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History and Current Events September 2020
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JFK : Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917-1956
by Fredrik Logevall
What's inside: A Pulitzer Prize-winning historian takes us as close as we have ever been to the real John F. Kennedy in a biography of the elusive 35th president.
Read it for: JFK: Coming of Age in the American Century, 1917–1956 is a sweeping history of the United States in the middle decades of the twentieth century, as well as the clearest portrait we have of this enigmatic American icon.
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The hardest job in the world : the American presidency
by John Dickerson
What's inside: The author writes about presidents in history—such as Washington, Lincoln, FDR and Eisenhower—and in contemporary times—from LBJ and Reagan to Bush, Obama, and Trump—to show how a complex job has been done, and why we need to reevaluate how we view the presidency, how we choose our presidents and what we expect from them once they are in office.
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God's hand on America : divine providence in the modern era
by Michael Medved
What's inside: The national radio host presents a sweeping follow-up to The American Miracle that reveals the instruments of fate that the author credits with elevating America from the divisions of the Civil War to a dominant global player.
Read it for: “A hopeful message for our troubled times . . . Michael Medved has an eye for a story, and a preternatural gift for telling it in beguiling ways.”—Joseph J. Ellis, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award–winning author of Founding Brothers.
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Caste : the origins of our discontents
by Isabel Wilkerson
What's inside: The Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Warmth of Other Suns identifies the qualifying characteristics of historical caste systems to reveal how a rigid hierarchy of human rankings, enforced by religious views, heritage and stigma, impact everyday American lives.
What critics are saying: “Wilkerson’s book is a powerful, illuminating and heartfelt account of how hierarchy reproduces itself, as well as a call to action for the difficult work of undoing it.”—The Washington Post
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Live free or die : America (and the world) on the brink
by Sean Hannity
What's inside: The Fox News host and best-selling author of Conservative Victory argues that the leftist radicalism that he believes undermined American democracy in the 1960s must be purposefully fought again during the 2020 election to prevent progressive changes.
Read it for: Ronald Reagan once said, “Freedom is but one generation away from extinction,” and his words have never rung truer. In Live Free or Die, Sean demonstrates why now is an All Hands on Deck moment to save the Republic
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The Two party System Nobody Asked for
by Robert Lockwood Mills
What's inside: Bob Mills analyzes the Democratic Party and the Republican Party over the course of time. He finds both of them seriously flawed, and raises deep questions about the two-party system overall. Presenting a history of our two major political parties, Mills takes a balanced approach - equally critical of each party. In short chapters sprinkled with humor and loaded with historical references, he calls into question the very fundamentals of America's political infrastructure.
Read it for:This is a book for all those who are frustrated by the election campaigns we have to endure and the inadequate options we face at election time. Democracy may be the best system, but only when it works.
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Exploration and Exploitation
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| Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood... by William CarlsenWhat it's about: In 1839, American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British architect Frederick Catherwood explored the jungles of Yucatán, where they encountered 1,500-year-old Mayan ruins.
Why it matters: Stephens and Catherwood's findings challenged their contemporaries' notions of Indigenous cultural inferiority.
Read it for: a lively and evocative tale of friendship, adventure, and rediscovery. |
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| The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure by Carl HoffmanWhat it's about: two enigmatic Westerners -- one a "buccaneer," the other a "do-gooder" -- who called Borneo home in the 1970s and '80s.
Starring: American art dealer Michael Palmieri, who made a fortune acquiring native relics for museums; and Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser, who lived among the Penan tribe, fought logging efforts in the region, and mysteriously disappeared in 2000.
Awards buzz: This haunting cautionary tale from travel writer Carl Hoffman was a 2019 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime and a Banff Mountain Book Awards Finalist. |
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| To the Edges of the Earth: 1909, the Race for the Three Poles, and the Climax of the Age... by Edward J. LarsonWhat it is: a breathless account of a pivotal year for exploration, which saw concurrent expeditions led by Ernest Shackleton, Robert Peary, and Prince Luigi Amedeo, Duke of the Abruzzi.
Where they went: Shackleton headed to Antarctica, where he set a new Farthest South record; Peary embarked on his eighth North Pole expedition; the Duke of the Abruzzi led a summit of K2 in Asia.
Read it for: an evocative narrative that's "so well-related as to make you feel the chill" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Endeavour: The Ship That Changed the World by Peter MooreWhat it is: a comprehensive history of the HMS Endeavour, the British ship that circumnavigated the globe from 1768-1771.
Why you might like it: This accessible page-turner details Endeavour's complicated legacy as a symbol of remarkable discovery and destructive imperialism.
Reviewers say: "History at its most exciting and revealing" (Kirkus Reviews); "Maritime history that opens onto much more" (Booklist). |
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Forsyth County Public Library 660 W 5th Street Winston Salem, North Carolina 27101 336-703-3030www.forsythlibrary.org |
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