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History and Current Events February 2020
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| Tightrope: Americans Reaching for Hope by Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunnWhat it is: Pulitzer Prize-winning journalists (and spouses) Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn's compassionate examination of the forces contributing to the decline of America's working class.
Chapters include: "When Jobs Disappear;" "Drug Dealers in Lab Coats;" "Homeless in a Rich Nation."
Media buzz: A companion documentary premiered at the DOC NYC Film Festival in November 2019. |
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| A New World Begins: The History of the French Revolution by Jeremy D. PopkinWhat it is: "A fresh, welcome new interpretation of the French Revolution" (Kirkus Reviews) written by University of Kentucky historian Jeremy D. Popkin, an expert on the era.
Why it matters: Popkin argues that the French Revolution served as a resonant test case for modern political thought, with issues like racism, sexism, and social welfare being openly discussed and debated.
Read it for: Profiles of lesser known figures like glazier Jacques-Louis Ménétra help contextualize the Revolution's impact on the lower classes. |
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| Wayward Lives, Beautiful Experiments: Intimate Histories of Social Upheaval by Saidiya HartmanWhat it's about: Fleeing the post-Civil War South in the early 20th century, black women sought freedom in northern urban enclaves and eschewed social conventions to create new lives for themselves.
Is it for you? Guggenheim Fellow Saidiya Hartman's meticulously researched chronicle occasionally dips into speculation when the historical record isn't sufficient.
Reviewers say: "This passionate, poetic retrieval of women from the footnotes of history is a superb literary achievement" (Publishers Weekly). |
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We Matter: Athletes and Activism
by Etan Thomas
This volume will be an inspiration for many different people: sports junkies; young readers who need words of encouragement from their favorite athletes; parents seeking positive messages for their children; activists who want to hear athletes using their voices to address social justice; and schools that need motivational material for their students. Featuring interviews by former NBA player Etan Thomas with over fifty athletes, executives, media figures, and more--and interwoven with essays and critiques by Thomas.
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Between the World and Me
by Ta-Nehisi Coates
Told through the author's own evolving understanding of the subject over the course of his life comes a bold and personal investigation into America's racial history and its contemporary echoes.
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The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
by Isabel Wilkerson
In an epic history covering the period from the end of World War I through the 1970s, a Pulitzer Prize winner chronicles the decades-long migration of African Americans from the South to the North and West through the stories of three individuals and their families.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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