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History and Current Events January 2020
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| Broke: Hardship and Resilience in a City of Broken Promises by Jodie Adams Kirshner; foreword by Michael Eric DysonAn eye-opening portrait of Detroit, Michigan following the city's 2013 bankruptcy filing, including profiles of seven Detroit citizens trying to make a better life while facing poverty, urban blight, and government negligence. |
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| America for Americans: A History of Xenophobia in the United States by Erika LeeA sweeping yet accessible deep dive into America's fear and hatred of immigrants, from the Colonial era to the present. This might be worth a read if you are interested in the 19th-century Know Nothing movement; the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882; Japanese American internment during World War II; or contemporary Islamophobia and anti-Mexican sentiments. |
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| Checkpoint Charlie: The Cold War, the Berlin Wall, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth by Iain MacGregorDiscover how Cold War tensions spurred the construction of Checkpoint Charlie, the border crossing separating East and West Germany that became a powerful symbol of the era. This dramatic, well-researched account was published to mark the 30th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall including never-before-seen interviews with border guards, intelligence operatives, and escapees. |
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| Highway of Tears: A True Story of Racism, Indifference, and the Pursuit of Justice for... by Jessica McDiarmidA heart-wrenching exposé on British Columbia's Highway 16, known as the "Highway of Tears" because of the disappearances or murders of many Indigenous girls and women in the area.
Journalist Jessica McDiarmid's "powerful must-read" (Booklist) illuminates how these unsolved and underreported crimes are a microcosm of the systemic forces that continue to fail vulnerable Indigenous populations throughout Canada. |
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| The Ship of Dreams: The Sinking of the Titanic and the End of the Edwardian Era by Gareth RussellAn extensively researched, evocatively detailed account of the Titanic's fateful voyage as experienced by six first-class passengers including Lucy Leslie, Countess of Rothes, who rowed a lifeboat full of passengers to safety; and Jewish American immigrant Ida Strauss, who chose to die with her husband rather than board a lifeboat without him.
Don't miss author Gareth Russell's debunking of many of the popular conspiracy theories and falsehoods about the ship's sinking. |
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| This Land is Their Land: The Wampanoag Indians, Plymouth Colony, and the Troubled... by David J. SilvermanDiscover the complex 50-year alliance between the Wampanoag tribe and European colonizers that ended with King Philip's War, a three-year conflict that almost completely annihilated the Wampanoag. This impassioned narrative centers the Wampanoag people's experiences, offering insights into why the alliance was brokered and how the tribe persisted in the face of devastation. |
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| The Wonders: The Extraordinary Performers Who Transformed the Victorian Age by John WoolfA lively and thought-provoking history of the "freak show," which gained considerable popularity in the 19th century even as performers were increasingly exploited by showmen like P.T. Barnum. Historian John Woolf's well-researched debut gives a voice to the performers who had few other opportunities for employment.
Did you know? Queen Victoria's known love of freak performers helped elevate the public perception of freak shows as high-brow amusements. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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New Hanover County Library
201 Chestnut Street Wilmington, North Carolina 28401 910-798-6301 www.nhclibrary.org |
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