Ideas: A History of Thought and Invention, from Fire to Freud17 reviews Peter Watson Harper Perennial, 2006 Best book I have ever read + Excellent overview of the ideas that has shaped our world. + I think my brain actually grew bigger + Flawed but interesting + Exceptionally good of its kind             Love in the Time of Cholera456 reviews Gabriel Garcia Marquez Vintage, 2003 It was inevitable: the scent of bitter almonds always reminded him of the fate of unrequited love. + Metaphorical Romp Garcia Marquez can write. No doubt about it. The man is a marvel. I'd be puddling along, reading of Fermina Daza, and her adolescent passion (and his for her) of Florentino Ariza, or of her married life with Juvenal Urbino when I'd be swept away by a phrase or image, or the smell of bitter almonds. ...             Ashes to Ashes: America's Hundred-Year Cigarette War, the Public Health, and the Unabashed Triumph of Philip ...16 reviews Richard Kluger Knopf, 1997 Great history book + Smokescreen + Wall Street Journal Reporter Narrates History of CIgarette Making + A History Lesson in Tobacco + Long, but good             Creativity: Flow and the Psychology of Discovery and Invention22 reviews Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi Harper Perennial, 1997 The Real Facts About Creative People + Interesting + Excellent book + Long and deep but very interesting + A book for all psychology majors             Amusing Ourselves to Death: Public Discourse in the Age of Show Business127 reviews Neil Postman Penguin (Non-Classics), 2005 Judge a book by its cover + It's The Today Show-- Starring George Orwell and Aldous Huxley + A Good Deal!! + Disinformation Means Misleading Information--Misplaced, Irrelevant, Fragmented or Superficial + The media is the message again             The Rise of the Creative Class: And How It's Transforming Work, Leisure, Community and Everyday Life62 reviews Richard Florida Basic Books, 2003 Great explanation how the World works and where it is heading. + Interesting topic but tough to read + Fascinating + The Economics of Creativity: Common-sense, yet novel             Against the Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk155 reviews Peter L. Bernstein Wiley, 1998 Great Reward + Excellent overview of the history of financial risk management + Today's hero is often tomorrow's blockhead. + Very Interesting!             Doubt: A History: The Great Doubters and Their Legacy of Innovation from Socrates and Jesus to Thomas ...41 reviews Jennifer Michael Hecht HarperOne, 2004 I Enjoyed This Book! + Great Supplement to the History of Philosophy and Religion + No Second Guessing Here + Better than the Bible + Fascinating.             Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 and How It Changed America106 reviews John M. Barry Simon & Schuster, 1998 Just right + Utterly Fascinating Account of Men vs. the Mississippi! + Rising Tide: The Great Mississippi Flood of 1927 + Book Club loved this book + Marvelous engrossing social history             The Power of Gold: The History of an Obsession53 reviews Peter L. Bernstein Wiley, 2001 An Informative and Enlightening Read + The Best + Interesting, if not Entirely Focused + From a trader's perspective             The American Plague: The Untold Story of Yellow Fever, the Epidemic that Shaped Our History27 reviews Molly Caldwell Crosby Berkley Hardcover, 2006 Good Bio! + things you never knew...and never thought were related to yellow fever + Nice narrative + Yellow Fever is scary!             Breach of Faith: Hurricane Katrina and the Near Death of a Great American City28 reviews Jed Horne Random House, 2006 New Orleans-comprehensive coverage + A Lesson About America + Brilliant, Thorough, Unbiased, and Engaging This book is a smashing account of the disaster in New Orleans. In spite of being "just another" account, it's a real life, gripping drama that you cannot put down. So readable, the drama unfolds with people and circumstances that are unbelievable to the rest of us who could only find facts from ...             Madness and Civilization: A History of Insanity in the Age of Reason19 reviews Michel Foucault Vintage, 1988 A Great Choice for the First-Time Foucault Reader + "Imagination is not madness." + Defining madness is a subjective thing... + exorcised mental clutter and fantasy that deluded my mind!             Finding Darwin's God: A Scientist's Search for Common Ground Between God and Evolution (P.S.)125 reviews Kenneth R. Miller Harper Perennial, 2007 An evolution book for the religious + Much useful material, but too much religion + Two books in one + Informative, Important but Somewhat Lacking + 5 stars for sheer poetry             The Scents of Eden: A History of the Spice Trade13 reviews Charles Corn Kodansha America, 1999 He who is Lord of Malacca has Venice by the Throat + Fills in knowledge gap Thus goes the old saying which aptly summarised the politics and economics of the renaissance spice trade. Charles Corn's splendid narrative of the spice trade seeks to explain the forces which inspired Western Europeans to commit acts of bravery and madness in pursuit of nutmeg, cinnamon, cloves ...             The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and the Making of the Oxford English Dictionary ...412 reviews Simon Winchester Harper Perennial, 2005 the madness of scholarship + Supplement, Addendum, Prequel, Sequel, Corollary + Three-and-a-half stars, really. + Psychological thriller that can't be put down + A fun, informative piece of history             The Cigarette Century: The Rise, Fall, and Deadly Persistence of the Product That Defined America15 reviews Allan M. Brandt Basic Books, 2007 An Ominous Precursor + history of the cigarette in america + For smokers + Excellent and Thorough survey             Before the Dawn: Recovering the Lost History of Our Ancestors81 reviews Nicholas Wade Penguin, 2007 Simply the Best Survey of Human Prehistory for the Layman + Very Interesting Read. + Great Book + Ammo for conservatives + Engrossing             Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies1075 reviews Jared Diamond W. W. Norton, 2005 A profound and lasting classic + History; It's What's for Dinner + Fascinating! + Great subject and treatment - shakey science             The Great Influenza: The story of the deadliest pandemic in history177 reviews John M. Barry Penguin Books, 2005 Terrifying + Great history of medicine and the early 20th Century + A Hot Read + The Great Influenza + informative but "wordy"