New history books from last month in the UK, published in hardback. Something for everyone this time: witches, WW1, orchids, death and tequila!
A couple that I have my eye on are:
- When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors, by Paula Akpan. I'm always on the lookout for accessible histories of African countries, kingdoms or regions, given that there are relatively few blockbuster African histories published in the UK. This one is definitely looks worth a look.
- Tequila Wars: Josรฉ Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico, by Ted Genoways. Having been to the Jose Cuervo tequila factory1 in Mexico without giving the man himself a second thought, I'm intrigued to learn a bit more.
Click the book covers to see a zoomed in image and links to Amazon if you like to buy your books there.
The full list:
- ๐ The Buried City: Unearthing the Real Pompeii
- ๐ How to Kill a Witch: A Guide for the Patriarchy
- ๐ Thomas More: A Life
- ๐ Peak Human: What We Can Learn from History's Greatest Civilizations
- ๐ No Ordinary Deaths: A People's History of Mortality
- ๐ Horace: Poet on a Volcano
- ๐ Strangers and Intimates: The Rise and Fall of Private Life
- ๐ Prehistoric London: The Capital Before the Romans
- ๐ Ring of Fire: A New Global History of the Outbreak of the First World War
- ๐ The British Imagination: A History of Ideas from Elizabeth I to Elizabeth II
- ๐ When We Ruled: The Rise and Fall of Twelve African Queens and Warriors
- ๐ The Lost Orchid: A Story of Victorian Plunder and Obsession
- ๐ Conquering the North: China, Russia, Mongolia: 2,000 Years of Conflict
- ๐ Tequila Wars: Josรฉ Cuervo and the Bloody Struggle for the Spirit of Mexico
The Jose Cuervo tequila factory tour was a fun experience and recommended. I also remember an enormous mango tree in the square outside the factory with a bench underneath on which were seated a handful of old men passing the time of day. The mangos were large and ripe, and every now and then they would fall to the ground with a massive thump. The old men were completely unfazed even though I think a direct hit would have been fatal. โฉ๏ธ
