Some of these anecdotes remind me a little bit of stories my dad told me about his early life in rural Ohio. Dad also spent his early life reading by lamplight and using an outhouse because the family didn't have running water. Though, his family rented, not owning land.

Dad had a Black friend in highschool (this is after the family moved to town), and some of the neighbors became hostile when Dad's friend started spending time at the house and playing basketball with neighborhood kids in the driveway.

It's funny how many things have changed, and how significantly, in just a handful of generations.

Dad's mom used to tell me stories about growing up in an era before automobiles, when her father hired out to plow fields with teams of mules. In winter, he made extra money cutting ice from local lakes and selling blocks of it from icehouse for people to use in their iceboxes. (Stored properly, with lots of sawdust for insulation, the ice in icehouses apparently kept for many months.)

Just thinking of only such stories as I've heard firsthand from family members reminds me of how startling change has been. I think I'd like to read Carter's book.

By the way, if you haven't yet read his history of the Revolutionary War, it's quite an experience. He brings the war home by describing its impact on everyday people rather than focusing on the big battles and the famous figures.

He unwraps many romantic myths by examining the inherent cruelty of warfare.