Chaptering the past

Most bookstores organized history that way, as though history was a collection of discrete episodes rather than a fluid series of events that evolved over time. It reflected the misguided way we often taught history, the erroneous chaptering of the past.

Amy Meyerson, The Bookshop of Yesterdays

Amy Meyerson

I thought of this passage from The Bookshop of Yesterdays last Saturday while browsing through the history section of a large bookstore in Columbus. Although I wasn't looking for any particular book, I know from experience how difficult it can be when trying to find either a certain history book, a book about a certain period of history or a history book by a particular author. Sometimes you can't even ask at the help desk because you can't remember either the title of the book or the name of the author, but you know you would recognize the book if you saw it.

History just doesn't lend itself to easy organization, whether one is trying to teach it, write about it or sell books others have written about it. Sure history moves along the arrow of time, but while some books may cover a relatively short period of time or be limited to a particular country, such as the American Civil War, others can cover long periods of time in many countries, such as a history of medicine or a history of important trade routes. Where does one place such books on a shelf where they can be easily found by anyone looking for them or anyone who is just browsing, as I was the other day?

A typical way in which bookstores organize history books is first by country (or by continent as in the case of Africa or South America), then by time period, then by author. War histories are often placed in a separate section, subdivided by the particular war. Again difficulties arise with certain books, such as one covering submarine warfare from the Civil War to the present.

Placing books in alphabetical order according to the names of authors can sometimes help, but it can also hinder if books by the same author are spread out to various spots in the history section of a large store. Wouldn't you like to have all the books by David McCullough or Nathaniel Philbrick, to cite just two examples, together on the same shelf? Sometimes we are more interested in certain authors we like rather  certain historical subjects. Any book by McCullough is likely to be good.

Miranda, the narrator of Amy Meyerson's novel, seems to think that history books should be shelved in chronological order because that is the way history happens, but later in the book when she tries reorganizing the history books in her bookstore she discovers that system presents its own difficulties. It would, in fact, be impossible to shelve history books in that way, let alone find them.

Except for biographies, which can generally be easily organized in alphabetical order according to their subjects, nonfiction books can be difficult to organize on shelves in a way that will satisfy everyone. (Even biographies can at times pose difficulties. Should a book about Winston Churchill's leadership during World War II be shelved with biography or war history?)

Nonfiction books that become bestsellers are usually easy to find in bookstores because of their prominent display. Other books, if stores carry them at all, may require a bit of work to find. That's why I so often use Internet booksellers when shopping for nonfiction. That's how I found books like The Girl at the Baggage Claim by Gish Jen, Nabokov's Favorite Word Is Mauve by Ben Blatt and The Rhine by Ben Coates.