Rienzi & Bayou Bend: History Book Club
Look to the MFAH for good books and great conversations!
Held throughout the year, this unique book club is inspired by history. Follow along as the two MFAH house museums—Bayou Bend and Rienzi—present free discussions about books on 18th and 19th century life in America and Europe. Scroll through the sections below for details.
Questions? Call 713.639.7800 or 713.639.7759 or email rienzi@mfah.org
2024–2025 Calendar
A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire by Amy Butler Greenfield (2006)
The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said: Son of an African General, Slave of the Ottomans, Free Man Under the Tsars, Hero of the Union Army by Dean Calbreath
Uproar: Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London by Alice Loxton
Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides
The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E. Davis
These discussions take place bimonthly on Wednesdays. You may choose to attend either the 1:30 p.m. or 7 p.m. session. Note that all evening meetings, as well as the November, March, and July afternoon meetings, are via Zoom. For afternoons in September, January, and May, you may attend either in person at Bayou Bend or via Zoom. Check the calendar for more details.
► Download the 2024–2025 schedule
September 11, 2024 | Hosted by Bayou Bend
The Gulf: The Making of an American Sea by Jack E. Davis
November 13, 2024 | Hosted by Rienzi
A Perfect Red: Empire, Espionage, and the Quest for the Color of Desire by Amy Butler Greenfield
Learn more and register
January 8, 2025 | Hosted by Bayou Bend
The Sergeant: The Incredible Life of Nicholas Said: Son of an African General, Slave of the Ottomans, Free Man Under the Tsars, Hero of the Union Army by Dean Calbreath
March 12, 2025 | Hosted by Rienzi
Uproar: Satire, Scandal and Printmakers in Georgian London by Alice Loxton
May 14, 2025 | Hosted by Bayou Bend
Knowing What We Know: The Transmission of Knowledge: From Ancient Wisdom to Modern Magic by Simon Winchester
July 9 2025 | Hosted by Rienzi
The Wide Wide Sea: Imperial Ambition, First Contact and the Fateful Final Voyage of Captain James Cook by Hampton Sides
2023–2024 Calendar
September 13, 2023
97 Orchard: An Edible History of Five Immigrant Families in One New York Tenement by Jane Ziegelman | Reading Guide
November 8, 2023
The Last Emperor of Mexico: The Dramatic Story of the Habsburg Archduke Who Created a Kingdom in the New World by Edward Shawcross
January 10, 2024
South to Freedom: Runaway Slaves to Mexico and the Road to the Civil War by Alice L. Baumgartner
March 13, 2024
The Great Fire of London: In That Apocalyptic Year, 1666 by Neil Hanson
May 8, 2024
American Eclipse: A Nation’s Epic Race to Catch the Shadow of the Moon and Win the Glory of the World by David Baron | Reading Guide
July 17, 2024
Before Mrs Beeton: Elizabeth Raffald, England’s Most Influential Housekeeper by Neil Buttery
2022–2023 Calendar
September 14, 2022
Wondrous Beauty: Betsy Bonaparte, the Belle of Baltimore Who Married Napoleon’s Brother by Carol Berkin
November 9, 2022
The Radical Potter: The Life and Times of Josiah Wedgwood by Tristram Hunt
January 11, 2023
An American Quilt: Unfolding a Story of Family and Slavery by Rachel May | Reading Guide
March 8, 2023
In the Shadow of the Empress: The Defiant Lives of Maria Theresa, Mother of Marie Antoinette, and Her Daughters by Nancy Goldstone
May 10, 2023
The Sun and the Moon: The Remarkable True Account of Hoaxers, Showmen, Dueling Journalists, and Lunar Man-Bats in Nineteenth-Century New York by Matthew Goodman
July 12, 2023
The Lunar Men: Five Friends Whose Curiosity Changed the World by Jenny Uglow
2021–2022 Calendar
September 8, 2021 | Virtual | Rienzi
Mexican American Odyssey: Felix Tijerina, Entrepreneur and Civic Leader, 1905–1965 by Thomas H. Kreneck | Learn More
November 10, 2021 | Virtual | Bayou Bend
Craft: An American History by Glenn Adamson | Learn More
January 12, 2022 | Bayou Bend
Jefferson’s Daughters: Three Sisters, White and Black, in a Young America by Catherine Kerrison | Learn More
March 9, 2022 | Rienzi
Handel in London: The Making of a Genius by Jane Glover | Learn More
May 11, 2022 | Bayou Bend
American Eden: David Hosack, Botany, and Medicine in the Garden of the Early Republic by Victoria Johnson | Learn More
July 13, 2022 | Rienzi
The Age of Wood: Our Most Useful Material and the Construction of Civilization by Roland Ennos | Learn More
2020–2021 Calendar
The Caesar of Paris: Napoleon Bonaparte, Rome, and the Artistic Obsession That Shaped an Empire by Susan Jaques
A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley
by Jane Kamensky
The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston
by Roberto R. Treviño
New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America
by Wendy Warren
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time
by Dava Sobel
The Poison Plot: A Tale of Adultery and Murder in Colonial Newport by Elaine Forman Crane
September 9, 2020 | Bayou Bend
A Revolution in Color: The World of John Singleton Copley by Jane Kamensky
November 11, 2020 | Rienzi
The Church in the Barrio: Mexican American Ethno-Catholicism in Houston by Roberto R. Treviño
January 13, 2021 | Bayou Bend
New England Bound: Slavery and Colonization in Early America by Wendy Warren
March 10, 2021 | Rienzi
Longitude: The True Story of a Lone Genius Who Solved the Greatest Scientific Problem of His Time by Dava Sobel
May 19, 2021 | Bayou Bend
The Poison Plot: A Tale of Adultery and Murder in Colonial Newport by Elaine Forman Crane | Reading Guide
July 14, 2021 | Rienzi
Caesar of Paris: Napoleon Bonaparte, Rome, and the Artistic Obsession That Shaped an Empire by Susan Jaques | Reading Guide
2019–2020 Calendar
Old Masters, New World: America’s Raid on Europe’s Great Pictures by Cynthia Saltzman
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
The Apothecaries’ Garden: A History of the Chelsea Physic Garden by Sue Minter
September 11, 2019 | Bayou Bend
A Storm of Witchcraft: The Salem Trials and the American Experience by Emerson W. Baker
November 13, 2019 | Rienzi
Daughters of the Winter Queen: Four Remarkable Sisters, the Crown of Bohemia, and the Enduring Legacy of Mary, Queen of Scots by Nancy Goldstone
January 8, 2020 | Bayou Bend
Love and Hate in Jamestown: John Smith, Pocahontas, and the Start of a New Nation by David A. Price
March 11, 2020 | Rienzi
The Apothecaries’ Garden: A History of the Chelsea Physic Garden by Sue Minter
May 20, 2020 | Bayou Bend
At Home: A Short History of Private Life by Bill Bryson
July 8, 2020 | Rienzi
Old Masters, New World: America’s Raid on Europe’s Great Pictures by Cynthia Saltzman
2018–2019 Calendar
September 12, 2018 | Bayou Bend
Ima Hogg: The Extraordinary Cultural Patron behind the Unusual Name by David B. Warren
November 14, 2018 | Rienzi
The Paper Garden: Mrs. Delany Begins Her Life’s Work at 72 by Molly Peacock | Reading Guide
January 9, 2019 | Bayou Bend
What She Ate: Six Remarkable Women and the Food That Tells Their Stories by Laura Shapiro
March 13, 2019 | Rienzi
The Taste of Conquest: The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice by Michael Krondl | Reading Guide
May 15, 2019 | Bayou Bend
One Summer: America 1927 by Bill Bryson
July 10, 2019 | Rienzi
Aristocrats: Caroline, Emily, Louisa, and Sarah Lennox, 1740–1832 by Stella Tillyard | Reading Guide
2017–2018 Calendar
September 13, 2017 | Bayou Bend
Eight Flavors: The Untold Story of American Cuisine by Sarah Lohman | Reading Guide
November 8, 2017 | Rienzi
Darjeeling: The Colorful History and Precarious Fate of the World’s Greatest Tea by Jeff Koehler | Reading Guide
January 10, 2018 | Bayou Bend
Capital Dames: The Civil War and the Women of Washington, 1848–1868 by Cokie Roberts | Reading Guide
March 7, 2018 | Rienzi
The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science by Richard Holmes
May 16, 2018 | Bayou Bend
Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric Foner | Reading Guide
July 11, 2018 | Rienzi
The Diary of Samuel Pepys (Modern Library Classics) by Samuel Pepys | Reading Guide
2016–2017 Calendar
September 2016
The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris
by David McCullough | Reading guide
November 2016
Passionate Minds: Emilie du Châtelet, Voltaire, and the Great Love Affair of the Enlightenment
by David Bodanis
January 2017
The Kingdom of Matthias: A Story of Sex and Salvation in 19th-Century America
by Paul E. Johnson and Sean Wilentz | Reading Guide
March 2017
A Royal Experiment: The Private Life of King George III
by Janice Hadlow | Reading Guide
May 2017
Cotton: The Biography of a Revolutionary Fiber
by Stephen Yafa | Reading Guide
July 2017
Jewels: A Secret History
by Victoria Finlay | Reading Guide
2015–2016 Calendar
September 2015
The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (Part 2)
by Richard Lyman Bushman | Reading Guide
November 2015
Ambition and Desire: The Dangerous Life
of Josephine Bonaparte by Kate Williams
January 2016
Unwise Passions: A True Story of a Remarkable Woman—and the First Great Scandal
of 18th-Century America by Alan Pell Crawford | Reading Guide
March 2016
The Map That Changed the World: William Smith and the Birth
of Modern Geology by Simon Winchester | Reading Guide
May 2016
When America First Met China: An Exotic History of Tea, Drugs, and Money in the Age of Sail
by Eric Jay Dolan | Reading Guide
July 2016
Our Tempestous Day: A History of Regency England
by Carrolly Erickson | Reading Guide
2014–2015 Calendar
September 2014
Writing on the Wall: Social Media—The First 2,000 Years
by Tom Standage | Reading Guide
November 2014
Chasing Venus: The Race to Measure the Heavens
by Andrea Wulf | Reading Guide
January 2015
Founding Mothers: The Women Who Raised Our Nation
by Cokie Roberts | Reading Guide
March 2015
Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era
by Caroline Moorehead | Reading Guide
May 2015
The Refinement of America: Persons, Houses, Cities (Part I)
by Richard Lyman Bushman | Reading Guide
July 2015
White Mughals: Love and Betrayal in Eighteenth-Century India
by William Dalrymple | Reading Guide
2013–2014 Calendar
September 2013
The Brother Gardeners
by Andrea Wulf | Reading Guide
November 2013
The Real Jane Austen: A Life in Small Things
by Paula Byrne | Reading Guide
January 2014
Mahogany: The Costs of Luxury in Early America
by Jennifer K. Anderson | Reading Guide
March 2014
The Sugar Barons: Family, Corruption, Empire, and War in the West Indies
by Matthew Parker | Reading Guide
May 2014
Book of Ages: The Life and Opinions of Jane Franklin
by Jill Lepore | Reading Guide
July 2014
Catherine the Great: Portrait of a Woman
by Robert K. Massie | Reading Guide
2012–2013 Calendar
September 2012
In Small Things Forgotten: An Archaeology of Early American Life
by James Deetz | Reading Guide
November 2012
Inheritance: The Story of Knole and the Sackvilles
by Robert Sackville-West | Reading Guide
January 2013
The Wordy Shipmates
by Sarah Vowell | Reading Guide
March 2013
Women and Their Gardens: A History from the Elizabethan Era to Today
by Catherine Horwood | Reading Guide
May 2013
The Sot-Weed Factor
by John Barth | Reading Guide | Postmodernism | Original 17th-Century Poem
July 2013
The Age of Comfort: When Paris Discovered Casual—and the Modern Home Began
by Joan DeJean | Reading Guide
2011–2012 Calendar
September 2011
At Home: A Short History of Private Life
by Bill Bryson | Reading Guide
October 2011
A History of the World in Six Glasses
by Tom Standage | Reading Guide
November 2011
Taste: The Story of Britain through Its Cooking
by Kate Colquhoun | Reading Guide
December 2011
Christmas: A Candid History
by Bruce David Forbes | Reading Guide | Vintage Trailer
January 2012
Queen of Fashion: What Marie Antoinette Wore to the Revolution
by Caroline Weber | Reading Guide
February 2012
The Age of Homespun: Objects and Stories in the Creation of an American Myth
by Laurel Thatcher Ulrich | Reading Guide
March 2012
The Arcanum: The Extraordinary True Story
by Janet Gleeson | Reading Guide
April 2012
Founding Gardeners: The Revolutionary Generation, Nature, and the Shaping of the American Nation
by Andrea Wulf | Reading Guide
May 2012
Young Romantics
by Daisy Hay | Reading Guide
June 2012
Pets in America: A History
by Katherine C. Grier | Reading Guide
July 2012
Madame du Barry: The Wages of Beauty
by Joan Haslip | Reading Guide
August 2012
Eight Cousins
by Louisa May Alcott | Reading Guide
Resources
Selected History Book Club texts, as well as an array of decorative arts and historical resources, are available at the Kitty King Powell Library and Study Center at Bayou Bend’s Lora Jean Kilroy Visitor and Education Center.
Some History Book Club selections are carried by the Cottage Shop at Bayou Bend. Discount for MFAH members.