Recommended Reading - Jeffrey Ford's Well-Built City

Occidentalism: The West in the Eyes of its Enemies by Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit

This "grandly illuminating study of two centuries of anti-Western ideas" (Foreign Affairs) traces the historical roots of a virulent set of stereotypes about Westerners and the West, a cluster of notions and prejudices that Ian Buruma and Avishai Margalit call Occidentalism. The path does not lead back to Islam but, in fact, back to the West itself. From nineteenth-century Germany and Russia to twentieth-century Japan, China, Southeast Asia, and the Middle East, Buruma and Margalit track the spread of these noxious ideas. Drawing on their formidable range and gift for synthesis to place modern terrorists in a long continuum of enemies of Western liberal society, Buruma and Margalit have written a book of extraordinary clarity and wide-ranging relevance.

The Life of Black Hawk Dictated By Himself

Upon its publication in 1833, this unflinching narrative by the vanquished Sauk leader Black Hawk was the first thoroughly adversarial account of frontier hostilities between white settlers and Native Americans. Black Hawk, a complex, contradictory figure, relates his life story and that of his people, who had been forced from western Illinois in what was known as the Black Hawk War. The first published account of a victim of the American war of extermination, this vivid portrait of Indian life stands as a tribute to the author and his extraordinary people, as well as an invaluable historical document.

The Travels of Sir John Mandeville

"The Travels of Sir John Mandeville" is a 14th century travel book that tells of Sir John Mandeville's real or imagined adventures in the East. Although questions remain about whether Mandeville actually existed or ever left England, "The Travels of Sir John Mandeville" provides a thorough compendium of medieval mythic lore which would be a great success throughout Europe for centuries to come. Mandeville's travel tales were similar in style to Marco Polo's, though history has judged the two men quite differently. Whereas Marco Polo has become a household word synonymous with bold explorations, Mandeville has been largely forgotten. This was not so during their lifetimes, when Mandeville was by far the more famous of the two. A copy of "The Travels of Sir John Mandeville"- but not Marco Polo - was in the possession of Leonardo da Vinci. Christopher Columbus, who fed his passion for distant travels on Mandeville's writings, was another famous reader. More telling, about 300 manuscripts (hand-written copies) of Mandeville survive, compared to only about 70 of Polo. Whether it is seen as a travel narrative or piece of imaginative (and brilliant) literature, "The Travels of Sir John Mandeville" was profoundly influential in its time. Long sections of the text describe places in relation to other places, such as the many routes out to and from Jerusalem, different ways to the Khan's court. Mandeville also describes the people he met of other religions. Mandeville was remarkably correct and impartial in his descriptions of the main tenets of Islam, Jacobite Christians, and Jews and how they differ from Catholicism. By far, Mandeville was one of the most tolerant Medieval minds, and his fascinating book is still well worth reading today.

1491 by Charles C. Mann

In this groundbreaking work of science, history, and archaeology, Charles C. Mann radically alters our understanding of the Americas before the arrival of Columbus in 1492.

Contrary to what so many Americans learn in school, the pre-Columbian Indians were not sparsely settled in a pristine wilderness; rather, there were huge numbers of Indians who actively molded and influenced the land around them. From the astonishing Aztec capital of Tenochtitlán, which had running water, immaculately clean streets, and was larger than any contemporary European city, to the Mexican corn that was so carefully created in a specialized breeding process that it has been called man’s first feat of genetic engineering, Indians were not living lightly on the land but were landscaping and manipulating their world in ways that we are only now beginning to understand. Challenging and surprising, this a transformative new look at a rich and fascinating world we only thought we knew.

The Rape of Nanking by Iris Chang

In December 1937, the Japanese army swept into the ancient city of Nanking. Within weeks, more than 300,000 Chinese civilians were systematically raped, tortured, and murdered--a death toll exceeding that of the atomic blasts of Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined. Using extensive interviews with survivors and newly discovered documents, Iris Chang has written what will surely be the definitive history of this horrifying episode. The Rape of Nanking tells the story from three perspectives: of the Japanese soldiers who performed it, of the Chinese civilians who endured it, and of a group of Europeans and Americans who refused to abandon the city and were able to create a safety zone that saved almost 300,000 Chinese. Among these was the Nazi John Rabe, an unlikely hero whom Chang calls the "Oskar Schindler of China" and who worked tirelessly to protect the innocent and publicize the horror. More than just narrating the details of an orgy of violence, The Rape of Nanking analyzes the militaristic culture that fostered in the Japanese soldiers a total disregard for human life. Finally, it tells the appalling story: about how the advent of the Cold War led to a concerted effort on the part of the West and even the Chinese to stifle open discussion of this atrocity. Indeed, Chang characterizes this conspiracy of silence, that persists to this day, as "a second rape."

The Conquest of New Spain by Bernal Diaz

Vivid, powerful and absorbing, this is a first-person account of one of the most startling military episodes in history: the overthrow of Montezuma's doomed Aztec Empire by the ruthless Hernan Cortes and his band of adventurers. Bernal Diaz del Castillo, himself a soldier under Cortes, presents a fascinatingly detailed description of the Spanish landing in Mexico in 1520 and their amazement at the city, the exploitation of the natives for gold and other treasures, the expulsion and flight of the Spaniards, their regrouping and eventual capture of the Aztec capital.

The Wordy Shipmates by Sarah Vowell

To this day, America views itself as a Puritan nation, but Sarah Vowell investigates what that means-and what it should mean. What she discovers is something far different from what their uptight shoebuckles- and-corn reputation might suggest-a highly literate, deeply principled, and surprisingly feisty people, whose story is filled with pamphlet feuds, witty courtroom dramas, and bloody vengeance.

Vowell takes us from the modern-day reenactment of an Indian massacre to the Mohegan Sun casino, from old-timey Puritan poetry, where "righteousness" is rhymed with "wilderness," to a Mayflower-themed waterslide. Throughout, The Wordy Shipmates is rich in historical fact, humorous insight, and social commentary by one of America's most celebrated voices.

Wonderful Adventures of Mrs. Seacole in Many Lands

Written in 1857, Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands is the autobiography of a Jamaican woman whose fame rivaled Florence Nightingale’s during the Crimean War. Seacole traveled widely before arriving in London, where her offer to volunteer as a nurse in the war was met with racism and refusal. Undaunted, she set out independently to the Crimea, where she acted as doctor and "mother" to wounded soldiers while running her business, the "British Hotel." Told with energy, warmth, and humor, her remarkable life story and accounts of hardships at the battlefront offer significant insights into the history of race politics.