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History and Current Events October 2018
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| Pandemic 1918: Eyewitness Accounts from the Greatest Medical Holocaust in Modern History by Catharine ArnoldA collection testimonies from victims and survivors of the influenza pandemic that killed more than 50 million people worldwide between 1918 and 1919.
While reports of the disease were being censored by nations in the midst of WWI, neutral Spain publicized the affliction of its ruler, King Alfonso XIII, leading to the disease becoming known as the "Spanish flu" -- and the mistaken assumption that Spain experienced the worst effects of the outbreak. |
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| How Do We Look by Mary BeardIn this joyful, accessible, elegantly illustrated volume, classicist Mary Beard reexamines ancient non-Western, non-male-centric art from viewers' (rather than artists') perspectives, exploring how bodies and the divine have been perceived throughout history.
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| 21 Lessons for the 21st Century by Yuval Noah HarariIn this work, Harari presents a multidisciplinary approach to understanding contemporary challenges and maintaining rational thinking in a "post-truth" world.
"This well-informed and searching book is one to be savored and widely discussed" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| These Truths: A History of the United States by Jill LeporeIn this engrossing, vignette-laden history of America, Harvard historian and bestselling author Jill Lepore (The Secret History of Wonder Woman) explores the contradictions between the country's founding ideals and its historical and contemporary practices. As Lepore writes, "To study the past is to unlock the prison of the present." |
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| Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places by Colin DickeyReaders might enjoy this measured, cogent history of notable haunted houses, institutions, and towns in America. Furthermore, this intriguing road trip narrative poignantly grapples with what ghost lore reveals about thorny topics like race.
"Ghost stories are how cities make sense of themselves: how they narrate the tragedies of their past, weave cautionary tales for the future."
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| American Monsters: A History of Monster Lore, Legends, and Sightings in America by Linda S. GodfreyReporter and "creature expert" Linda S. Godfrey draws on eyewitness accounts, historical documents, and folklore to investigate the otherworldly beasts allegedly populating the American landscape. Readers with an interest in such creatures as Bigfoot, the Jersey Devil, the Mothman, and Wampus cats would find this an enjoyable read.
A "handy encyclopedia for enthusiastic cryptozoologists of all ages" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Apparitionists: A Tale of Phantoms, Fraud, Photography, and the Man Who Captured Lincoln's Ghost by Peter ManseauThis engaging and balanced narrative documents the work of controversial "spirit photographer" William Mumler, who was tried for fraud in a highly publicized 1869 case that featured showman P.T. Barnum as a witness for the prosecution.
Mumler's most famous photograph, taken six years after Abraham Lincoln's assassination, purportedly shows Lincoln's ghost hovering behind his wife. |
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| The 37th Parallel: The Secret Truth Behind America's UFO Highway by Ben MezrichSparked by unexplained livestock mutilations in his rural Colorado town, follow along with small-town police officer Chuck Zukowski as he travels 3,000 miles in a quest to prove that UFOs exist. Fans of the X-Files and Close Encounters of the Third Kind would find this a lively and dramatic read. |
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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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