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History and Current Events March 2017
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Who rules the world?
by Noam Chomsky
The M.I.T. intellectual and best-selling author of Hegemony or Survival and Failed States presents an examination of the waning American Century, the nature of U.S. policies in the post-9/11 world and the dangers of prioritizing military power over democracy and human rights.
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Tracks to the Trenches : Canadian Railway Troops in the Great War (1914-1918)
by David R. P. Guay
This is the untold story about the Canadian Railway Troops who built, maintained and operated the standard gauge and light railways, the supply routes to the front lines during The Great War - World War I. David Guay discusses the evolution and management of this complex infrastructure in the context of German, French and British railway development and military strategy. He also emphasizes the enormity of the railway work done by the Canadians: regimental histories, organizational charts, operating procedures, decorations, rosters of locomotives and rolling stock, as well as tips on modelling and collecting railway and military memorabilia.
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Weapons of Math Destruction: How Big Data Increases Inequality and Threatens Democracy
by Cathy O'Neil
In Weapons of Math Destruction, a mathematics scholar who was once a quantitative analyst for a major Wall Street firm exposes the flaws in mathematical modeling. Although algorithms are supposed to remove bias from loan decisions, insurance rates, employee evaluations, and more, author Cathy O'Neil explains that algorithm formulas depend on the people who design them. Instead of being pure numbers, they perpetuate social prejudices and lock in human error. Arguing for increased scrutiny of the analysts who create the models and gather data (often inaccurately), O'Neil offers a "lucid and readable" (Kirkus Reviews) discussion of the perils of relying on math.
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A Brief History of Women in Quebec
by Denyse Baillargeon
A Brief History of Women in Quebec examines the historical experience of women of different social classes and origins (geographic, ethnic, and racial) from the period of contact between Europeans and Aboriginals to the twenty-first century to give a nuanced and complex account of the main transformations in their lives. Themes explored include demography, such as marriage, fecundity, and immigration; women's work outside and inside the home, including motherhood; education, from elementary school to post-secondary and access to the professions; the impact of religion and government policies; and social and political activism, including feminism and struggles to attain equality with men..
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Coolie Woman : The Odyssey of Indenture
by Gaiutra Bahadur
In 1903, a young woman sailed from India to Guiana as a "coolie"--the British name for indentured laborers who replaced the newly emancipated slaves on sugar plantations all around the world. Pregnant and traveling alone, this woman, like so many coolies, disappeared into history. In Coolie Woman. her great-granddaughter Gaiutra Bahadur embarks on a journey into the past to find her. Traversing three continents and trawling through countless colonial archives, Bahadur excavates not only her great-grandmother's story but also the repressed history of some quarter of a million other coolie women, shining a light on their complex lives.
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Vagina : a new biography
by Naomi Wolf
Interweaving physiology, history and culture, this thought-provoking exploration of the vagina, presented by one of today's most respected cultural critics and thinkers, reveals the physical, political and spiritual implications for women and for society as a whole, in this startling scientific breakthrough.
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| The Queen's Bed: An Intimate History of Elizabeth's Court by Anna WhitelockFor Queen Elizabeth I, life at court often focused on her bedchamber, where she could be herself and entrust her hopes and fears to the ladies who waited on her and slept with or near her. In the award-winning Queen's Bed, historian Anna Whitelock depicts the queen's private daily life: she vividly describes the beds in each of her residences, including her traveling bed, and she details Elizabeth's relationships with the women close to the throne and her love affairs. This unusual study expands on the more formal view of her public life; you might also enjoy Tracy Borman's The Private Lives of the Tudors. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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