Hidden History

Little-known, hidden or unusual stories from history.

Updated September 25, 2023
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The quiet zone : unraveling the mystery of a town suspended in silence
Kurczy, Stephen
Paper Book
In this riveting account of an area of Appalachia known as the Quiet Zone where cell phones and WiFi are banned, journalist Stephen Kurczy explores the pervasive role of technology in our lives and the innate human need for quiet. "Captures the complex beauty of a disconnected way of...
Code girls : the true story of the American women who secretly broke codes in World War II
Mundy, Liza
Paper Book
In the tradition of Hidden Figures and The Girls of Atomic City, Code Girls is the amazing true story of the young American women who cracked German and Japanese military codes during World War II. More than ten thousand women served as codebreakers during...
The Way I Heard It
Rowe, Mike.
Paper Book
In this New York Times bestselling must-read, executive producer and host of Dirty Jobs Mike Rowe presents a delightfully entertaining, seriously fascinating collection of his favorite episodes from America's #1 short-form podcast, The Way I Heard It, along with a host of...
The burning blue :
Cook, Kevin,
Paper Book
Winner of the American Astronautical Society's 2021 Eugene M. Emme Award The untold story of a national trauma--NASA's Challenger explosion--and what really happened to America's Teacher in Space, illuminating the tragic cost of humanity setting its sight on the...
Empire of pain : the secret history of the Sackler dynasty
Keefe, Patrick Radden
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A NEW YORK TIMES NOTABLE BOOK OF THE YEAR * A grand, devastating portrait of three generations of the Sackler family, famed for their philanthropy, whose fortune was built by Valium and whose reputation was destroyed by OxyContin. From...
American Sherlock : murder, forensics, and the birth of American CSI
Dawson, Kate Winkler
Paper Book
Known as the 'American Sherlock Holmes,' Edward Oscar Heinrich was one of America's greatest forensic scientists, with a skill level that seemed almost supernatural. Heinrich spearheaded the invention of new forensic tools that police still use today, including blood spatter analysis, ballistics,...
The golden thread : how fabric changed history
St. Clair, Kassia
Paper Book
From colorful 30,000-year-old threads found on the floor of a Georgian cave to the Indian calicoes that sparked the Industrial Revolution, The Golden Thread weaves an illuminating story of human ingenuity. Design journalist Kassia St. Clair guides us through the technological advancements and...
Liberty is sweet : the hidden history of the American Revolution
Holton, Woody
Paper Book
A "deeply researched and bracing retelling" (Annette Gordon-Reed, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian) of the American Revolution, showing how the Founders were influenced by overlooked Americans--women, Native Americans, African Americans, and religious dissenters. Using more than...
Cattle kingdom : the hidden history of the cowboy West
Knowlton, Christopher
Paper Book
 A revolutionary new appraisal of the Old West and the America it made The open range cattle era lasted barely a quarter-century, but it left America irrevocably changed. These few decades following the Civil War brought America its greatest boom-and-bust...
Gateway to freedom : the hidden history of the underground railroad
Foner, Eric
Paper Book
The dramatic story of fugitive slaves and the antislaveryactivists who defied the law to help them reach freedom. More than any other scholar, Eric Foner has influenced our understanding of America's history. Now, making brilliant use of extraordinary evidence, the Pulitzer Prize...
The declassification engine : what history reveals about America's top secrets
Connelly, Matthew James
Paper Book
SHORTLISTED FOR THE CUNDILL HISTORY PRIZE * Every day, thousands of new secrets are created by the United States government. What is all this secrecy really for? And whom does it benefit? "A brilliant, deeply unsettling look at the history and inner workings of 'the dark state'.......
Sisters in resistance : how a German spy, a banker's wife, and Mussolini's daughter outwitted the Nazis
Mazzeo, Tilar J.
Paper Book
In a tale as twisted as any spy thriller, discover how three women delivered critical evidence of Axis war crimes to Allied forces during World War II: "A tantalizingly novelistic history lesson" (Kirkus).   In 1944, news of secret diaries kept by...
This land is their land : the Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the troubled history of Thanksgiving
Silverman, David J.
Paper Book
Ahead of the 400th anniversary of the first Thanksgiving, a new look at the Plymouth colony's founding events, told for the first time with Wampanoag people at the heart of the story.In March 1621, when Plymouth's survival was hanging in the balance, the Wampanoag sachem (or chief),...
The five :
Rubenhold, Hallie
Paper Book
Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Five devastating human stories and a dark and moving portrait of Victorian London--the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper. Polly, Annie, Elizabeth, Catherine...

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