In 1876: Bananas & Custer
The whole of 1876 in one book
In 1876 the first telephone call was made, but the old world was fighting back. The noble savage, in the shape of the Sioux and Cheyenne Indians, defeated the 7th Cavalry and massacred General Custer and his men. Now phones are everywhere and “Indians” are mostly only found on their reservations.
But where do bananas fit in? Check the blog post or read the eBook “In 1876: Bananas & Custer”
There are at least 366 stories in 1876 .. it was a leap year after all. “In 1876: Bananas & Custer” tells many of those stories. Somewhere between Radio 4’s “In Our Time”, an episode of “QI” and “The Straight Dope” from the Chicago Reader.
Battle of the Little Bighorn
Invention of the Telephone
Bulgarian Atrocities
2nd Impressionist Exhibition
Molly Maguires
Centennial Exposition
Deadwood
Anna Karenina
Battle of the Little Bighorn Invention of the Telephone Bulgarian Atrocities 2nd Impressionist Exhibition Molly Maguires Centennial Exposition Deadwood Anna Karenina
Review from “All About History Magazine” Issue 21 - January 2015 by Frances White
“In 1876: Bananas & Custer is a detailed and innovative record of the events occurring over one year in history, and yes, both General Cuter and bananas feature here.
True to the title the book features a mixture of earth-shattering events alongside curious and bizarre goings-on, which all took place during 1876. Diaries of years or even centuries in history have been published before but what is unique about this offering is the form it takes. Published exclusively for the iPad, this entire interactive book has been created with the medium firmly in mind. You are perfectly free to read it as you would an ordinary book , but that would deprive you of some of the most innovative and engaging aspects of the publication. You can choose whether you'd like to explore the year in order from the first day to the last, jump to the date of your choice or even choose to navigate by varied and entertaining selection of themes, ranging from 'Animal Kingdom' to 'Predictions' to 'Spot the Difference'.
Among the informative and often amusing retelling of the days' events there are little goodies littered about, such as the occasional pop quiz, maps, images and even handy links to other related articles in the book, so you can easily follow one single story through the year. Almost every entry is backed up with extracts from newspapers and books from the period, adding a factual basis to the entertaining prose.
Because of the staggering size and depth of this book, it's unlikely to be something you read from metaphorical cover to back in one sitting, but what it does provide is an engaging way to fully immerse yourself in the events that defined 1876. The best thing about this book is that there is no 'proper' way to read it; instead it puts the knowledge and the information in the hands of the reader to do with as we see fit.”
Other Reviews
"Found this way of presenting history really interesting and fun to read. I love the way it uses iBooks for picture galleries, moving maps, music and stuff that turn the book into something more than just a straight 'read'. A day by day look at a year when so much was going on, it tells stories that are funny, sad, chilling, heartwarming and heartbreaking, as well as being full of I-never-knew-that moments. I found it very easy to read and not at all 'dry history'." -- Mary in UK review at iBookstore
"I expected a book all about General Custer; however it is so much more than that: informative, witty, interesting, well written and superbly researched. The artwork and illustrations are excellent. This is my first iBook and even my Mum was impressed when I showed it to her. Great book." -- Chinarockman review at iBookstore
In 1876, a pivotal year
The United States celebrated being 100 years old. Alec Bell (now often called Alexander Graham Bell) made the first telephone call with the sound waves of his voice causing vibrations that were transmitted to his equally interesting assistant, Thomas Watson, down a wire; it was almost called a vibraphone.
There were atrocities in war (Bulgaria and the Balkans); there was devastation in the aftermath of a cyclone in the Bay of Bengal, and the world population hit one and a third billion. We have added another seven billion since then. 100,000 years to get your first billion; our next billion from now might take 15 years.
Books called by the name of the hero were popular: "Daniel Deronda"; "Michael Strogoff"; "Hand of Ethelberta"; "Harold"; "Anna Karenina"; " The Adventures of Tom Sawyer". Classical composers were booming: Brahms, Liszt and Tchaikovsky; and Richard Wagner premiered his four-day long Ring Cycle. This was the year that the Impressionists held their 2nd exhibition though then they were better known as "Intransigents" than "Impressionists".
Renoir painted “Bal du moulin de la galette” in 1876. There were art exhibitions in London, Paris, Moscow, St Petersburg & Brighton
The Ottoman Empire was the sick man of Europe, infectious enough for war in the Balkans. They managed to cram in three Sultans in this one year.