Anybody have any thoughts on this?

https://www.openstaxcollege.org/textbooks/us-history

Another book with similar themes to the class

I'm sorry the NYRB is paywalled, but I do honestly think it is well-worth paying for a subscription. I consider it the premier intellectual journal in English, and it's only $6 or so a month.

http://www.nybooks.com/articles/2016/04/21/silk-roads-different-vision-of-history/

Those coal-gas holders I referred to tonight

Here's a picture of the famous one I mentioned outside the cricket pitch in London:

http://www.theguardian.com/world/picture/2010/aug/19/1

And here's a good piece on their history:

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gas_holder