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History and Current Events February 2021 |
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The Nazi Spy Ring in America: Hitler's Agents, the FBI, and the Case That Stirred the Nation
by Rhodri Jeffreys-Jones
What it is: The first full account of Nazi spies in 1930s America and how they were exposed.
Why you might like it: This fast-paced history provides essential insight into the role of espionage in shaping American perceptions of Germany in the years leading up to US entry into World War II. Fascinating and thoroughly researched, The Nazi Spy Ring in America sheds light on a now-forgotten but significant episode in the history of international relations and the development of the FBI.
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Ten Lessons for a Post-Pandemic World
by Fareed Zakaria
What it is: The CNN host and Washington Post columnist shares 10 lessons in subjects ranging from globalization and threat-preparedness to inequality and technological advancement to outline the likely political, social, technological and economic impact of the COVID-19 epidemic.
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The Ghost Ship of Brooklyn: An Untold Story of the American Revolution
by Robert P. Watson
What it's about: The most horrific struggle of the American Revolution occurred just 100 yards off New York, where more men died aboard a rotting prison ship than were lost to combat during the entirety of the war.
What's inside: Revealing for the first time hundreds of accounts culled from old newspapers, diaries, and military reports, award-winning historian Robert P. Watson follows the lives and ordeals of the ship's few survivors to tell the astonishing story of the cursed ship that killed thousands of Americans and yet helped secure victory in the fight for independence.
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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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Recently Added Ebooks—Blue Ridge Download Consortium
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Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World
by Simon Winchester
What it is: The author of The Perfectionists explores the concept of land ownership and how it has shaped history, examining how people fight over, steward and occasionally share land, and what humanity’s proprietary relationship with land means for the future.
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| A Black Women's History of the United States by Daina Ramey Berry and Kali Nicole GrossWhat it is: a sweeping yet concise history prioritizing the experiences of Black women whose "everyday heroism" shaped America.
What's inside: profiles of 11 lesser known Black women whose stories provide illuminating context for the Atlantic slave trade, the Great Migration, Jim Crow laws, protest movements, and more.
Try this next: Hood Feminism: Notes from the Women That a Movement Forgot by Mikki Kendall. |
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| Never Caught: The Washingtons' Relentless Pursuit of Their Runaway Slave, Ona Judge by Erica Armstrong DunbarHow it began: In 1796, on the eve of being "gifted" to one of George and Martha Washington's granddaughters, lifelong Washington family slave and seamstress Ona Judge made a daring escape to freedom.
What happened next: Pursued by Washington for years, Judge settled in New Hampshire, where she lived freely for the next half century.
Book buzz: This thought-provoking National Book Award Finalist offers an eye-opening perspective on the legacy of America's first president. |
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| What Truth Sounds Like: Robert F. Kennedy, James Baldwin, and Our Unfinished... by Michael Eric DysonWhat it's about: the fateful May 1963 meeting organized by attorney general Robert F. Kennedy and James Baldwin to discuss race relations.
In attendance: Lorraine Hansberry, Harry Belafonte, Lena Horne, psychologist Kenneth Clark, and Freedom Rider Jerome Smith.
Why it matters: This "watershed moment in American politics" jump-started difficult conversations that continue to resonate today. |
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| Stony the Road: Reconstruction, White Supremacy, and the Rise of Jim Crow by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.What it is: a sobering history of America's Reconstruction era and Jim Crow legislation that offers striking parallels to contemporary white supremacy movements.
Topics include: eugenics and scientific racism; mass produced stereotypes and blackface; the emergence of the "New Negro."
Reviewers say: "indispensable for understanding American history" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Driving While Black: African American Travel and the Road to Civil Rights by Gretchen SorinWhat it is: an accessible and engaging history of the freedoms (and limitations) of 20th-century Black mobility.
Why you might like it: Featuring photos, interviews, and author Gretchen Sorin's own memories of family car trips, Driving While Black spotlights the ways in which Black travel signaled Black resistance.
Further reading: Overground Railroad: The Green Book and the Roots of Black Travel in America by Candacy Taylor. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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