"Norm Coady writes history for people who take history so seriously, they read it for fun." - Tamim Ansary, author of The Invention of Yesterday
"Fun a well as informative, this is a book that is arresting and thoughtful. Read it." Jeremy Black, author of The Geographies of War
Learn how seashells led to the first global conflict... Discover how a piece of chalk laid the groundwork for totalitarianism... Follow an umbrella’s journey from sunny Munich to rainy Dallas...
A combination of humor and history, Props goes deep into the whys of history and the hows of power. As a bonus, Coady tells stories from the classroom, including the time a hot coffee was smacked out of his hand and he had to scramble to keep his job.
From the Introduction
Welcome. You have found your seat in the theater of history. You have elected to break away from our busy world, the one that produces information like confetti and offers endorphins in place of enlightenment. Congratulations.
From Chapter 2: Diadem
Then Caesar goes and does something really, really dumb. Just idiotic. He pardons his enemies. In Latin, these pardons are called Clementia, which sounds like a venereal disease and in Caesar’s case, it kind of is.
From Chapter 1: Paper Cup
Nia Evans is swinging a globe wildly with one hand while ripping another girl's hair out with the other. She might bash this girl's head in with Planet Earth, the kind of fun fact that turns a routine school beating into national news: TEEN HOSPITALIZED BY WORLD BEATER
From Chapter 7: Chalk
Lenin has forbidden smoking outside the toilet stall. Only now, smokers are dominating the stall. Other might be working on a #2, and as you know, anyone working is given priority in a Marxist world.
Norm Coady has taught high school history in Brooklyn NY, Western Massachusetts, Morocco and India. As a boots-on-the-ground classroom teacher, he does his best to shape young minds by teaching stuff he barely understands. He is dedicated to his Royal Enfield, the Boston Red Sox and, most of all, his family.
