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History and Current Events February 2018
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| 1917: Lenin, Wilson, and the Birth of the New World Disorder by Arthur HermanWhat it is: a dual biography of two different yet equally important world leaders -- Vladimir Lenin and Woodrow Wilson -- and how their actions at the outset of World War I had long-lasting geopolitical effects.
Why you might like it: Historian Arthur Herman’s unusual pairing provides a fresh look at a pivotal moment in world history.
Further reading: Check out March 1917 by Will England for another study of this critical period, or try Herman’s Gandhi and Churchill for another dual biography of world leaders. |
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A River in Darkness : One Man's Escape from North Korea by Masaji IshikawaIn this memoir translated from the original Japanese, Ishikawa candidly recounts his tumultuous upbringing and the brutal thirty-six years he spent living under a crushing totalitarian regime, as well as the challenges he faced repatriating to Japan after barely escaping North Korea with his life. A River in Darkness is not only a shocking portrait of life inside the country but a testament to the dignity—and indomitable nature—of the human spirit.
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| Improv Nation: How We Made a Great American Art by Sam WassonWhat it is: a sweeping, behind-the-scenes history of American improv comedy, which was born during the McCarthy era and counts Tina Fey and Steve Carell among its current stars.
Why you might like it: As you might expect, this is a funny and fast-moving read that will delight and entertain as it informs.
Reviewers say: “A remarkable story, magnificently told” (Booklist). |
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The internationalists : how a radical plan to outlaw war remade the world
by Oona Anne Hathaway
A provocative history of the Peace Pact in 1928 Paris traces the roles of such contributors as Hugo Grotius, Nishi Amane and James Shotwell while exploring how the often-overlooked treaty outlawed wars of aggression and brought unprecedented stability to the world map.
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Focus on: Black History Month
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| The Problem of Slavery in the Age of Emancipation by David Brion DavisWhat it is: This final volume in historian David Brion Davis’ penetrating three-part chronicle of slavery and emancipation in the Western world covers topics ranging from the Haitian Revolution to U.S. efforts at colonizing freed people.
Why you should read it: Published to critical acclaim, this magisterial history won the 2014 National Book Critics Circle Award for General Nonfiction and was shortlisted for the Cundill Prize for Historical Literature. |
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| Gateway to Freedom: The Hidden History of the Underground Railroad by Eric FonerWhat it is: a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian's enthralling chronicle of the Underground Railroad, which helped slaves escape from bondage in the South and also protected free blacks in the North.
What sets it apart: Author Eric Foner provides gripping accounts of death-defying journeys to freedom, including that of Winnie Patsy, who survived by hiding in a dark, unventilated crawl space with her daughter for five months in Virginia. |
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| March. Book Three by John Lewis, Andrew Aydin, and Nate PowellWhat it is: U.S. Congressman and activist John Lewis’ stirring memoir of his experiences in the civil rights era from 1963-65, co-written with Andrew Aydin and artist Nate Powell.
What sets it apart: A living icon who participated in key moments in the movement, John Lewis’ firsthand account -- beginning with the bombing of the 16th Street Baptist Church -- is unflinchingly honest and deeply moving.
Further reading: For more about the civil rights movement and its leaders, check out Taylor Branch’s At Canaan’s Edge. |
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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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