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History and Current EventsJune 2016
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"It is just this tension, finally, between the nobility and the folly of the enterprise that makes the story so rich and has inspired so many efforts to tell it." ~ from Anthony Brandt's The Man Who Ate his Boots
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The Silk Roads : a new history of the world
by Peter Frankopan
From the rise and fall of empires in China, Persia and Rome itself to the great wars of the twentieth century, this epic, magisterial work illuminates how the Silk Roads—the crossroads of the world, the meeting place of East and West—perhaps more than anything else, shaped global history over the past two millennia.
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| The Midnight Assassin: Panic, Scandal, and the Hunt for America's First Serial Killer by Skip HollandsworthAlthough the best-known 19th-century serial killer may be London's Jack the Ripper, a multiple murderer stalked Austin, Texas before Jack appeared in London. Journalist Skip Hollandsworth explores these terrifying crimes in The Midnight Assassin, detailing the killer's M.O. and police efforts to identify and arrest him. Since the Austin crime spree ended in 1885, and London's similarly grisly murders began in 1888, some officials wondered if Jack the Ripper had crossed the Atlantic. Hollandsworth's thorough study of primary sources and news archives yields a thrilling true crime account -- but no new answers about the Austin slayer's identity. |
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| We the People: The Modern-Day Figures Who Have Reshaped and Affirmed the... by Juan WilliamsWhat would the Founders of the U.S. think about more recent political leaders and social developments? To answer this question, journalist and political analyst Juan Williams surveys the contributions of some two dozen key 20th-century figures and the issues their work represents. Many of his subjects are well known (Martin Luther King, Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, Ronald Reagan), but a few have done their work away from the limelight (bureaucrats Bill Bratton and Robert Ball). Williams concludes that some concerns would be familiar to the Founders, while others might be quite novel. Readers interested in American history and current politics will appreciate his balanced selection of liberal and conservative leaders as well as his careful research. |
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| 1941: Fighting the Shadow War: A Divided America in a World at War by Marc WortmanEven while the Nazi Blitzkrieg was overrunning Europe, many people in the U.S. thought the country shouldn't get involved in another foreign war. To overcome anti-war sentiment, President Franklin Roosevelt had to deal with isolationist views and anti-Semitism in addition to the lingering pain of World War I. In 1941, historian Marc Wortman insightfully details the year before Pearl Harbor, deftly clarifying the issues and enlivening the voices of Roosevelt's opponents and supporters. In a starred review, Booklist says that Wortman offers a "fascinating narrative of a domestic conflict" leading up to American participation in World War II. |
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Focus on: Exploration and Discovery
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| The Man Who Ate his Boots: The Tragic History of the Search for the Northwest... by Anthony BrandtThe search for the elusive Northwest Passage to Asia -- a way across North America by boat -- consumed 19th-century British explorers, but their expeditions were dangerous and often fatal. In addition, public interest and support for Arctic exploration waxed and waned. Britain's numerous and dangerously optimistic attempts to explore the frozen waters north of Canada sent many men to their deaths, including Sir John Franklin, some of whose crew may have resorted to cannibalism before succumbing to disease and starvation. The Man Who Ate His Boots engagingly recounts these sometimes tragic efforts and the politics that drove them. |
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| The Vikings: A History by Robert FergusonThe History Channel has made Viking exploration familiar to history buffs in recent years; readers who want a comprehensive and accessible book on these Norse traders and raiders will find it in Scandinavian studies specialist Robert Ferguson's The Vikings. While material gain inspired the voyages of many of these warriors and seamen, Ferguson also details more subtle influences on their lives. Discussing archaeological findings, language, literature, and genetics, he also brings to life Norse mythology and the influences of Christianity. Informative to scholars and accessible to general readers, this book provides a compelling, thorough introduction. |
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| River of Darkness: Francisco Orellana's Legendary Voyage of Death and... by Buddy LevyConquistador Francisco Orellana accomplished fame and fortune during the 16th-century Spanish expeditions to South America. A relative of the Pizarro family, Orellana participated in their conquest of the Incas, but his name is familiar today more because his party were the first Europeans to navigate the entire length of the Amazon River. In River of Darkness, journalist Buddy Levy recounts Orellana's exploits, giving particular attention to the Amazon region's geography, flora and fauna, and native peoples. This well-paced account offers not only compelling adventure, but also engaging history that benefits from recent archaeological and anthropological discoveries. |
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Almost everyone knows the photo of John F. Kennedy, Jr. as a young boy, peering out from under his father's desk in the Oval Office. But few realize that the desk itself plays a part in one of the world's most extraordinary mysteries--a dramatic tale that has never before been told in its full scope.
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| The Ice Balloon: S.A. Andrée and the Heroic Age of Arctic Exploration by Alec WilkinsonOf those who tried to reach the North Pole before 1900, Swedish explorer Salomon Andrée was the only one to go by balloon, but he never returned. The Ice Balloon is author Alec Wilkinson's account of this unique attempt, launched in 1897. Drawing primarily on the personal records of Andrée and his two companions -- discovered in 1930 along with their remains -- Wilkinson paints an evocative portrait of the explorer and recounts the party's ordeal after their balloon crashed. For a fascinating account of the tribulations of polar exploration, don't miss this "captivating" (Library Journal) book. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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