Round the List

Spanning history, biography, true crime, popular science and even sports writing, microhistories focus on single events and themes as well as groups of fascinating - and oft-neglected - real-life figures. The genre came into being in the mid-1970s and scored some early classics in The Cheese and the Worms and The Return of Martin Guerre. But it was the global success and acclaim of Dava Sobel’s Longitude in 1995 that saw the genre enter a glorious renaissance. So from the history of cod to the birth of the FBI, here are 40 of the best microhistories.   Longitude - Dava Sobel (1995) Cod - Mark Kurlansky (1997) Fermat’s Last Theorem - Simon Singh (1997) The Surgeon of Crowthorne - Simon Winchester (1998) Nathaniel’s Nutmeg - Giles Milton (1999) Seabiscuit - Laura Hillenbrand (1999) Mauve - Simon Garfield (2000) In the Heart of the Sea - Nathaniel Philbrick (2000) Brunelleschi’s Dome - Ross King (2000) Batavia’s Graveyard - Mike Dash (2001) The Lunar Men - Jenny Uglow (2002) The Devil...

The final part of the countdown of alternative album titans salutes the undeniable masterpieces of the form. Part One:  http://roundthelist.blogspot.com/2021/06/my-little-underground-30-essential.html?m=1 Part Two:  http://roundthelist.blogspot.com/2021/07/my-little-underground-30-essential.html?m=1 10 TALKING HEADS Remain in Light (1980) If you had to choose one word to describe Talking Heads’ astonishing Remain in Light it would be hyperactive. From the first second to the last, the plethora of ideas, both musical and lyrical, that pours out of every beat is dizzying and dazzling in equal measure. Never a band to stand still stylistically, David Byrne’s New Wave innovators took a giant leap forward by introducing techniques and motifs from Afrobeat into their eccentric melange of post-punk art rock and linguistic Dada. Making electrifying use of dense polyrhythms to generate a relentless energy and skittish unpredictability, Born Under Punches (The Heat Goes On), the me...