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History and Current Events June 2020
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We're adding more ebooks and downloadable audiobooks so you can do your borrowing from home. If a title on this list isn't in the catalogue as a digital copy yet, please check FVRL OverDrive or FVRL RBdigital
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British Columbia in Flames : Stories from a Blazing Summer
by Claudia Cornwall
What's inside: stories about British Columbia's 2017 wildfires. People looked after strangers who had no place to go. They shared information. They helped each other rescue and shelter animals. They kept stores open day and night to supply gas, food and comfort to evacuees.
About Claudia Cornwall: Like many British Columbians in 2017, Claudia Cornwall was glued to the news about the disastrous wildfires across the province. Her her cabin at Sheridan Lake had been in the family for sixty years and was now in danger of destruction. Cornwall, a long-time writer, was stricken not just by her own experience, but by the many moving stories she came across about the fires—so she began collecting them.
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Land of Destiny : A History of Vancouver Real Estate
by Jesse Donaldson
What it explores: the influence of the real estate industry in Vancouver, starting with the first sale of land in the West End, and continuing up until the housing crisis of today. Also examines the backroom dealings, the skulduggery and nepotism, the racism and the obscene profits, revealing that the same forces which made Vancouver a speculation and global capital are the same ones that shape it today.
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| The Women With Silver Wings: The Inspiring True Story of the Women Airforce Service... by Katherine Sharp LanddeckDoing their part: After the attack on Pearl Harbor, more than 1,000 American women joined the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) program, where they learned to fly planes big and small.
Author alert: Texas Woman's University history professor Katherine Sharp Landdeck imbues her engaging and richly detailed narrative with insights gleaned from her own experiences as a licensed pilot.
For fans of: Liza Mundy's Code Girls: The Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers Who Helped Win World War II. |
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Stagecoach North : A History of Barnard's Express
by Ken Mather
What it is: An in-depth look at the origins and operations of a pioneering transportation company that moved people and goods across the province throughout the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
About Barnard's Express: Barnard’s Express (1862–1878), later known as BX or the British Columbia Express Company (1878–1921) ran from Yale to Barkerville from 1864 until 1886 and from Ashcroft to Barkerville after the construction of the CPR.
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| The Compton Cowboys: The New Generation of Cowboys in America's Urban Heartland by Walter Thompson-HernandezWelcome to: Richland Farms, the Compton, CA, ranch that's been a safe haven for the city's black cowboys for over 30 years.
Why you might like it: In this gritty and eye-opening expansion of his popular 2018 New York Times article, journalist Walter Thompson-Hernandez offers an immersive and empathetic glimpse into an underrepresented community; it's also set to be adapted for film. |
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| The General vs. the President: MacArthur and Truman at the Brink of Nuclear War by H.W. BrandsWhat it's about: how President Harry Truman and General Douglas MacArthur's differing approaches to foreign policy at the outset of the Korean War led to Truman's ousting of MacArthur in 1951.
Read it for: a balanced and engaging view of the conflict.
Reviewers say: "the definitive history of a half-forgotten yet bitter controversy" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| King of Spies: The Dark Reign of an American Spymaster by Blaine HardenWhat it's about: After World War II, American motor pool sergeant Donald Nichols was plucked from obscurity to oversee intelligence operations during the Korean War.
What happened next: Because Nichols had close ties to the pro-American South Korean President Syngman Rhee, the U.S. government overlooked what Nichols deemed his "legal license to murder," as well as his predatory sexual behavior.
Is it for you? This chilling study of a disgraced figure frankly addresses American misconduct during the Korean War. |
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| Devotion: An Epic Story of Heroism, Friendship, and Sacrifice by Adam MakosWhat it is: an inspiring story of wartime camaraderie that reads like a novel.
Featuring: Jesse Brown, the U.S. Navy's first African American pilot; friend and fellow Fighter Squadron 32 pilot Tom Hudner, who risked his life to save Brown after the latter was shot down in battle.
For fans of: Laura Hillenbrand's Unbroken. |
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| On Desperate Ground: The Marines at the Reservoir, the Korean War's Greatest Battle by Hampton SidesWhat it's about: the harrowing 17-day battle between 30,000 American Marines and 120,000 Chinese soldiers at North Korea's frigid Chosin Reservoir in the winter of 1950.
Why you might like it: This fast-paced you-are-there account will appeal to readers looking for an accessible introduction to the conflict.
Reviewers say: "a masterpiece of storytelling about a war that is often given short shrift in American history" (Booklist). |
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