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History and Current Events October 2019
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| Kochland: The Secret History of Koch Industries and Corporate Power in America by Christopher LeonardKochland reads like a true-life thriller, with larger-than-life characters driving the battles on every page. The book tells the ambitious tale of how one private company consolidated power over half a century--and how in doing so, it helped transform capitalism into something that feels deeply alienating to many Americans today.
For fans of: Andrew Sorkin's Too Big to Fail; Steve Coll's Private Empire: ExxonMobil and American Power. |
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| See Jane Win: The Inspiring Story of the Women Changing American Politics by Caitlin MoscatelloClosely following four candidates throughout the entire process, from the decision to run through Election Day, See Jane Win takes readers inside their exciting, winning campaigns and the sometimes thrilling, sometimes brutal realities of running for office while female.
Want to run for office yourself? Check out June Diane Raphael and Kate Black's Represent: The Woman's Guide to Running for Office and Changing the World. |
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| The Years That Matter Most: How College Makes or Breaks Us by Paul ToughCan a college education today provide real opportunity to young Americans seeking to improve their station in life? Tough reveals how the landscape of higher education has shifted in recent decades, and exposes the hidden truths of how the system works and whom it works for.
Is it for you? Though author Paul Tough's empathetic analysis is often sobering, he also includes interviews with low-income students who have thrived despite the institutional odds stacked against them. |
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| Lincoln's Spies: Their Secret War to Save a Nation by Douglas WallerVeteran journalist Douglas Waller, who has written ground-breaking intelligence histories, turns his sights on the shadow war of four secret agents for the North, three men and one woman.
Featuring: Richmond socialite and abolitionist Elizabeth Van Lew, who ran a spy ring out of her mansion; famed Scottish detective Allan Pinkerton, who successfully foiled an assassination attempt on Lincoln. |
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| Empire of Sin: A Story of Sex, Jazz, Murder, and the Battle for Modern New Orleans by Gary KristWelcome to... notorious Storyville, New Orleans, an early-20th-century red-light district and site of consternation for the city's reform-minded upper echelons.
Why you might like it: Populated by a large cast of characters (including a young Louis Armstrong), this lively history reveals a bygone era of a city bustling with wicked entrepreneurial spirit. |
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| Istanbul: City of Majesty at the Crossroads of the World by Thomas F. MaddenWhat it is: a briskly paced, millennia-spanning history of Europe's largest city, from its origins as a Greek settlement in 667 B.C. to the election of President Erdogan in 2014.
Why you might like it: Award-winning historian Thomas F. Madden's immersive chronicle charts the experiences of not just the city's rulers, but its ordinary citizens too. |
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| Once in a Great City: A Detroit Story by David MaranissWhat it's about: how Detroit's "golden moment" -- from fall 1962 to spring 1964 -- signaled the city's promise (and its eventual decline).
How it happened: As Detroit celebrated the emergence of Motown and the release of the first Ford Mustang, social unrest, white flight, and organized crime were on the rise, leaving an irrevocable mark on a city that was "dying and thriving at the same time." |
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| City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris by Holly TuckerStarring: Nicolas de la Reynie, appointed by Louis XIV to serve as Paris' first police chief and investigate a spate of high-profile murders known as the "Affair of the Poisons."
What it's about: de la Reynie's attempts to reform the crime-ridden city, including the installation of street lanterns (which is how Paris came to be known as the City of Light). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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