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History and Current Events October 2020
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| Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own by Eddie S. Glaude Jr. What it's about: how James Baldwin's writings on the failures of the civil rights movement remain just as relevant today.
Read it for: an impassioned and incisive blend of history, literary analysis, and own voices memoir.
Topics include: mass incarceration; the Black Lives Matter movement; Confederate monument removals; the election of Donald Trump. |
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Full dissidence : notes from an uneven playing field
by Howard Bryant
An impassioned meditation on injustice in America examines the fundamental inequities behind the country’s most divisive issues, explaining how a normalizing of authoritarianism in today’s political arenas is undermining freedom and democracy for everyday people.
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Heaven and hell : a history of the afterlife
by Bart D Ehrman
Explores literary and cultural sources to reveal that common perceptions about heaven, hell and the afterlife are modern, competing beliefs that are neither found in the Old Testament nor what Jesus taught. 100,000 first printing.
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American Sherlock : murder, forensics, and the birth of American CSI
by Kate Winkler Dawson
Describes the life of America’s first forensic scientist, who invented tools that are still being used today—including blood-spatter analysis, ballistics, lie-detector tests and fingerprints—and solved at least 2,000 cases over 40 years. By the author of Death in the Air. Illustrations.
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| Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel WilkersonWhat it's about: the "shape-shifting, unspoken, race-based" caste system that has shaped four centuries of American history.
Read it for: a timely and thought-provoking exploration of how rigid social hierarchies dehumanize the people who live within them.
Book buzz: This impassioned latest from Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Isabel Wilkerson (The Warmth of Other Suns) was recently named an Oprah's Book Club pick. |
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U.S. Elections and Voting
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| One Person, No Vote: How Voter Suppression is Destroying Our Democracy by Carol AndersonWhat it is: a compelling study of how voter disenfranchisement tactics (such as voter ID laws, roll purges, gerrymandering, and lack of accessibility) are implemented to keep African Americans from the polls.
Reviewers say: "illuminating and clarifying" (Publishers Weekly); "could not be more timely" (Kirkus Reviews).
Try this next: Uncounted: The Crisis of Voter Suppression in America by Gilda R. Daniels. |
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| Mr. President, How Long Must We Wait? Alice Paul, Woodrow Wilson, and the Fight for the... by Tina CassidyWhat it's about: the antagonistic relationship between tireless Quaker suffragette Alice Paul and President Woodrow Wilson in the years before the passage of the 19th Amendment.
Why you might like it: This vivid and dramatic account offers an inspiring portrait of a pioneering yet underappreciated activist.
Don't miss: Wilson's first inauguration being upstaged by a suffragist parade organized by Paul. |
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| Deep State: Trump, the FBI, and the Rule of Law by James B. StewartWhat it is: a clear-eyed investigation of the FBI's activities in the days leading up to the 2016 presidential election.
Who it's for: Though Deep State treads familiar ground, readers who found The Mueller Report lacking will want to check out this revealing behind-the-scenes account featuring interviews with key officials.
About the author: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist James B. Stewart is a columnist for the New York Times. |
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| Camelot's End: Kennedy vs. Carter and the Fight That Broke the Democratic Party by Jon WardWhat it is: a captivating account of the 1980 Democratic primary battle between sitting president Jimmy Carter and Senator Ted Kennedy.
Did you know? Incumbent presidents seeking reelection have been challenged from within their own party "only a handful of times."
Why it's significant: Campaign tensions led to divisions within the Democratic party that continue to resonate. |
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Contact your librarian fore more great books!
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