"We must dare to be great; and we must realize that greatness is the fruit of toil and sacrifice and high courage." ~ Theodore Roosevelt (1858-1919), U.S. president
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| Dead Presidents: An American Adventure into the Strange Deaths and Surprising... by Brady CarlsonDid you know that George Washington's body was kept in a falling-apart tomb for the first 30 years after his death? Learn about this and other eye-opening stories in this fast-paced, fascinating first book by public radio journalist Brady Carlson. Ever since he was a boy, Carlson has been intrigued by the lives and -- thanks to a childhood trip to Lincoln's tomb -- the afterlives of American presidents. Indulging his interest in this fun (and funny) book, Carlson travels across the country to explore what happens when presidents die, sharing their death stories, the wild and varied ways that people have memorialized them (from sandwiches to Mt. Rushmore), and the histories of presidential monuments. |
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| And Then All Hell Broke Loose: Two Decades in the Middle East by Richard EngelNot long out of Stanford, Richard Engel headed to the Middle East in 1996 to work as a journalist. Now NBC's chief foreign correspondent, he draws on nearly two decades in the area to share insights into the region's past and present as he blends reportage with his personal experiences in Jerusalem, Iraq, Egypt, Syria, and other places. He's dodged bullets and been kidnapped while covering stories about area leaders, the Arab Spring, many wars, regional terrorism, and the experiences of regular people caught in the crossfire. Anyone interested in a fast-paced, intelligent account of what the Middle East is like right now should read this book. |
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The Silk Roads : A New History of the World by Peter Frankopan"Our world was made on and by the Silk Roads. For millennia it was here that East and West encountered each other through trade and conquest, leading to the spread of ideas and cultures, the birth of the world's great religions, the appetites for foreigngoods that drove economies and the growth of nations. From the first cities in Mesopotamia to the growth of Greece and Rome to the depredations by the Mongols and the Black Death to the Great Game and the fall of Communism, the fate of the West has always been inextricably linked to the East. The Silk Roads vividly captures the importance of the networks that crisscrossed the spine of Asia and linked the Atlantic with the Pacific, the Mediterranean with India, America with the Persian Gulf. By way of events as disparate as the American Revolution and the horrific world wars of the twentieth century, Peter Frankopan realigns the world, orientating us eastwards, and illuminating how even the rise of the West 500 years ago resulted from its efforts to gain access to and control these Eurasian trading networks. In an increasingly globalized planet, where current events in Asia and the Middle East dominate the world's attention, this magnificent work of history is very much a work of our times"
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| Putin Country: A Journey into the Real Russia by Anne GarrelsWhat is life in Russia really like and why do Russians love Vladimir Putin? Anne Garrels, formerly an NPR correspondent based in Moscow, answers these complicated questions using a variety of people (from taxi drivers to doctors) in the Chelyabinsk region as a microcosm. Having visited the area (which is located far from Moscow) for two decades, she not only offers "a collection of scrupulous, timely journalistic portraits" (Kirkus Reviews) that document the differences in everyday lives over time, but also describes how growing freedoms have not always been beneficial, and shares what Russians really think of the West. |
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Paradise of the Pacific : Approaching Hawai'i by Susanna MooreAn award-winning author presents the dramatic history of late-18th-century Hawaii—its kings and queens, gods and goddesses, missionaries, migrants and explorers—as it, an isolated pagan world of human sacrifice and strict taboo, was confronted by a world of capitalism, Western education and Christian values. Glossary. Notes.
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Washington's Monument : and the Fascinating History of the Obelisk by John Steele GordonDocuments the century-long construction story of the Washington Monument, tracing how it and other modern-world obelisks were created and distributed throughout the world against changing understandings about how ancient Egyptian obelisks were created.
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| The Hundred-Year Walk: An Armenian Odyssey by Dawn Anahid MacKeenDuring and after World War I, the Ottoman government killed over a million Armenians in one of the first modern genocides. One survivor was Stepan Miskjian; he escaped from a caravan leading him to slaughter, walked 1,000 miles across Turkey and Syria, and later wrote journals about his experiences. Using those journals as a starting point, his granddaughter, journalist Dawn Anahid MacKeen retraced his footsteps, learning about her grandfather, her roots, herself, and the Middle East in the process. Those who enjoyed Meline Toumani's There Was and There Was Not, which examined the genocide and took a close look at modern Turkey, should read this inspirational tale of survival, which Library Journal says "is on par with Laura Hillenbrand’s Unbroken." |
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The Only Street in Paris : Life on the Rue des Martyrs
by Elaine Sciolino
The former Paris bureau chief for The New York Times invites readers to join her on a tour of her favorite Parisian street, in a part-memoir, part-travelogue, part-love letter that celebrates the rue des Martyrs' rich history and pays homage to the people who live there. Illustrations
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The Silk Road : Taking the Bus to Pakistan by Bill PorterAn acclaimed translator and writer describes his travels on the ancient and treacherous Silk Road, spanning from delta towns in China to the Mediterranean Sea, where he meets up with card sharks, terracotta soldiers, nuclear test sites, monks and giant Buddha statues. Original.
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Navigating Historical Waters
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| Blood River: The Terrifying Journey Through the World's Most Dangerous... by Tim ButcherIn this enthralling travelogue, British journalist Tim Butcher recounts his perilous six-week trip retracing both the 1874 expedition of explorer H.M. Stanley and the 1950 genteel trip of his mother along the Congo River. Traveling alone in the war-ravaged country that inspired Joseph Conrad to write Heart of Darkness, Butcher uses an assortment of vehicles (including a motorbike and a dugout canoe) and is aided by unlikely helpers (ranging from U.N. aid workers to a pygmy-rights advocate). Blood River is a "brilliant account of a broken land" (Kirkus Reviews) that anyone interested in the Congo Region should devour. |
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| Blue Latitudes: Boldly Going Where Captain Cook Has Gone Before by Tony HorwitzBetween 1768 and 1779, British Navy Captain James Cook embarked on three highly adventurous voyages that allowed him to map the last uncharted parts of the globe. Following in Cook's footsteps, Pulitzer Prize-winning author Tony Horwitz and his very funny friend Roger Williamson travel around the Pacific (Tahiti, Bora Bora, Hawaii, etc.), enjoying their own modern-day adventures. Horwitz also provides a history lesson on what life was like for 18th-century sailors and offers an analysis of how Cook's visits -- and the attention of the Western world in general -- came to affect the local populations in the places he visited. Armchair travelers, sailors, and historians alike will find something to enjoy in this informative and entertaining read. |
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The Mayflower and the Pilgrims' New World by Nathaniel PhilbrickOffers the true story of the pioneers who crossed the Atlantic to establish a new world in Massachusetts and the challenges they faced upon their arrival through a review of their relationship with the Native Americans, the promise of peace with the first Thanksgiving, and other related events through detailed maps, photographs, and a time line. 75,000 first printing.
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| Dead Wake: The Last Crossing of the Lusitania by Erik LarsonDuring World War I, on May 7, 1915, one of the world's worst maritime disasters occurred: RMS Lusitania -- a passenger ship traveling from New York to Liverpool -- was struck by a torpedo fired by a German U-boat. Though this occurred just 11 miles off the southern coast of Ireland, within 18 minutes the ship had already sunk, killing nearly 1,200 of the passengers and crew. Taking modern readers on a fascinating journey to the past, bestselling author Erik Larson splices survivors' accounts of the tragedy together with descriptions of life aboard the U-boat; he also offers insightful discussions of history, politics, espionage, and maritime technology in this "intriguing, entirely engrossing" (Kirkus Reviews) narrative. |
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| River of Doubt: Theodore Roosevelt's Darkest Journey by Candice MillardTeddy Roosevelt was a man of many adventures, but not everyone is aware that in addition to being a war hero and president of the U.S., he also was an explorer who co-led a 1913-14 expedition to map the River of Doubt, a nearly 1,000-mile tributary of the Amazon. After losing the election that would have made him president for the third time, Teddy set out with his son Kermit, a knowledgeable Brazilian explorer, and other members of their expedition party. This "marvelously atmospheric" (Booklist) account details the dangerous trials the poorly equipped group faced in order to accomplish their goal, including white-water rapids, illness and injuries, jungle insects and animals, poisonous plants, cannibalistic natives, starvation, and even a murderer in their midst. |
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In the Heart of the Sea : The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel PhilbrickRecounts the story of the 1820 wreck of the whaleship Essex, which in its time was as mythic as the sinking of the Titanic and which inspired Melville's classic Moby Dick, and recounts its doomed crew's ninety-day attempt to survive whale attacks and the elements on three tiny lifeboats. 125,000 first printing. First serial, Vanity Fair.
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The Sea and Civilization : A Maritime History of the World
by Lincoln P. Paine
An accessible, scholarly retelling of human history through maritime travel reveals in intricate detail how ancient and modern people migrated by ocean and river and how languages, religions, goods and cultures subsequently spread along the world's waterways.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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