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History and Current Events November 2017
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| Nomadland: Surviving America in the Twenty-First Century by Jessica BruderAuthor Jessica Bruder, who teaches at the Columbia School of Journalism, spent several years traveling with older Americans who have become itinerant workers in order to make ends meet. In Nomadland, she describes how they assume a "wheel estate" (instead of "real estate") existence as they travel from one seasonal job to the next, exchanging information on safe camping sites and enjoying the camaraderie of the road. Bruder vividly and sympathetically characterizes these "workampers" as she critiques the financial systems that have led them to adopt this solution. |
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Syria, Press Framing, and the Responsibility to Protect
by E. Donald Briggs
This study investigates the media’s role in presenting and interpreting the humanitarian crisis of the Syrian Civil War and influencing policies. It analyzes 400 editorials and opinion articles about Syria in The New York Times, Britain’s The Guardian, and Canada’s The Globe and Mail, published between March 2011 and Assad’s use of chemical weapons in September 2013. The book begins with background on the origins and nature of the war, then provides a chapter charting the evolution of norms of international involvement in domestic conflicts. Subsequent discussion centers on how the media have influenced policy makers’ and political leaders’ decisions regarding Syria, as well as the failure of the UN to enforce the Responsibility to Protect.
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The Halifax Explosion : Canada's Worst Disaster
by Ken Cuthbertson
On December 6, 1917, the French munitions ship Mont Blanc and the Norwegian war-relief vessel Imo collided in the harbour at Halifax, Nova Scotia. That accident sparked a fire and an apocalyptic explosion that was the largest man-made blast prior to the 1945 dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Together with the killer tsunami that followed, the explosion devastated the entire city in the wink of an eye and instantly killed more than two thousand people. While much has been written about the disaster, there is still more to the story, including the investigation of the key figures involved, the histories of the ships that collided and the confluence of circumstances that brought these two vessels together to touch off one of the most tragic man-made disasters of the twentieth century.
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| The Templars: The Rise and Spectacular Fall of God's Holy Warriors by Dan JonesIn 1119, after the First Crusade, a remnant of Christian warriors formed a new kind of religious order: the Knights of Templar, devoted to protecting pilgrims from Europe to the Holy Land. An enduring legend grew up around the Templars, producing speculation, conspiracy theories, and eventually, charges of heresy. In The Templars, historian Dan Jones has separated myth from reality and allegation from truth. Fans of medieval history, especially those intrigued by the Knights Templar, won't want to miss this engaging and unbiased account. |
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The Campbell Revolution? : Power, Politics, and Policy in British Columbia
by J. R. Lacharite
Canadian. How are we to assess Gordon Campbell’s decade-long premiership of British Columbia? While to many he was an ideologue set on revolutionizing provincial politics, he was a far more complex figure – polarizing and unpopular, but also a shrewd party manager and successful political operator. Beginning with a detailed account of Gordon Campbell’s pre–Liberal Party political activities, The Campbell Revolution? then takes a broad look at the policy options open to him in the context of the neoliberal revolution that swept across Canada and elsewhere in the 1980s and 1990s. Contributors discuss the Campbell administration's reforms in social, environmental, and economic policies, focusing on tax system reform, the arts and culture sector, healthcare, and urban development in the context of the 2010 Winter Olympics. More than just a narrative of the career of an enigmatic public official, this book looks at specific public policy examples and asks whether Campbell led a revolution or simply rode a wave of change that had begun years before he came to power.
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Canadianity : Tales from the True North Strong and Freezing
by Jeremy Taggart
Canadian. Sprung from their hugely successful podcast Canadianity, Taggart (that guy from that band) and Torrens (that guy from that show) share a collection of showbiz tales from the road and relatable everyday anecdotes, all wrapped up in a nostalgic fondness for this great country. Canadianity takes readers on a cross-country journey, shining the spotlight on notable local heroes (or bahds), the best places to crush food and the greasiest watering holes, coast to coast to coast. Replete with lists of Canada’s top bands, television shows and athletes, as well as random observations about everything this country has to offer, Canadianity is often provocative and always hilarious. Drawing on their combined experiences as a legendary drummer (Our Lady Peace) and a veteran talk-show host (Jonovision) respectively, Taggart and Torrens have infused their first book with equal parts beer and pop culture and added a heaping helping of irreverence.
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| The Cold War: A World History by Odd Arne WestadThe immediate historical roots of the Cold War sprouted after World War II, when Soviet-led countries faced off against the U.S. and its allies. Though the division of Germany into East and West, the Iron Curtain cutting off Eastern Europe, and the American anticommunist frenzy of the 1940s and '50s come readily to mind, award-winning historian Odd Arne Westad traces the Cold War's origins to the Industrial Revolution and illuminates its effects throughout the world. In a starred review, Library Journal calls this "one of the best written" books on the subject. |
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| The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide by Gary Jonathan BassIn this award-winning account, Princeton University professor Gary Bass details a 1971 genocide in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). Drawing on extensive research, including President Richard Nixon's White House recordings, Bass renders a powerful indictment of Nixon and Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, who preferred, during the Cold War, to align with authoritarian Pakistan against democratic, liberal India (supported by the Soviet Union). Despite outcries from State Department Officials and others, they refused to acknowledge or take action against the atrocities in East Pakistan. In The Blood Telegram, Bass "holds these leaders to a much-needed reckoning" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Zhivago Affair: The Kremlin, the CIA, and the Battle Over a Forbidden Book by Peter FinnDoctor Zhivago, a novel published in translation during the late 1950s by Russian author Boris Pasternak, created a sensation in the West with its negative depiction of the Russian Revolution. The CIA recognized that the book could promote anticommunist sentiment within the Soviet Union, so they arranged to produce copies of the banned original Russian text and sneak them into Russia. The Zhivago Affair relates the exciting story of the book-smuggling, the severe consequences for Pasternak and his family, and the international controversy over the novel. |
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| The Billion Dollar Spy: A True Story of Cold War Espionage and Betrayal by David E. HoffmanIn 1978, at the height of the Cold War, Adolf Tolkachev, a Soviet military engineer, began passing details of the USSR's technological developments to an American CIA agent in Moscow. Tolkachev's information allowed the U.S. to match and surpass Soviet weapons development, justifying the astronomical sums the CIA paid him. In this riveting, well-researched book, author David Hoffman traces the heart-stopping risks that marked both Tolkachev's activities and those of the CIA. The Billion Dollar Spy brings Tolkachev to life while revealing some of the most significant -- and dangerous -- intelligence gathering of the era. |
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| The Nazis Next Door: How America Became a Safe Haven for Hitler's Men by Eric LichtblauWidely acknowledged to have been part of an anticommunist Cold War strategy, the CIA's quietly executed project dubbed "Paperclip" brought a few German scientists to the U.S. to aid in American weaponry and rocket development. However, recent discoveries reveal that much larger numbers of Nazis (perhaps 10,000) immigrated to the U.S. with the government's assistance. In The Nazis Next Door, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Eric Lichtblau chronicles American policy regarding Holocaust collaborators over several decades. This "riveting account" is an "essential" book for Cold War buffs, according to Library Journal. |
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| Ike's Bluff: President Eisenhower's Secret Battle to Save the World by Evan ThomasIn Ike's Bluff, acclaimed journalist Evan Thomas dissects President Dwight Eisenhower's strategy of ambiguity about the use of atomic weapons. Concealing his keen tactical thinking behind an affable and sometimes bumbling manner, Eisenhower kept the Chinese and Soviet leadership of the early 1950s on edge while restraining the hawks in his administration who were in favor of nuclear strikes. Thomas details Eisenhower's policy moves and vividly depicts his temperament, persuasively arguing that his approach prevented World War III. |
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