What’s on the docket

A review of "The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America's Birds" by James H McCommons — Orange Blossom Ordinary Elizabeth Stice reviews "The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds" by James H. McCommons (St. Martin’s Press, 2026)

A review of “The Feather Wars: And the Great Crusade to Save America’s Birds” by James H. McCommons (St. Martin’s Press, 2026) @stmartinspress.bsky.social

www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/as-f...

A review of “Liberty as Independence: The Making and Unmaking of a Political Ideal” by Quentin Skinner (Cambridge University Press, 2025) www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/with...

C is for classics

A Burger and a Shake, Health Camp in Waco, TX — Orange Blossom Ordinary

Have you seen the new flâneur page? Fresh post today: a burger and a shake, Health Camp in Waco, TX

www.orangeblossomordinary.com/flaneur/a-bu...

A new book coming from Gosling Press soon. Malay States Guides
1896-1919 A History, this has an interesting section on the Singapore Mutiny to find out more sign up for our occasional newsletter buff.ly/4gBflSQ

We also highlight a robust selection of book reviews:

@drharryrichards.bsky.social on the Royal Navy's coastal defence, Oliver P. Rafferty SJ on Pope Benedict XV during the war, Gearóid Barry on urban life at the Western Front, and @estice.bsky.social on morale and Englishness in the trenches.

A review of "Windower" by Michael Loughran (Ohio State University Press, 2025) — Orange Blossom Ordinary A window onto grief: Elizabeth Stice reviews "Windower" by Michael Loughran.

Elizabeth Stice reviews “Windower” by Michael Loughran (Ohio State University Press, 2025) @ohiostatepress.bsky.social
www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/a-wi...

Who loves longer? A review of "Question 7" by Richard Flanagan (Knopf, 2024) — Orange Blossom Ordinary Grace Mackey reviews "Question 7" a new memoir by Richard Flanagan (Knopf, 2024). Walking from H.G. Wells to Hiroshima, Flanagan takes readers on a personal and historical journey that also engages Ch...

Grace Mackey reviews “Question 7” by Richard Flanagan (Knopf, 2024) www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/who-...

A review of "Mavericks" by Nick Higham (Bloomsbury, 2025) — Orange Blossom Ordinary A Boys' Own World War One Adventure. Elizabeth Stice reviews "Mavericks: Empire, Oil, Revolution and the Forgotten Battle of World War One" by Nick Higham (Bloomsbury, 2025). If you want to learn abou...

Elizabeth Stice reviews “Mavericks: Empire, Oil, Revolution and the Forgotten Battle of World War One” by Nick Higham (Bloomsbury, 2025)

www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/a-bo...

Shelf life

Florida Gothic

Gosling Press has just produced a volume with all 96 issue of peninsula Press, the newsheet produced during the Gallipoli Campaign. This is we believe the first time all issues have been available. For more information go to goslingpress.co.uk/peninsula-pr...

A review of "Marked by Time" by Robert J. Sampson (Harvard University Press, 2026) — Orange Blossom Ordinary The serious impact of societal changes on young Americans, Elizabeth Stice reviews "Marked by Time: How Social Change Has Transformed Crime and the Life Trajectories of Young Americans" by Robert J. S...

A review of “Marked by Time: How Social Change Has Transformed Crime and the Life Trajectories of Young Americans” by Robert J. Sampson (Harvard University Press, 2026) www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/gett...

L is for liberty

Absolute genius

What a great headline

Florida sublime

Florida wreckers and cowboys

A Smoke-Ringed Mirror: A review of "House of Smoke" by John T Edge (Crown Publishing, 2025) — Orange Blossom Ordinary Elizabeth Stice reviews "House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home" by John T Edge (Crown Publishing, 2025) Penguin Random House

A review of “House of Smoke: A Southerner Goes Searching for Home” by John T Edge (Crown, 2025) @crownpublishing.bsky.social

www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/a-sm...

Old Warnings for New Possibilities - Front Porch Republic What made the Isle of Pines an instance of regression is being sold to us as progress

The new tech utopia we are being sold is almost indistinguishable from a centuries-old dystopia. www.frontporchrepublic.com/2025/11/old-...

Highly recommend

A review of "The Forbidden Experiment" by Roger Shattuck (New York Review of Books, 2025) — Orange Blossom Ordinary Feral Children and Forbidden Knowledge. Elizabeth Stice reviews "The Forbidden Experiment: The Story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron" by Roger Shattuck, with introduction by Jed Perl (New York Review of Bo...

A review of “The Forbidden Experiment: The Story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron” by Roger Shattuck, with introduction by Jed Perl (New York Review of Books, 2025) @nyrb-imprints.bsky.social

www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/a-fe...

A review of "Dirtbag Billionaire" by David Gelles--about Yvon Chouinard & Patagonia — Orange Blossom Ordinary Elizabeth Stice reviews "Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away" by David Gelles (Simon & Schuster, 2025). What makes Chouinard an iconic adventu...

A review of “Dirtbag Billionaire: How Yvon Chouinard Built Patagonia, Made a Fortune, and Gave It All Away” by David Gelles (Simon & Schuster, 2025) @simonschusterca.bsky.social

www.orangeblossomordinary.com/reviews/dont...