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History and Current Events November 2017
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Red famine : Stalin's war on Ukraine
by Anne Applebaum
Draws on previously sealed records to prove that Joseph Stalin deliberately created his agricultural collectivization project to commit genocidal acts against the Ukrainians, citing the millions of peasants who died from starvation between 1931 and 1933 to solve a Russian political problem. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Gulag.
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Friends divided : John Adams and Thomas Jefferson
by Gordon S Wood
A dual portrait of the second and third presidents shares insights into their disparate backgrounds, the partnership decisions that helped establish America's foundation and the unexpected ways their subsequent falling out and reconciliation corrected the course of a young republic. By the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Empire of Liberty.
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The Third Reich : a history of Nazi Germany
by Thomas Childers
Describes how Adolf Hitler’s passion, anti-Semitism and his outrage at the terms of the Versailles Treaty after World War I drew him a large following that allowed him to move from the radical fringe of German politics to become chancellor in 1933.
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The thin light of freedom : the Civil War and emancipation in the heart of America
by Edward L. Ayers
A ground-level narrative by the award-winning author of In the Presence of Mine Enemies traces the progress of emancipation during the American Civil War, drawing on personal correspondences to document conflicts in Virginia's Great Valley and the pivotal contributions of free black soldiers who served with the U.S. Colored Troops.
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The storm before the storm : the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic by Michael DuncanRecreating the turbulent years from 133-80 BCE, the author tells the story of the beginning of the end of the Roman Republic—a tale of the first generation that had to cope with the dangerous new political environment made possible by Rome’s unrivaled domination over the known world—drawing many parallels to present-day America.
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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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| 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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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Harrison Memorial Library Ocean and Lincoln Carmel, California 93921 831-624-4629www.hm-lib.org/ |
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