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History and Current Events July 2018
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First in Line : Presidents, Vice Presidents, and the Pursuit of Power
by Kate Andersen Brower
Vice presidents occupy a unique and important position, living partway in the spotlight and part in the wings. In interviews with more than two hundred people, including former vice presidents, their family members, and insiders and confidants of every president since Jimmy Carter, Kate Andersen Brower pulls back the curtain and reveals the sometimes cold, sometimes close, and always complicated relationship between our modern presidents and their vice presidents.
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A Higher Loyalty : Truth, Lies, and Leadership
by James Comey
Former FBI director James Comey shares his never-before-told experiences from some of the highest-stakes situations of his career in the past two decades of American government, exploring what good, ethical leadership looks like, and how it drives sound decisions. His journey provides an unprecedented entry into the corridors of power, and a remarkable lesson in what makes an effective leader.
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| Hacker, Hoaxer, Whistleblower, Spy: The Many Faces of Anonymous by Gabriella ColemanWhat it is: an eye-opening, immersive investigation of the worldwide Internet "hacktivist" collective, tracing its evolution from satirical trolling to legitimate political player in the Arab Spring and Occupy Wall Street movements, among others.
Featuring: leaked documents, chat logs, court records, and interviews.
What sets it apart: Considered the world's foremost scholar on Anonymous, anthropologist Gabriella Coleman writes humorously of the blurred lines between insider and outsider in this engrossing study. |
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| Chain of Title: How Three Ordinary Americans Uncovered Wall Street's Great Foreclosure... by David DayenWhat it is: an absorbing and sympathetic portrait of three ordinary home buyers who, at great personal sacrifice, pooled their resources to fight back against illegal foreclosures and raise public consciousness about the corrupt financial industry.
Reviewers say: David Dayen "elevates a muckraking exposé of fraudulent foreclosures to Hitchcockian levels of suspense" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| No Place to Hide: Edward Snowden, the NSA, and the U.S. Surveillance State by Glenn GreenwaldWhat it's about: In this exciting analysis, journalist Glenn Greenwald recalls being the recipient of Edward Snowden's leaked National Security Agency (NSA) documents, triggering widespread debates over surveillance programs and rights to privacy -- and spurring personal and professional repercussions for Greenwald himself.
Is it for you? Accessible writing, paired with graphics and slides, makes the technical subject matter palatable to a wide readership; fans of Luke Harding's The Snowden Files will enjoy this similarly fast-paced work. |
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| War of the Whales: A True Story by Joshua HorwitzWhat it's about: In March 2000, the largest recorded whale stranding occurred in the Bahamas, prompting an epic battle between a devoted group of whistleblowing environmental activists and the U.S. Navy, whose covert use of sonar had led to the strandings.
Why it's significant: The case (Winter v. Natural Resources Defense Council) ultimately went to the U.S. Supreme Court, raising questions about the unchecked use of military power.
Book buzz: War of the Whales won the 2015 PEN/E.O. Wilson Literary Science Writing Award and the Green Prize for Sustainable Literature. |
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| The Burglary: The Discovery of J. Edgar Hoover's Secret FBI by Betty MedsgerWhat it's about: In 1971, a small group of activists broke into the Pennsylvania offices of the Federal Bureau of Investigation and stole documents confirming that director J. Edgar Hoover was running his own shadow FBI, in violation of the U.S. Constitution.
About the author: Betsy Medsger was a journalist at the Washington Post who received the leaked documents in 1971; here, her detailed reflections and contemporary contextualizing add credence to a riveting resistance caper and its resonant political implications. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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