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History and Current Events July 2020
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| The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times by Anthony DePalmaWhat it is: an immersive portrait of everyday life for contemporary Cubans grappling with their country's "bizarre mash-up of an economy."
Read it for: the eye-opening interviews.
Author alert: A former Latin America correspondent for the New York Times, Anthony DePalma is the author of The Man Who Invented Fidel. |
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| Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State by Barton GellmanThen: In 2014, journalist Barton Gellman won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on Edward Snowden's leak of classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents.
Now: Gellman reflects on the pressures of his white-knuckle investigation and his complicated relationship with Snowden in this propulsive deep dive into the modern surveillance state.
For fans of: All the President's Men. |
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America's Secret History : How the Deep State, the Fed, the JFK, MLK, and RFK assassinations, and much more led to Donald Trump's presidency
by
Steve Harris
"The Truth Behind the Stories They Don't Want You to Know America's Secret History presents an undistorted picture of the history of the United States beginning from the enactment of the Constitution. Never in one volume have so many unknown facts that disprove America's history books been brought together in a cohesive historical context, all based on verifiable information. Among dozens of revelations, America's Secret History ties together a wealth of historical facts from highly credible sources to create a cohesive narrative of uncharted American history that lead us to the presidency of Donald J. Trump. Consider: Utilizing the House of Representative's little-known 1953 Reece Committee revelations, the Carnegie, Rockefeller, Guggenheim, and Ford foundations have systematically controlled education and the high-level appointees to the US State Department for the last century with the full knowledge and approval of the United States government. Conclusive proof that Abraham Lincoln's assassination was actually an attempted coup d'état, and President Garfield's assassination was the first successful coup. JFK's and the combined assassinations of RFK and MLK-just two months apart-were the third successful coup d'état. All were Deep State initiatives to mold the government into its intended purposes. In 1971, Americans woke up to what the New York Times called "Nixon Shock," which completely eliminated the gold standard from American currency. Removing gold backing from America's money, combined with the soon-to-come rise of globalism, led directly to what the Oxfam charity organization recently announced: 26 people now own the same wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world (almost four billion people). Not another conspiracy theory book, America's Secret History reveals many more hidden truths and the undisclosed context that drove them, weaving all of them together to explain just how we find ourselves in Donald Trump's America"
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| Troop 6000: The Girl Scout Troop That Began in a Shelter and Inspired the World by Nikita StewartWhat it is: the uplifting story of a Girl Scout troop that was founded in a Queens, New York shelter, eventually expanding to include hundreds of girls in the New York City shelter system.
Read it if: you like social justice narratives; you're looking for a clear-eyed view on the challenges faced by those experiencing homelessness.
Reviewers say: "A tale of how grassroots spirit and gritty determination can bloom into hope" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| Independence Lost: Lives on the Edge of the American Revolution by Kathleen DuValWhat it's about: the lesser-known "contest of empires" between British, Spanish, and French forces fighting for control of Florida's Gulf Coast during the American Revolution.
What sets it apart: Historian Kathleen DuVal's intimate account focuses on eight individuals involved in the conflict, including Chickasaw leader Payamataha, who advocated for neutrality; slave Petit Jean, who helped the Spanish defeat the British at sea; and French Cajun refugee and avowed pro-colonist Amand Broussard. |
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| In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel PhilbrickSeptember 5, 1781: a decisive French victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake heralded the final days of the American Revolution.
Why you might like it: Author Nathaniel Philbrick draws upon letters, journal entries, sea logs, and his own firsthand knowledge of sailing to deliver a dramatic account of a key battle.
Author alert: Pulitzer Prize finalist Philbrick is the National Book Award-winning author of In the Heart of the Sea. |
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| Revolution Song: The Story of America's Founding in Six Remarkable Lives by Russell ShortoWhat it is: an evocative history of the American Revolution as experienced by six people navigating the era's nascent conceptions of individual freedom.
Featuring: Seneca diplomat Cornplanter, who fought with the British; soldier's daughter Margaret Moncrieffe, a demimondaine who eschewed the era's gender norms; Venture Smith, a Connecticut slave who bought his freedom. |
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| Of Arms and Artists: The American Revolution through Painters' Eyes by Paul StaitiWhat it's about: how five artists, often working alongside the Founding Fathers, created visual narratives of the American Revolution that have endured for centuries.
Reviewers say: "A lively, splendid history that captures the times with insight, acumen, and a juggler's finesse" (Kirkus Reviews).
Try this next: Jane Kamensky's award-winning biography A Revolution in Color offers an intimate portrait of John Singleton Copley, one of the painters profiled in Of Arms and Artists. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Daviess County Public Library 2020 Frederica Street Owensboro, Kentucky 42301 (270) 684-0211
www.dcplibrary.org
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