyright © 2014 by Elizabeth Kolbert.
Lepler, Jessica M. The Many Panics of 1837 – People, Politics, and the Creation of a Transatlantic Financial Crisis, Copyright ©2013 Jessica M. Lepler, Cambridge University Press, New York, NY
Lewis, Michael The Undoing Project – A Friendship that Changed Our Minds, Copyright © 2017 by Michael Lewis, W.W. Norton & Company New York, NY
Levy, Jonathan Freaks of Fortune – The Emerging World of Capitalism and Risk in America, Copyright © 2012 by The President and Fellows of Harvard College, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England
Limerick, Patricia Nelson The Legacy of Conquest – The Unbroken Past of the American West, W.W. Norton & Company New York, NY Copyright (c) 1987 by Patricia Nelson Limerick
Limerick, Patricia Nelson – Something In The Soil – Legacies and Reckonings in the New West, W.W. Norton & Company, New York, NY and London, U.K. Copyright (c) 2000 by Patricia Nelson Limerick
Lo, Andrew W. Adaptive Markets – Financial Evolution at the Speed of Thought, Copyright © 2017 by Princeton University Press, Princeton, NJ
Lowenstein, Roger America’s Bank: The Epic Struggle To Create The Federal Reserve. Copyright © 2015 by Roger Lowenstein, Published by the Penguin Press, An Imprint of Penguin Random House LLC, 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, U.S.A.
Lowenstein, Roger Origins of the CRASH – The Great Bubble and its Undoing, Copyright © 2004 by Roger Lowenstein. The Penguin Group, New Copyright © 2004 by Roger Lowenstein. The Penguin Group, New York, NY.
Mann, Charles C. 1493 – Uncovering the New World Columbus Created, Vintage Books – a Division of Random House, Inc. New York, NY Copyright © 2011 by Charles C. Mann.
Mann, Charles C. 1491 – New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, Vintage Books – a Division of Random House, Inc. New York, NY Copyright © 2005, 2006, 2011 by Charles C. Mann
Mihm, Stephen A Nation of Counterfeiters – Capitalists, Con Men And the Making of the United States, Copyright © 2005 by Stephen Mihm, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, Massachusetts and London, England
Morisete, Martin Gabrio Green Gold – The Incomplete, and Probably Inaccurate History of the Timber Industry in Parts of Central and Eastern Oregon From 1867 to Near the Present, Copyright (c) 2005 by Martin Gabrio Morisete, Self published by Martin Gabrio Morisete Post, Oregon
Nelson, Scott Reynolds A Nation of Deadbeats – An Uncommon History of Americas Financial Disasters, Copyright © 2012 by Scott Reynolds Nelson, Vintage Books – A Division of Random House, Inc. New York, NY
Pagel, Mark Wired For Culture – Origins of The Human Social Mind, Copyright © 2012 by Mark Pagel W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., New York, NY
Partnoy, Frank Infectious Greed– How Deceit and Risk Corrupted The Financial Markets, Copyright © by Frank Partnoy.
Puter, Stephen A. Douglas (S..A.D.) and Stevens, Horace LOOTERS OF THE PUBLIC DOMAIN EMBRACING A COMPLETE EXPOSURE OF THE FRAUDULENT SYSTEM OF ACQUIRING TITLES TO THE PUBLIC LANDS OF THE UNITED STATES – Copyright © 1907 by S.A.D. Puter and Horace Stevens – The Portland Printing House Publishers – 1908
Ramsey, Jarold New Era – Reflections on the Human and Natural History of Central Oregon, Oregon State University Press, Corvallis, OR Copyright © 2003 by Jarold Lewis
Rifkin, Jeremy The Empathic Civilization – The Race to Global Consciousness in a World in Crisis, Copyright © 2009 by Jeremy Rifkin, Penguin Books Ltd, New York, New York
Roberts, Alasdair America’s First Great Depression – Economic Crisis and Political Disorder After the Panic of 1837, Copyright © 2012 by Cornell University, Cornell University Press Ithaca, NY
Rothbard, Murray N. The Panic of 1819 – Reactions and Policies, Copyright © 1962 Columbia University Press, Ludwig von Mises Institute Auburn, Alabama
Sampson, Anthony The Money Lenders – Bankers and a World in Turmoil, Copyright © 1981 by Anthony Sampson, The Viking Press New York, NY
Sandage, A. Scott Born Losers- A History of Failure in America Copyright © 2005 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College [Harvard University Press paperback edition
Sinclair, Timothy J. The Masters of Capital – American Bond Rating Agencies and the Politics of Creditworthiness, Copyright © 2005 by Cornell University, Cornell University Press Ithaca, NY and London, UK
Stark, Peter ASTORIA – John Jacob Astor and Thomas Jefferson’s Lost Pacific Empire – A Story of Wealth, Ambition and Survival, ecco – An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers New York, NY Copyright © 2014 by Peter Stark
Thaler, Richard H., Sunstein, Cass R. Nudge– Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, Copyright © Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein , 2008, 2009 Published by the Penguin Group New York, New York
Turner, Frederick Jackson, The Significance of the Frontier in American History, Martino Publishing, Mansfield Centre, CT Copyright (c) 2014 Martino Publishing
Ward, Elizabeth B. Redmond – Rose of the Desert, Copyright © 1975 by B. Elizabeth Ward, Midstate Printing, Inc.
White, Richard It’s Your Misfortune and None of My Own – A New History of the American West, University of Oklahoma Press, Norman, Oklahoma Copyright (c) 1991 by University of Oklahoma Press
Zaslowsky, Dyan and Watkins, T.H. These American Lands – Parks, Wilderness and Public Lands, Copyright © 1983-1994 by the Wilderness Society, Island Press, Washington, D.C.
