The best History Books to know our civilization better
Have you always thought about understanding your history a little better? Then continue to read on because now is the time.
Marriage, a History by Stephanie Coontz
This book brings forth the origin of marriage by our cave-dweller forefathers. It covers the timeline from Stone Age marriages to modern day marriages.
Did you know earlier marriage was a way of establishing good relations in the society? Did you wives were called peace weavers in history? Do you know that love marriage is a relatively new-age concept? All the marriages that were performed in history had nothing to do with love? In history people were conditioned to believe that love is reserved only for families, Gods, and neighbours. Because of which people didn’t even think about getting involved in romantic love.
In history, people’s only aim was to search for food. And since there was no government, no decorum, they used to fight over food all the time. In order to overcome this problem, they invented marriage. Marriage acted as a way to establish peace between two enemies. Now you understand why wives were called peace weavers in history?
It was in the Victorian age (the middle of the 18th century and in the beginning of the 19th century) that people started understanding the concept of romantic love. But the physical satisfaction in a marriage was not acceptable. Women were allowed to not even think about sexual desires while men were considered lustful beings but were still asked to control their sexual desires. As a consequence, prostitution increased drastically.
Then came the Post World War 2 era or popularly known as the Golden Age of marriage when people as young as 19 decided to get married. The rule of patriarchy grew dramatically in this era. Men were considered superior as they were breadwinners and women were mere homemakers therefore treated as inferior. Unmarried people above the age of 21 dread that they will end up being single and hopeless.
But now the course of marriage has changed completely. Modern marriages work on mutual respect and equal status. Now the lines defining the gender roles are getting blurred. Men and women have both become the breadwinners of the family. In many countries, both men and women contribute towards household chores and expenses.
If you want to research more about the earlier marriages, then you can read the book summaries from the top book summary app.
His Truth is Marching on by John Lewis & Jon Meacham,
This book covers the life story of former American politician and civil rights activist John Lewis. Though he came from a poor family in Alabama, he never took advantage of his position and power. Rather he dedicated his entire life to serve justice.
John Lewis was an African American who very early in life understood the discrimation faced by African Americans. He was highly inspired by a speech delivered by Martin Luther King Jr. about fairness, integrity and equality and decided to follow his footsteps. He gradually became an avid preacher of non-violence and started bringing this practice into application. Once he participated in a ‘Freedom Ride’ that was organized to prove to the government that interstate transportation services should not be discontinued. On the way, some white people hit him very cruelly but since John Lewis was a preacher of non-violence, he didn’t press any charges. He didn’t give up and continued the next day as well. Since these protests were infuriating more and more people, John Lewis and all other protestors were offered national security by then president John F. Kennedy. He also delivered a speech at the White House. His journey of bettering the nation and providing justice began from there on. His unshakeable faith in the power of non-violence, God and humanity made him
An advocate of the civil rights movement.
If you want to learn more about the civil rights movement, then you can read the book summaries from the top book summary app.
This book consists of various stories on human desires and lengths a human can go in order to fulfil those desires. People’s desire to own unique objects has always been on the rise which has always ended in a downfall.
Let’s dive into the first story mentioned in the book. In 1969, Richard Burton gifted his wife Elizabeth Taylor a La Peregrina, a white pear-shaped pearl which became a medium of rivalry between her sister and her and later resulted in a full-fledged war.
If you want to know more about these stories, you can read book summaries on the RollingSlate website. The author’s profound research on purchasers and their mindset forms the gist of this book. He also explains how scarcity in the pearl market can immediately change the perception of buyers, eventually increasing its price.
