Doomsday Book

The Doomsday Book is an early entry in Connie Willis’s body of work of history-based science fiction, and it is a gem.  Published in 1993 it won both the Hugo and the Nebula awards.  This time Willis takes our time-traveling historians back to the time of the Black Plague in 14th century England.  The principal character is a young woman who inadvertently lands in the wrong decade and is forced to deal with life, love, and death all around her.  A parallel story line narrates the difficulties her modern day peers have in trying to rescue her, while dealing with a pandemic and politics in the mid-twenty-first century.


This is a strong, character-driven story that draws you in and makes you care about the players down to the satisfying conclusion.  It also offers an informed peak at life in the 14th century.  Willis’s research is meticulous and thorough.  She brings a bygone era to life.   This is a book that will make you ponder and wonder  long after you finish reading it.  

Local and regional history encyclopedias

Last post I showed you a link to my latest article in the online Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.  That got me thinking about what kinds of similar resources are out there for other areas, where my friends and family live. Each varies in its approach to local history and culture, but they all are interesting and useful resources.

So, here’s my list:


Encyclopedia of Chicago
The Illinois History Resource Page
Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture
The Handbook of Texas Online