May 2017 list by Dan Berube
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| March 1917: On the Brink of War and Revolution by Will EnglundWorld War I began in August 1914, but the U.S. remained neutral until April 1917. In this riveting history, author Will Englund details President Woodrow Wilson's reasons for bringing his country into the war, illuminating other American leaders' arguments for and against war (including Congresswoman Jeannette Ranking, journalist H.L. Mencken, and former President Theodore Roosevelt). A major element in Wilson's thinking was Russian Tsar Nicholas II's March abdication, but the most significant factor was the escalating German submarine attacks on American shipping. |
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| Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David GrannIn 1920s Oklahoma, the Osage Indian Nation possessed immense wealth because their land contained large petroleum reserves. In Killers of the Flower Moon, New Yorker staff writer David Grann portrays a series of murders on the reservation. Local authorities couldn't solve the crimes, but an investigation by the relatively new FBI (led by the young J. Edgar Hoover) identified and charged the killers, whose primary motivation was greed. In this thoroughly researched history, Grann also reveals conspiracy and corruption beyond what the FBI discovered. |
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| No One Cares about Crazy People: The Chaos and Heartbreak of Mental Health in America by Ron PowersAuthor Ron Powers combines a well-researched discussion of the social history of mental illness with an account of his two sons' schizophrenia. Sharply critiquing recent political comments about the mentally ill (as reflected in the book's title), Powers traces the treatment of these patients from 18th-century Britain's Bedlam hospital to 21st-century American practices. By describing his sons' ordeals, Powers makes the too-often ignored failures of mental health care heart-rendingly visible. |
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| A Fine Mess: A Global Quest for a Simpler, Fairer, and More Efficient Tax System by T.R. ReidAccording to acclaimed Washington Post correspondent T.R. Reid, the U.S. income tax code is a complete failure, bloated with loopholes and intelligible only to tax lawyers. Reid reports on his exploration of taxation systems around the world, offering simpler approaches he says would work in the American economy. Pointing out that the income tax code has been completely reworked every 32 years since its 1913 inception, he argues that it's time for another overhaul. Though many individuals and groups will oppose the elimination of their favorite deductions, Reid's accessible explanations clarify the need for reform. |
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| City of Light, City of Poison: Murder, Magic, and the First Police Chief of Paris by Holly TuckerDuring the reign of King Louis XIV of France, Paris suffered from a crime wave that culminated in the murders of two judicial officials. The second murder impelled Louis to appoint a crime czar to clean up the (literal) filth and corruption in the City of Light. As Paris' first police chief, Nicolas de la Reynie uncovered a crime ring that involved high-level French aristocrats, brought them to trial, and executed many. After de la Reynie's death, Louis himself destroyed a lot of the records, but author Holly Tucker mines other historical sources to chronicle the entire operation -- the cleanup of Paris, the crimes, and the punishments -- enriching her fascinating picture with details of Parisian daily life. |
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Ice Ghosts: The Epic Hunt for the Lost Franklin Expedition
by Paul Watson
A Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, author of Where War Lives and expedition member describes how an unlikely combination of marine science and Inuit knowledge helped solve the mystery of the lost Franklin expedition of 1845.
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Arthur and Sherlock: Conan Doyle and the Creation of Holmes
by Michael Sims
The author of The Story of Charlotte's Web explores the rich events behind the creation of young Arthur Conan Doyle's iconic detective, revealing the impact of his early poverty and medical experience on the development of his characters and stories.
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Rasputin: Faith, Power, and the Twilight of the Romanovs
by Douglas Smith
On the 100th anniversary of his murder, a biography of the mystical faith healer and close friend of the last Tsar of Russia describes his strange rise to power, his penchant for debauchery and his involvement in the end of the Romanov dynasty.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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