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A History of America in Stamps
A new book tells the story of U.S. history through postage
What can you learn from postage stamps? According to writer Chris West, they can tell a whole country’s history. In a new book, “A History of America in 36 Postage Stamps” (Picador, $28), Mr. West describes his subject as “little rectangular time machines.” Starting with the embossed stamps from the Stamp Act of 1765, he uses postage to describe the major events of U.S. history, including wars and technological innovation. He continues through the present, when he went to Stamps.com to create postage in his own image. “I thought that said something about the way modern society is, the ‘look-at-me society,’ ” he says. “ But it also says something about democracy, in that today anybody can be on a stamp.”