Non-Fiction Reads By Era Trivia Quiz

Answer: 17th Century

"The Weaker Vessel" was published in 1984 and was written by Antonia Fraser. Its full title of "The Weaker Vessel: Woman's Lot In Seventeenth-Century England" describes the idea. Fraser shows how women were thought of as physically and mentally weaker than men, yet ran households, businesses, and family life in difficult times. She covers female roles from royalty to milkmaids.

Fraser goes on to show how women were made a weaker vessel due to the limitations placed on them by law, religion, and society as a whole in England during that time period. Her various antecdotes also show when some women pushed back and found freedom from these restrictions.

Answer: 17th Century

Timothy Brook wrote "Vermeer's Hat: The Seventeenth Century and the Dawn of the Global World" about global trade and exploration in the 1600's. Published in 2008, the book dives into this topic in a unique and interesting way. In each chapter, Brook takes a detail out of one of Johannes Vermeer's paintings and expands upon it. For example, he takes an image of a Dutch hat and explains how felt hats were made from beaver fur and how the demand for that fur impacted Indigenous people from the New World.

The book takes these ordinary objects and shows how the world, in that time frame, was becoming very connected through global trade. Brook also hits on culture and ecomomic policies.

This book was actually recommended to me by one of the docents at the Springfield History Museum in Massachusetts on a recent trip.

Answer: 17th Century

"The Devil in the Shape of a Woman: Witchcraft in Colonial New England", written by Carol F. Karlsen, was published in 1987. As the title and subtitle state, the book is about the witch trials and accusations that took place in the 1600's in the New England area. Karlsen explains why people were accused of this crime. The accused included elderly widows, wealthy landowners, and young girls. She writes about the "fits" these people had and the fear that spread throughout Massachusetts and Connecticut.

The book dives into the social tensions of the time, the strict society rules, and the governing religion that all helped fuel the fire. Karlsen uses many historical records to show various patterns behind these seemingly random acts.

I found this book fascinating as I reread it since I had recently returned from a trip to Salem and taken a tour of sites connected to the trials.

Answer: 18th century

"The Whiskey Rebellion", published in 2006, was written by William Hodgeland. As its full title and subtitle, "The Whiskey Rebellion: George Washington, Alexander Hamilton, and the Frontier Rebels Who Challenged America's Newfound Sovereignty", state, the book is about the 1790's uprising in Pennsylvania. The first federal tax imposed on a domestic product was done so to whiskey, and this did not sit well with the farmers who relied on whiskey, and its key component of grain, to earn money.

The book showcases how tensions then grew between those citizens and the brand new U.S. government. It explains how George Washington and leaders such as Hamilton (who saw the tax as a necessary means of economic growth) responded to the uprising. Hodgeland showed how this rebellion was an early test of the Constitution and national power.

Answer: 18th century

Many people have seen images of George Washington and his men crossing the Delaware River during Christmas of 1776. David Hackett Fischer wrote the book "Washington's Crossing" (published in 2004) about this pivotal act that occurred during the Revolutonary War. The book recounts how Washington boldly led his men across the river and attacked the exhausted Hessians. Fischer explains how this very risky move revived the struggling American cause at the onset of the lengthy war.

The book shows the reader that the crossing was not just a decision made on a whim or a stroke of luck. It highlights the planning and forethought that went into the move during some very harsh weather conditions. It also explains why it was important to the overall war effort and how subsequent battles benefited from it.

Answer: 18th century

Many ficitonal novels and films have been made about Thomas Jefferson and his relationship to Sally Hemings, a slave in his household. This nonficiton book, "The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family", published in 2008 and written by Annette Gordon-Reed, delves into the Hemings complex family dynamics. While focusing especially on Sally and her children, the book also explores her past (for instance, Sally's father was Jefferson's father-in-law) and her life at Jefferson's plantation.

The book also explains how various Hemings family members gained certain skills and responsibilities while enslaved by Jefferson. It also depicts how some eventually achieved their freedom. Even though Gordon-Reed focuses on this particular family, she also highlights the many nuances of slavery in colonial America.

I found this book very interesting, especially as I had recently written a quiz on a film about the subject called "Jefferson In Paris".

Answer: 19th century

"Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln" was written by Doris Kearns Goodwin and published in 2005. It tells the story of how Lincoln, after being newly elected in 1860, filled his cabinet with his former political rivals instead of close friends and allies. Some of the men were people who had even run against him!

Goodwin outlines how Lincoln managed this group of very strong personalities to help guide them all through the very turbulent times of the Civil War. Through the use of his wit, patience, skill, and (oftentimes) humor, Lincoln turned them from rivals to a cohesive team and even loyal friends.

My local book club was unanimous in their praise of this book--and many of the members were not even history fans.

Answer: 19th century

"The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America", as indicated by its full title and subtitle, is about the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. Written by Erik Larson and published in 2003, it follows two different narratives. The first is about an architect who works to design and build the project of his lifetime. The second one tracks H.H. Holmes who turned out to be a hideous serial killer.

The book does a masterful job outlining the Gilded Age as the reader learns about the marvelous inventions and art that were displayed at the fair. At the same time, it also outlines the workings of one of America's first serial killers and his "Murder Castle".

This book was very intriguing to me as I had previously written a quiz about the historical firsts at this particular world's fair.

Answer: 19th century

"Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee: An Indian History of the American West" was written by Dee Brown and published in 1970. Brown's book tells the story of Native American tribes in the 1800's. Interestingly, the book sees the events from the Indigenous people and not the settlers and lawmen. It covers the encroachment on their land, broken treaties, and eventual conflict.

The book builds toward the horrible events at the Wounded Knee massacre. This occurred in 1890 when the U.S. Army's 7th Cavalry killed 150-300 Lakota Sioux men, women, and children. Often heartbreaking, Brown's book gives a powerful look at this period of history in the American West. It has sold millions of copies and was also made into a movie.

Answer: 20th century

"The Guns of August" focuses on the first month of World War I. The book was written by Barbara W. Touchman and published in 1962. Starting with the funeral of King Edward VII of England, the book shows how Europe then quickly went from peace to full-scale war in 1914. It dives into the decisions made by different leaders (both political and military), including some of the misunderstandings that unfortunately were the basis of those thoughts.

After the plans were outlined, Touchman then chronicles, in great detail, the hours between August 1st and August 4th of 1914. The last section of the book covers three of the battle fronts including the sea front, the Western front, and the Eastern Prussian front. The book ties all of these elements together into a destiny that would create "the war to end all wars".

Answer: 20th century

"Night", by Elie Wiesel, is a memoir about his experiences as a teenager during the Holocaust. Published in 1956 (originally in Yiddish), it focuses on his deportation to Auschwitz in 1944, his time in the concentration camps (Auschwitz-Birkenau and Buchenwald), and his liberation in April 1945. Heartbreakingly, he describes being taken from his home and the time at the camps where he faced extreme hardship, loss, and unbelievable fear.

The book, spoken from the heart by Wiesel, is a detailed account of the camp and how these horrible experiences affected not only his faith but his whole view of humanity. In later releases, Elie penned a preface that spoke about the importance of not forgetting the Holocaust and the horror that man can inflict upon man.

Answer: 20th century

"The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks", by Rebecca Skloot and published in 2010, tells the story of Henrietta Lacks, a poor African-American woman whose cancer cells were taken without her permission in 1951. A sample of her cancer cells retrieved during a biopsy was taken and put in a lab with other people's samples. To the shock of scientists, it was discovered those cells did not die but kept growing and dividing. Nicknamed "HeLa" cells, from the first two letters of her first and last names, they were used to study the effects of toxins, drugs, hormones and viruses on the growth of cancer cells without experimenting on humans.

The book covers this scientific discovery at the same time as following Henrietta's family who learned about this process well after Henrietta's death. The family spent years struggling with poverty and, ironically, lack of health care. The book brings up questions about ethics, medical consent, and the pros and cons of research.