April 2021 list by Elizabeth Hanby |
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Calhoun: American Heretic
by Robert Elder
Describes the life of the American statesman and political theorist who served as Vice President under John Quincy Adams and argued in favor of slavery and laid the groundwork for the South to secede the Union.
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Children Under Fire: An American Crisis
by John Woodrow Cox
Based on the Pulitzer-finalist series on the effects of gun violence on children, Cox investigates the effectiveness of gun safety reforms and the ongoing realities of traumatized survivors of community and campus shootings.
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Churchill & Son
by Josh Ireland
An intimate portrait of the World War II prime minister’s enduring but volatile relationship with his only son includes coverage of Churchill’s own complicated childhood and the impact of ambition, society, and history on his son’s life.
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The Enlightenment: The Pursuit of Happiness, 1680-1790
by Ritchie Robertson
An Oxford University German professor and Times Literary Supplement lead reviewer presents a sweeping history of the Enlightenment period that illuminates the era’s purposeful, innovation-driven efforts to promote human happiness.
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Freedom
by Sebastian Junger
Throughout history, Junger claims, humans have been driven by the quest for two cherished ideals: community and freedom. The two don’t coexist easily: we value individuality and self-reliance, yet are utterly dependent on community for our most basic needs. Junger examines this tension that lies at the heart of what it means to be human.
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Fulfillment: Winning and Losing in One-Click America
by Alec MacGillis
MacGillis examines how Amazon’s trillion-dollar network of delivery hubs, data centers, and corporate campuses reflects the company’s increasing influence over local and federal governments.
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My Remarkable Journey
by Katherine Johnson
The woman at heart of the smash New York Times bestseller and Oscar-winning film Hidden Figures tells the full story of her life, including what it took to work at NASA, help land the first man on the moon, and live through a century of turmoil and change.
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Perversion of Justice: The Jeffrey Epstein Story
by Julie K. Brown
Recounts Brown's risky investigation of Jeffrey Epstein's underage sex trafficking operation, and the explosive reporting for the Miami Herald that finally brought him to justice while exposing the powerful people and broken system that protected him.
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Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future
by Elizabeth Kolbert
Pulitzer Prize-winning author Kolbert explores humanity's transformative impact on the environment, asking: After doing so much damage, can we change nature, this time to save it? She examines how the very sorts of interventions that have imperiled our planet are increasingly seen as the only hope for its salvation.
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Until Proven Safe: The History and Future of Quarantine
by Geoff Manaugh
Manaugh tracks the history and future of quarantine around the globe ― from the crumbling lazarettos of the Mediterranean, built to contain the Black Death, to an experimental Ebola unit in London; and from the hallways of the CDC to closed-door simulations where pharmaceutical execs and epidemiologists prepare for the outbreak of a novel coronavirus.
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The Western Front: A History of the Great War, 1914-1918
by Nick Lloyd
Lloyd brings together the latest research from America, France, Britain, and Germany, telling the story of the war in France and Belgium from the German invasion in 1914 to the armistice four years later. His sweeping chronicle reveals that the trenches were, as often as not, sites of dramatic technological and tactical advances, and that superior generalship helped determine the outcome of the war.
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