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History and Current Events March 2021
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| Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (editors)What it is: a thoughtful anthology of essays, poems, profiles, and testimonies chronicling four centuries of Black American history.
Why you should read it: This well-researched tome features a diverse array of more than 80 contributors and spotlights lesser known events and figures that have all but been erased from history.
Reviewers say: "An impeccable, epic, essential vision of American history" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by Gabrielle GlaserWhat it's about: In 1961 New York City, pregnant teen Margaret Erle was sent to a maternity home, where she gave birth to a son she was forced to give up in a closed adoption.
Read it for: a heartwrenching exploration of America's postwar "adoption-industrial complex" that was fueled by secrecy and shame.
Try this next: For another illuminating history of mid-20th century adoption practices, check out Ann Fessler's The Girls Who Went Away. |
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| The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication by Alexander LarmanWhat it's about: England's abdication crisis of 1936, which saw King Edward VIII stepping down from his royal duties to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
What's inside: recently declassified documents that offer new insights on Edward and Wallis' relationship, their Nazi sympathies, and more.
Who it's for: Fans of the Netflix series The Crown will enjoy this juicy account rife with plenty of royal intrigue and scandal. |
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| Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods by Amelia PangWhat it is: journalist Amelia Pang's sobering investigation of Chinese labor camps, where exploited workers endure brutal working conditions to manufacture products for American consumers.
Featuring: political prisoner Sun Yi, whose handwritten plea for help found in a package of Halloween decorations led to global media coverage of China's "reeducation through labor."
Why it matters: This thought-provoking exposé will make readers think twice about the origins and unseen costs of the goods they consume. |
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| Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon WinchesterWhat it is: a sweeping and richly detailed global history of humankind's relationship to land ownership.
Topics include: the ecological impact of colonization; land reclamation efforts; the politics of cartography; Indigenous land rights.
Did you know? America's top 100 private landowners own acreage equal to the size of Florida. |
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The Spymasters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future
by Chris Whipple
What it is: an accessible history detailing the role that Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) directors play in American politics.
What's inside: revealing interviews with former directors, their family members, and colleagues.
Further reading: Tim Weiner's Pulitzer Prize-winning Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA.
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| Operation Columba: The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Story of World War II Resistance... by Gordon CoreraWhat it is: a dramatic and vivid account of British military intelligence gathering in Nazi-occupied western Europe, which was conducted by dropping more than 16,000 homing pigeons into the region.
Read it for: author Gordon Corera's droll and lively writing style.
Want a taste? "If the Nazis come through your door, you might be able to explain away a pigeon but not a radio transmitter." |
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| The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage by Mara HvistendahlWhat it's about: In 2011, three Chinese scientists were arrested for stealing hybrid seeds from an Iowa cornfield and sending them to China.
Why you should read it: Pulitzer Prize finalist Mara Hvistendahl's accessible latest offers insights on the China-United States trade war.
Reviewers say: "Not since Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest has a cornfield produced so much excitement" (Booklist). |
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| Code Name Madeleine: A Sufi Spy in Nazi-Occupied Paris by Arthur J. MagidaStarring: Noor Inayat Khan, the daughter of an Indian Sufi mystic who was recruited by Britain's Special Operations Executive (SOE), where she served as a radio operator until her capture and execution in 1944.
Who it's for: Fans of unlikely spy stories will enjoy this suspenseful chronicle of wartime heroism and sacrifice.
Try this next: For more true tales of women of the SOE, check out Larry Loftis' Code Name: Lise or Sonia Purnell's A Woman of No Importance. |
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| The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch What it's about: the Hickey Plot, a 1776 scheme orchestrated by prominent New York politicians to kidnap and murder George Washington.
Read it for: the thrilling immediacy of the fast-paced prose; the evocative account of a Revolutionary-era New York City in turmoil.
Why it matters: Washington's counterintelligence unit, led by future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay, inspired the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) nearly two centuries later. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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