Hidden History

Little-known, hidden or unusual stories from history.

Updated September 25, 2023
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Slaying the dragon : a secret history of Dungeons & Dragons
Riggs, Ben
Paper Book
Role-playing game historian Ben Riggs unveils the secret history of TSR-- the company that unleashed imaginations with Dungeons & Dragons, was driven into ruin by disastrous management decisions, and then saved by their bitterest rival. "Ben Riggs manages to...
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...
Wake : the hidden history of women-led slave revolts
Hall, Rebecca
Paper Book
A Best Book of 2021 by NPR and The Washington Post Part graphic novel, part memoir, Wake is an imaginative tour-de-force that tells the "powerful" (The New York Times Book Review) story of women-led slave revolts and chronicles scholar Rebecca Hall's...
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
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Executive producer and host 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 personal memories,...
The secret history of home economics : how trailblazing women harnessed the power of home and changed the way we live
Dreilinger, Danielle
Paper Book
The term "home economics" may conjure traumatic memories of lopsided hand-sewn pillows or sunken muffins. But common conception obscures the story of the revolutionary science of better living. The field exploded opportunities for women in the twentieth century by reducing domestic work and...
The burning blue : the untold story of Christa McAuliffe and NASA's Challenger disaster
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...
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),...
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,...
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
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-winning historian once again reconfigures the national saga of American slavery and freedom. A deeply entrenched...
The facemaker : a visionary surgeon's battle to mend the disfigured soldiers of World War I
Fitzharris, Lindsey
Paper Book
A New York Times Bestseller Finalist for the 2022 Kirkus Prize | Named a best book of the year by The Guardian "Enthralling. Harrowing. Heartbreaking. And utterly redemptive. Lindsey Fitzharris hit this one out of the park." --Erik Larson, author of...
The five : the untold lives of the women killed by Jack the Ripper
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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