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History and Current Events May 2021
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| In Search of a Kingdom: Francis Drake, Elizabeth I, and the Perilous Birth of the... by Laurence BergreenWhat it's about: how pirate Sir Francis Drake's exploits on behalf of Elizabeth I helped establish the British Empire.
Why you might like it: Rife with descriptive accounts of swashbuckling derring-do and plenty of court intrigue, acclaimed historian Laurence Bergreen's dramatic latest offers fresh insights into the relationship between Drake and the queen. |
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Empire of Pain: the Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty
by Patrick Radden Keefe
The award-winning author of Say Nothing presents a narrative account of how a prominent wealthy family sponsored the creation and marketing of one of the most commonly prescribed and addictive painkillers of the opioid crisis.
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| Children Under Fire: An American Crisis by John Woodrow CoxWhat it is: a sobering study examining the traumatic impact of gun violence on children.
What's inside: heartwrenching profiles of survivors and those who've lost loved ones to gun violence; persuasive calls for gun reform backed by extensive research.
Book buzz: Children Under Fire is an expansion of reporter John Woodrow Cox's Pulitzer Prize-nominated Washington Post series. |
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A Contest of Civilizations: Exposing the Crisis of American Exceptionalism in the Civil War Era
by Andrew F. Lang
"In this sweeping history of political ideas, Andrew F. Lang reappraises the Civil War era as a crisis of American exceptionalism. Through this lens, Lang shows how the intellectual, political, and social ramifications of the war and its meaning rippled through the decades that followed, not only for the nation's own people but also in the ways the nation sought to redefine its place on the world stage"
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| Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America by Alec MacGillisWhat it is: an impassioned account of Amazon's destabilizing impact on American communities and labor practices, featuring interviews with Amazon employees.
Topics include: how Amazon fosters competition between cities vying to host its new facilities, despite limited job growth for the "winners;" how its campuses contribute to gentrification and displacement.
For fans of: Jessica Bruder's Nomadland. |
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A Brief History of Earth: Four Billion Years in Eight Chapters
by Andrew H. Knoll
An acclaimed Harvard geologist presents a narrative chronicle of the Earth’s 4.6-billion-year evolution that places the environmental crises of today’s world in a context that explains the planet’s fragile capacity to support life.
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The Black Church: This is Our Story, This is Our Song
by Henry Louis Gates
The Harvard University professor, NAACP Image Award recipient and Emmy Award-winning creator of The African Americans presents a history of the Black church in America that illuminates its essential role in culture, politics and resistance to white supremacy.
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| Horizontal Vertigo: A City Called Mexico by Juan Villoro; translated by Alfred MacAdamWhat it is: Mexican novelist Juan Villoro's inventive essay collection exploring the history of Mexico City, from ancient times to the present.
What sets it apart: Villoro's engaging nonlinear narrative, grouped by themes including "Places," "City Characters," and "Ceremonies," evokes the experience of travel by encouraging readers to discover the city on their own terms.
What's in a name? "Horizontal Vertigo" refers to the decision to build the city outward rather than upward to mitigate damage from earthquakes. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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