Harold Lamb 1927

I am a history buff, always have been, and I never came across a history that didn't interest me.  I am not a compulsive reader, but when I find something interesting I am a tireless reader.  I recently found an old copy of a work by Harold Lamb titled, Genghis Khan the Emperor of all Men.  It is as far as I can see an original copy from 1927, which impressed me.  I was drawn though, to Lamb's style; to a style from a period which like H.G. Well's Outline of History, was from a time when history was not a dry subject.  I started reading and I was hooked from the first page--I love a book like that!  It is a hardcover and while the pages are yellowed and a little stiff they are not yet brittle.

I was reading on the soccer field as my son's team was gearing up for their game and one of the Dad's came over and asked in a surprised tone, "What have you got there?!"  I thought he was referring to some advertisement card for a mixed martial arts studio that I had been handed while we were waiting for our chance on the field--it was serving as a bookmark.  "No" he corrected, "the book, I haven't seen one of those in some time."  I made some reference to my find, but having a sense of where he was coming from, I also took the opportunity to make the plug for the printed page that I have come to feel strongly about.  I stated that printed paper books employ more people and are greener than e-readers because paper is a renewable, biodegradable resource unlike readers which will become obsolete and take up space for ages in a landfill.  I can easily loan my book without worry whether my friend's reader is compatible and as the Lamb book shows, the paper, unlike a digital file, will not get corrupted, and so is actually more durable.  He didn't stay around long, which was fine with me.

I don't think he was right about how rare books are, though they have become rarer.  The neighborhood is a trendy part of Brooklyn right by McCarren Park and I know being trendy is big there, but this is one trend that needs re-thinking.