January 2018 list by Dan Berube
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| The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner by Daniel EllsbergAuthor Daniel Ellsberg (who leaked the Pentagon Papers) recounts his role in the RAND Corporation's 1960s study of the U.S. policy on nuclear strikes. Framed as a memoir, The Doomsday Machine explains how the nuclear policy developed, its flaws (which continue to the present), and the urgency of reducing the availability of nuclear weapons. |
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| Revolution Song: A Story of American Freedom by Russell ShortoDrawing on his subjects' diaries and correspondence as well as official records and other sources, historian Russell Shorto highlights the ideals of the American Revolutionary period by vividly portraying six individuals of the time. |
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| Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo by Jack CheeversIn January 1968, at the height of the Cold War, North Korean gunboats surrounded an American spy ship in international waters, took the crew prisoner, and made off with a boatload of top-secret documents. The incident of the USS Pueblo became an embarrassment for President Lyndon Johnson's administration and a cause célèbre for conservative politicians. |
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| The Rush: America's Fevered Quest for Fortune, 1848-1853 by Edward DolnickThe California Gold Rush, which kicked off with the discovery of gold in January 1848 at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California, led to an economic boon where savvy business owners made their fortunes by selling provisions and accommodations to those with Gold Rush Fever. |
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| Flashpoints: The Emerging Crisis in Europe by George FriedmanThe Treaty of Rome authorized the formation of the European Economic Community, effective January 1, 1958. This grew into today's European Union. Intelligence expert George Friedman discusses the current global stresses that threaten European stability and key flashpoints within Europe. He traces centuries of Europe's social and intellectual history and examines the fragile structure of the EU. |
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| Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I by Charles SpencerWhat happens to the king-killers when the king's heir is restored to the throne? That's what historian Charles Spencer explores in Killers of the King, which recounts the execution of Britain's King Charles I on January 30, 1649. After he became King, Charles II showed no mercy on the 59 men who signed Charles I's death warrant. |
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| Helga's Diary: A Young Girl's Account of Life in a Concentration Camp by Helga Weiss; translated by Neil BermelThis personal record of the Holocaust by Helga Weiss, one of the few survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, which was destroyed in January 1945 just before Soviet troops arrived, depicts the frantic efforts of Nazi administrators to shuttle captive Jews to a functioning camp in the face of Allied advances. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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