Tell a friend that you're reading a book by an economics professor, and the likely response will be along the lines of, "I'll bet that's a real page turner!"

In the case of George Mason University economics professor Carrie Meyer, her latest book is just that, a real page turner. And the story of how Meyer got to writing this book is interesting. She was doing research into her previous book, Days on the Family Farm. Meyer was raised in the country, just northwest of Rockford, IL. She had found numerous notebooks written by one of her relatives, who kept excellent records and recollecti...