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History and Current Events August 2019
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| Last Witnesses: An Oral History of the Children of World War II by Svetlana AlexievichWhat it is: Translated into English for the first time since its original 1985 publication, Last Witnesses collects wrenching firsthand accounts from 101 Russians who survived the horrors of World War II as children.
Is it for you? Rife with disturbing testimonies, Last Witnesses is "an excellent book but not for the faint of heart" (Kirkus Reviews).
Author alert: Belarusian journalist Svetlana Alexievich is the Nobel Prize-winning author of Voices from Chernobyl. |
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| Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment by Linda HirshmanWhat it is: a 50-year chronicle of the ongoing fight to end sexual harassment, culminating in the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017 and the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018.
Why you might like it: Lawyer Linda Hirshman pulls no punches in this illuminating and incisive history, discussing the unheralded women of color who have been crucial to the fight and the men in power who have been detrimental to it. |
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Stony the road : Reconstruction, white supremacy, and the rise of Jim Crow
by Henry Louis Gates
What it is: A chronicling of America's post-Civil War struggle for racial equality and the violent counterrevolution that resubjugated black Americans throughout the 20th century. Illustrations
About the author: Scholar, filmmaker, and public intellectual, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and Director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. Professor Gates has authored or coauthored twenty-two books and created eighteen documentary films, including Finding Your Roots and the award-winning The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross.
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Humans : a brief history of how we f****d it all up
by Tom Phillips
What it is: A demonstration of how human civilization has been built upon thousands of years of trial and mostly error, citing examples ranging from the sinking of the Titanic to reality-star election wins.
Why read it: To discover how even the most mundane mistakes can shift the course of civilization as we know it.
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Ghosts of Gold Mountain : the epic story of the Chinese who built the transcontinental railroad
by Gordon H Chang
What it is: A history of the Chinese human laborers who were pivotal to the construction of the American Transcontinental Railroad details the construction perils that cost innumerable lives before survivors were almost instantly lost to public memory.
Reviewers say: "A groundbreaking, breathtaking history of the Chinese workers who built the Transcontinental Railroad, helping to forge modern America only to disappear into the shadows of history until now."
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The pandemic century : one hundred years of panic, hysteria, and hubris
by Mark Honigsbaum
What it is: Chronicles the last century of scientific struggle against deadly contagious disease—from the 1918 Spanish influenza pandemic to the recent SARS, Ebola and Zika epidemics—examining related epidemiological mysteries and the role of disease in exacerbating world conflicts.
Why read it: Medical historian and City University, London, lecturer Mark Honigsbaum makes the case that reliance on conventional scientific wisdom and technology has hampered the fight against pandemics by narrowing our perspectives and encouraging fear and hypervigilance. In response, he calls for attention to the social and cultural contexts of disease that, though it may not be able to prevent future pandemics, can help to understand and contain them.
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| When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara CooneyWhat it is: a sweeping yet accessible survey of six queens who ruled in times of crisis throughout ancient Egypt's 3,000 year history.
Starring: "big three" queens Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Hatshepsut, as well as the little-known Merneith, Neferusobek, and Tawosret.
Reviewers say: This evocative history "will enchant those wishing to imagine what ancient Egyptian court life was like" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Rome: A History in Seven Sackings by Matthew KnealeWhat it's about: how 2,000 years of the Eternal City's history have been shaped by invading forces, from the chariot-riding Gauls in 387 B.C.E. to the Nazi occupation during WWII.
Want a taste? "The city has changed so greatly that there have been many Romes, each of which would be largely unrecognizable to Romans of other times."
Read it for: lively pacing and a suspenseful tone. |
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Route 66 in Missouri
by Joe Sonderman
What it is: An exploration of the cultural significance of the "Main Street of America," and an investigation into many stories and attractions found along the historic route 66.
Why read it: If you have any interest in historic sites, travel, roadside architecture, and the highways and byways of America, this book is for you.
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Fault lines : a history of the United States since 1974
by Kevin Michael Kruse
What it is: A tracing of the origins of today's divided America to pivotal events in 1974, from Watergate to the energy crisis, to explore how long-standing disputes over income inequality, racial division and gender roles fueled a polarized political landscape.
About the authors: Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer, both award-winning historians, are professors at Princton University.
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Contact your librarian for more great books! |
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