"Just One Thing": Microhistory Books and Beyond

By Walden Pond Books

By Walden Pond Books

"Just One Thing": Microhistory Books and Beyond

Gathered here are nonfiction books, popularly referred to as "microhistories", that you'll find shelved in bookstores and libraries in a multitude of different categories: history, science, biography, natural history, fashion, psychology, anthropology, sociology, technology. . .

 

What they all have in common is that they focus with an intense concentration on a single subject - on "just one thing". And, in doing so, these books cast a uniquely revealing and stimulating light on the culture, milieu, or era surrounding that subject. Subjects obsessed on range from beer to butter, from cadavers to corsets, from fonts to fur, from gems to ghosts, from paper to pirates, from rabies to rust, from testosterone to trees. . .

 

No matter what your favorite obsession, you'll most likely find an author on this list of rich curiosities who got there first!

  • Please note that this list is not organized or ranked in any order - though books that must be back-ordered or pre-ordered tend to be at the bottom of the list.

Oak: The Frame of Civilization

William Bryant Logan

$15.95
$14.67

Skeleton Keys: The Secret Life of Bone

Riley Black (Brian Switek)

$16.00
$14.72

The Pencil: A History of Design and Circumstance

Henry Petroski

$23.00

The Sweetness of Venus: A History of the Clitoris

Sarah Chadwick

$21.95

Extra Virginity: The Sublime and Scandalous World of Olive Oil

Tom Mueller

$16.95
$15.59

Sugar: The World Corrupted: From Slavery to Obesity

James Walvin

$17.95
$16.51

Dress Codes: How the Laws of Fashion Made History

Richard Thompson Ford

$30.00
$27.60

Eager: The Surprising, Secret Life of Beavers and Why They...

Ben Goldfarb

$17.95
$16.51

Milk!: A 10,000-Year Food Fracas

Mark Kurlansky

$19.00
$17.48

The Remarkable Life of the Skin: An Intimate Journey Across...

Monty Lyman

$27.00
$24.84

Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World

Simon Winchester

$29.99
$27.59

Birth: The Surprising History of How We Are Born

Tina Cassidy

$14.00
$12.88

Breath: The New Science of a Lost Art

James Nestor

$28.00
$25.76

The Book of Eels: Our Enduring Fascination with the Most...

Patrik Svensson

$28.99
$26.67

The Language of Butterflies: How Thieves, Hoarders,...

Wendy Williams

$26.00
$23.92

The Golden Thread: How Fabric Changed History

Kassia St Clair

$23.95
$22.03

The Secret Life of Groceries: The Dark Miracle of the...

Benjamin Lorr

$27.00
$24.84

Zero: The Biography of a Dangerous Idea

Charles Seife

$18.00
$16.56

Chile Peppers: A Global History

Dave DeWitt

$29.95
$27.55

Smoke Signals: A Social History of Marijuana - Medical,...

Martin A. Lee

$22.00
$20.24

In Defense of Looting: A Riotous History of Uncivil Action

Vicky Osterweil

$28.00
$25.76

On the Chocolate Trail: A Delicious Adventure Connecting...

Deborah Prinz

$18.99
$17.47

Calendar:: Humanity's Epic Struggle to Determine a True and...

David Ewing Duncan

$13.50

The Night Battles: Witchcraft and Agrarian Cults in the...

Carlo Ginzburg

$25.95

Clutter: An Untidy History

Jennifer Howard

$26.00
$23.92

The Wave: In Pursuit of the Rogues, Freaks, and Giants of the...

Susan Casey

$16.95
$15.59

Boom and Bust: A Global History of Financial Bubbles

William Quinn and John D. Turner

$24.95
$22.95

Black: The History of a Color

Michel Pastoureau

$35.00
$32.20

The Oxford History of the Prison: The Practice of Punishment...

Noval Morris

$29.99

Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the...

Timothy Brook

$18.00
$16.56

The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water

Charles Fishman

$18.00
$16.56

Work: A Deep History, from the Stone Age to the Age of Robots

James Suzman

$30.00
$27.60

Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black...

Candacy Taylor

$35.00
$32.20

Buzz: The Nature and Necessity of Bees

Thor Hanson

$16.99
$15.63

Animal, Vegetable, Junk: A History of Food, from Sustainable...

Mark Bittman

$28.00
$25.76

Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution

Caroline Weber

$27.00
$24.84

The Gun

C J Chivers

$18.99
$17.47

The Mushroom Hunters: On the Trail of an Underground America

Langdon Cook

$26.00
$23.92

The Geography of Genius: Lessons from the World's Most...

Eric Weiner

$18.00
$16.56

Food Routes: Growing Bananas in Iceland and Other Tales from...

Robyn Metcalfe

$16.95
$15.59

Corsets and Codpieces: A History of Outrageous Fashion, from...

Karen Bowman

$16.99

The Library Book

Susan Orlean

$16.99
$15.63

Twisted: The Tangled History of Black Hair Culture

Emma Dabiri

$16.99
$15.63

Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World

Dan Koeppel

$17.00
$15.64

Salt: A World History

Mark Kurlansky

$19.00
$17.48

Caste (Oprah's Book Club): The Origins of Our Discontents

Isabel Wilkerson

$32.00
$29.44

Creamy & Crunchy: An Informal History of Peanut Butter, the...

Jon Krampner

$19.95
$18.35

The Return of Martin Guerre

Natalie Zemon Davis

$29.00

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks

Rebecca Skloot

$17.00
$15.64

Cork Dork: A Wine-Fueled Adventure Among the Obsessive...

Bianca Bosker

$18.00
$16.56

Testosterone: An Unauthorized Biography

Rebecca M. Jordan-Young and Katrina Karkazis

$29.95
$27.55

Vanilla: A Global History

Rosa Abreu-Runkel

$19.95
$18.35

Rabid: A Cultural History of the World's Most Diabolical Virus

Monica Murphy and Bill Wasik

$17.00
$15.64

The Corseted Skeleton: A Bioarchaeology of Binding

Rebecca Gibson

$29.99
$27.59

Darkness: A Cultural History

Nina Edwards

$27.50
$25.30

One Good Turn: A Natural History of the Screwdriver and the...

Witold Rybczynski

$14.00

The Great Cat Massacre: And Other Episodes in French Cultural...

Robert Darnton

$18.99

The Book of the Sword: With 293 Illustrations (Revised)

Sir Richard F. Burton

$15.95
$14.67

The Dictionary Wars: The American Fight Over the English...

Peter Martin

$19.95
$18.35

Proof: The Science of Booze

Adam Rogers

$15.95
$14.67

Pickled, Potted, and Canned: How the Art and Science of Food...

Sue Shephard

$22.99

The Mosquito: A Human History of Our Deadliest Predator

Timothy C. Winegard

$18.00
$16.56

The Nothing That Is: A Natural History of Zero

Robert Kaplan and Ellen Kaplan

$14.99
$13.79

The Poisoner's Handbook: Murder and the Birth of Forensic...

Deborah Blum

$18.00
$16.56

The World in a Grain: The Story of Sand and How It...

Vince Beiser

$17.00
$15.64

The White Road: Journey Into an Obsession

Edmund de Waal

$20.00
$18.40

Milk of Paradise: A History of Opium

Lucy Inglis

$28.95
$26.63

Opium: How an Ancient Flower Shaped and Poisoned Our World

David Blistein and John H. Halpern

$15.99
$14.71

Guillotine: Its Legend and Lore

Daniel Gerould

$14.95
$13.75

The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal about...

Deirdre Mask

$26.99
$24.83

Spirals in Time: The Secret Life and Curious Afterlife of...

Helen Scales

$17.00
$15.64

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes: And Other Lessons from the Crematory

Caitlin Doughty

$15.95
$14.67

The Polymath: A Cultural History from Leonardo Da Vinci to...

Peter Burke

$30.00
$27.60

Salmon: A Fish, the Earth, and the History of Their Common Fate

Mark Kurlansky

$30.00
$27.60

Wanderlust: A History of Walking

Rebecca Solnit

$20.00
$18.40

The Widow Clicquot: The Story of a Champagne Empire and the...

Tilar J. Mazzeo

$16.99
$15.63

The Gene: An Intimate History

Siddhartha Mukherjee

$20.00
$18.40

Tree: A Life Story

David Suzuki and Wayne Grady

$16.95
$15.59

The Emperor of All Maladies: A Biography of Cancer

Siddhartha Mukherjee

$20.00
$18.40

The Soul of an Octopus: A Surprising Exploration Into the...

Sy Montgomery

$16.99
$15.63

Why We Swim

Bonnie Tsui

$26.95
$24.79

Debt, Updated and Expanded: The First 5,000 Years

David Graeber

$22.99
$21.15

The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on...

Sonia Shah

$28.00
$25.76

A Furious Sky: The Five-Hundred-Year History of America's...

Eric Jay Dolin

$29.95
$27.55

Quackery: A Brief History of the Worst Ways to Cure Everything

Nate Pedersen and Lydia Kang

$22.95
$21.11

A History of the World in 6 Glasses

Tom Standage

$18.00
$16.56

The Omnivore's Dilemma: A Natural History of Four Meals

Michael Pollan

$18.00
$16.56

The Perfectionists: How Precision Engineers Created the...

Simon Winchester

$17.99
$16.55

Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers

Mary Roach

$16.95
$15.59

An Edible History of Humanity

Tom Standage

$18.00
$16.56

The Professor and the Madman: A Tale of Murder, Insanity, and...

Simon Winchester

$16.99
$15.63

Locust: The Devastating Rise and Mysterious Disappearance of...

Jeffrey A. Lockwood

$21.59

The Disappearing Spoon: And Other True Tales of Madness,...

Sam Kean

$17.99
$16.55

At Home: A Short History of Private Life

Bill Bryson

$17.00
$15.64

Stuff Matters: Exploring the Marvelous Materials That Shape...

Mark Miodownik

$15.95
$14.67

Black Flags, Blue Waters: The Epic History of America's Most...

Eric Jay Dolin

$18.95
$17.43

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Stephen Greenblatt

$16.95
$15.59

Sugar Changed the World: A Story of Magic, Spice, Slavery,...

Marc Aronson and Marina Budhos

$12.99
$11.95

Packing for Mars: The Curious Science of Life in the Void

Mary Roach

$15.95
$14.67

The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to...

Simon Singh

$17.00
$15.64

The Orchid Thief

Susan Orlean

$17.00
$15.64

Heaven's Ditch: God, Gold, and Murder on the Erie Canal

Jack Kelly

$17.99

Mauve: How One Man Invented a Color That Changed the World

Simon Garfield

$18.95

Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife

Mary Roach

$16.95
$15.59

Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the...

Dava Sobel

$16.00
$14.72

The Box: How the Shipping Container Made the World Smaller...

Marc Levinson

$19.95
$18.35

One Day: The Extraordinary Story of an Ordinary 24 Hours in...

Gene Weingarten

$17.00
$15.64

Stoned: Jewelry, Obsession, and How Desire Shapes the World

Aja Raden

$16.99
$15.63

Empire of Cotton: A Global History

Sven Beckert

$18.00
$16.56

Bonk: The Curious Coupling of Science and Sex

Mary Roach

$16.95
$15.59

Gulp: Adventures on the Alimentary Canal

Mary Roach

$15.95
$14.67

Cod: A Biography of the Fish That Changed the World

Mark Kurlansky

$17.00
$15.64

Color: A Natural History of the Palette

Victoria Finlay

$18.00
$16.56

Losers: Dispatches from the Other Side of the Scoreboard

$17.00
$15.64

Grunt: The Curious Science of Humans at War

Mary Roach

$15.95
$14.67

Uncommon Grounds: The History of Coffee and How It...

Mark Pendergrast

$24.99
$22.99

God's Secretaries

Adam Nicolson

$17.99

Liquid Rules: The Delightful and Dangerous Substances That...

Mark Miodownik

$15.99
$14.71

Face Paint: The Story of Makeup

Lisa Eldridge

$29.95
$27.55

The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth...

Simon Winchester

$14.99
$13.79

Cannibalism: A Perfectly Natural History

Bill Schutt

$16.95
$15.59

The Simpsons and Their Mathematical Secrets

Simon Singh

$18.00
$16.56

Semicolon: The Past, Present, and Future of a Misunderstood Mark

Cecelia Watson

$19.99
$18.39

Why We Love Pirates: The Hunt for Captain Kidd and How He...

Rebecca Simon

$18.95
$17.43

The Big Oyster: History on the Half Shell

Mark Kurlansky

$18.00
$16.56

Acid Dreams: The Complete Social History of LSD: The CIA, the...

Martin A. Lee and Bruce Shlain

$16.00
$14.72

Nine Pints: A Journey Through the Money, Medicine, and...

Rose George

$18.00
$16.56

The Comic Book Story of Beer: The World's Favorite Beverage...

Aaron McConnell, Mike Smith, et al.

$18.99
$17.47

If Walls Could Talk: An Intimate History of the Home

Lucy Worsley

$18.00
$16.56

Paper: Paging Through History

Mark Kurlansky

$16.95
$15.59

The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric...

Simon Winchester

$17.99
$16.55

Heart: A History

Sandeep Jauhar

$18.00
$16.56

Butter: A Rich History

Elaine Khosrova

$16.95
$15.59

Underground: A Human History of the Worlds Beneath Our Feet

Will Hunt

$18.00
$16.56

Smells: A Cultural History of Odours in Early Modern Times

Robert Muchembled

$24.95
$22.95

Cars: A Complete History

Simon Heptinstall

$19.95
$18.35

A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color...

Amy Butler Greenfield

$15.99
$14.71

Drink: A Cultural History of Alcohol

Iain Gately

$22.00

Bunk: The Rise of Hoaxes, Humbug, Plagiarists, Phonies,...

Kevin Young

$18.00
$16.56

Fermat's Enigma: The Epic Quest to Solve the World's Greatest...

Simon Singh

$16.95
$15.59

The Devil's Cup: A History of the World According to Coffee:...

Stewart Lee Allen

$17.00
$15.64

Plucked: A History of Hair Removal

Rebecca M. Herzig

$22.00

Coal: A Human History

Barbara Freese

$19.99

The Cheese and the Worms: The Cosmos of a Sixteenth-Century...

Carlo Ginzburg

$25.95

Buzz: The Stimulating History of the Sex Toy

Hallie Lieberman

$16.95
$15.59

The Fever: How Malaria Has Ruled Humankind for 500,000 Years

Sonia Shah

$22.80

The Founding Fish

John McPhee

$18.00
$16.56

Rust: The Longest War

Jonathan Waldman

$16.00
$14.72

Nathaniel's Nutmeg: Or, the True and Incredible Adventures of...

Giles Milton

$21.00
$19.32

Champagne: How the World's Most Glamorous Wine Triumphed Over...

Don Kladstrup and Petie Kladstrup

$15.99
$14.71

Red: A History of the Redhead

Jacky Colliss Harvey

$28.00
$25.76

The Pattern in the Carpet: A Personal History with Jigsaws

Margaret Drabble

$19.98

Stuff: Compulsive Hoarding and the Meaning of Things

Gail Steketee and Randy Frost

$16.99
$15.63

On Assassinations

Kenneth Baker

$30.00
$27.60

Tobacco: A Cultural History of How an Exotic Plant Seduced...

Iain Gately

$20.00
$18.40

Tulipomania: The Story of the World's Most Coveted Flower &...

Mike Dash

$15.00
$13.80

A History of Tea: The Life and Times of the World's Favorite...

Laura C. Martin

$14.99
$13.79

Scurvy: How a Surgeon, a Mariner, and a Gentlemen Solved the...

Stephen R. Brown

$21.99
$20.23

Seeds of Change: Six Plants That Transformed Mankind

Henry Hobhouse

$19.95
$18.35

Marriage, a History: How Love Conquered Marriage

Stephanie Coontz

$19.00
$17.48

Holy Sh*t: A Brief History of Swearing

Melissa Mohr

$15.95
$14.67

The Brewer's Tale: A History of the World According to Beer

William Bostwick

$16.95
$15.59

The Dirt on Clean: An Unsanitized History

Katherine Ashenburg

$20.00
$18.40

Bourbon Empire: The Past and Future of America's Whiskey

Reid Mitenbuler

$18.00
$16.56

Blood: An Epic History of Medicine and Commerce

Douglas Starr

$18.98

A History of the Wife

Marilyn Yalom

$15.99

Labor of Love: The Invention of Dating

Moira Weigel

$16.00
$14.72

Fur, Fortune, and Empire: The Epic History of the Fur Trade...

Eric Jay Dolin

$18.95
$17.43

The Season: A Social History of the Debutante

Kristen Richardson

$17.95
$16.51

The Secret Life of Dust: From the Cosmos to the Kitchen...

Hannah Holmes

$16.95
$15.59

Speed Tribes: Days and Night's with Japan's Next Generation

Karl Taro Greenfeld

$16.98
$15.62

The Secret Life of Puppets

Victoria Nelson

$31.00

The Potato: How the Humble Spud Rescued the Western World

Larry Zuckerman

$23.00
$21.16

The Secret Life of Tartan: How a Cloth Shaped a Nation

Vixy Rae

$39.95
$36.75

The Animal's Companion: People & Their Pets, a 26,000-Year...

Jacky Colliss Harvey

$27.99
$25.75

Inventing Wine: A New History of One of the World's Most...

Paul Lukacs

$16.95

Lift: Fitness Culture, from Naked Greeks and Acrobats to...

Daniel Kunitz

$15.99

Timekeepers: How the World Became Obsessed with Time (Main)

Simon Garfield

$16.00
$14.72

Consider the Fork: A History of How We Cook and Eat

Bee Wilson

$17.99
$16.55

Four Fish: The Future of the Last Wild Food

Paul Greenberg

$18.00
$16.56

Brilliance and Fire: A Biography of Diamonds

Rachelle Bergstein

$16.99

Falcon

Helen Macdonald

$19.20

Lesser Beasts: A Snout-To-Tail History of the Humble Pig

Mark Essig

$27.50

Rats: Observations on the History & Habitat of the City's...

Robert Sullivan

$18.00
$16.56

Photobooth: A Biography

Meags Fitzgerald

$20.00
$18.40

Just My Type: A Book about Fonts

Simon Garfield

$18.00
$16.56

The Cockroach Papers: A Compendium of History and Lore

Richard Schweid

$15.00

Cake: A Slice of History

Alysa Levene

$26.95

Rain: A Natural and Cultural History

Cynthia Barnett

$18.00

Poseidon's Steed: The Story of Seahorses, from Myth to Reality

Helen Scales

$15.00

In the Devil's Garden: A Sinful History of Forbidden Food

Stewart Lee Allen

$17.00

Please note that this list is not organized or ranked in any order - though books that must be back-ordered or pre-ordered tend to be at the bottom of the list.