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History and Current Events January 2018
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Forged in crisis : the power of courageous leadership in turbulent times
by Nancy F. Koehn
A Harvard Business School historian presents an in-depth portrait of five extraordinary figures—including Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglass and Rachel Carson—to illuminate how great leaders are made in times of adversity and the diverse skills they summon in order to prevail.
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Madison Park : A Place of Hope
by Eric L. Lamar Motley
A special assistant to George W. Bush and executive vice president of The Aspen Institute think tank chronicles his vibrant coming of age in a small Alabama community founded by freed slaves, where he learned valuable lessons about helping others, embracing faith and fighting racial injustice.
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The naughty nineties : the triumph of the American libido
by David Friend
A comprehensive, lighthearted assessment of how the rise of the internet, reality television and tabloid culture transformed the boundaries of sexuality in the 1990s combines detailed reporting with first-person accounts by such individuals as Monica Lewinsky, Joan Rivers and Jesse Jackson.
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The fearless Benjamin Lay : the Quaker dwarf who became the first revolutionary abolitionist
by Marcus Rediker
"The little-known story of an eighteenth-century Quaker dwarf who fiercely attacked slavery and imagined a new, more humane way of life. The Fearless Benjamin Lay chronicles the transatlantic life and times of a singular and astonishing man--a Quaker dwarf who became one of the first ever to demand the total, unconditional emancipation of all enslaved Africans around the world. He performed public guerrilla theater to shame slave masters, insisting that human bondage violated the fundamental principles of Christianity. He wrote a fiery, controversial book against bondage that Benjamin Franklin published in 1738. He lived in a cave, made his own clothes, refused to consume anything produced by slave labor, championed animal rights, and embraced vegetarianism. He acted on his ideals to create a new, practical, revolutionary way of life"--Provided by publisher
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The people are going to rise like the waters upon your shore : a story of American rage
by Jared Sexton
A firsthand account of the 2016 presidential election and the cultural forces that divided both parties and powered Donald Trump into the White House, through in-the-field reports and deep analyses, is both the story of the most unexpected election in modern political history and a sobering chronicle of the U.S. democracy’s political polarization.
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The long reach of the Sixties : LBJ, Nixon, and the making of the contemporary Supreme Court
by Laura Kalman
"The Warren Court of the 1950s and 1960s was the most liberal in American history. Yet within a few short years, new appointments redirected the Court in a more conservative direction, a trend that continued for decades. However, even after Warren retired and the makeup of the court changed, his Court cast a shadow that extends to our own era. In The Long Reach of the Sixties, Laura Kalman focuses on the late 1960s and early 1970s, when Presidents Johnson and Nixon attempted to dominate the Court and alter its course. Using newly released--and consistently entertaining--recordings of Lyndon Johnson's and Richard Nixon's telephone conversations, she roots their efforts to mold the Court in their desire to protect their Presidencies. The fierce ideological battles--between the executive, legislative, and judicial branches--that ensued transformed the meaning of the Warren Court in American memory. Despite the fact that the Court's decisions generally reflected public opinion, the surrounding debate calcified the image of the Warren Court as activist and liberal. Abe Fortas's embarrassing fall and Nixon's campaign against liberal justices helped make the term "activist Warren Court" totemic for liberals and conservatives alike. The fear of a liberal courthas changed the appointment process forever, Kalman argues. Drawing from sources in the Ford, Reagan, Bush I, and Clinton presidential libraries, as well as the justices' papers, she shows how the desire to avoid another Warren Court has politicized appointments by an order of magnitude. Among other things, presidents now almost never nominate politicians as Supreme Court justices (another response to Warren, who had been the governor of California). Sophisticated, lively, and attuned to the ironies ofhistory, The Long Reach of the Sixties is essential reading for all students of the modern Court and U.S. political history."
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Future war : preparing for the new global battlefield
by Robert H. Latiff
A retired U.S. Air Force major general presents an expert assessment of how evolving technologies will change virtually every aspect of war as it is known, outlining urgent recommendations for how to best prepare for imminent national security challenges.
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The Doomsday Machine: Confessions of a Nuclear War Planner
by Daniel Ellsberg
Author 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.
This sobering and thought-provoking book shines a spotlight on issues that have become more prominent since North Korea started demonstrating their missile capabilities.
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Hannibal's oath : the life and wars of Rome's greatest enemy
by John Prevas
Describes the legends and facts around the enigmatic military genius, from his childhood training in military camps in Spain, to his crossing the Alps, stunning victories in Italy and his humiliating loss in North Africa that resulted in his banishment from Carthage.
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The Unwomanly Face of War: An Oral History of Women in World War II
by Svetlana Aleksievich; translated by Richard Pevear and Larissa Volokhonsky
In this absorbing oral history, Nobel Prize-winning author Svetlana Aleksievich compiles firsthand reports of Russian women's military service in World War II. Noting that the women she interviewed were reluctant to discuss their experiences, she also reveals that their perceptions differ significantly from those of men, even though the women often performed similar duties (for example, as snipers or tank drivers). Evocatively weaving their accounts into a vivid tapestry, The Unwomanly Face of War brings previously unnoticed ordeals and achievements to light.
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The White King : Charles I, Traitor, Murderer, Martyr
by Leanda De Lisle
Transporting readers back to England in the first half of the 17th century, a dramatic portrait of a monarch in a country on the verge of executing its king draws on previously unseen manuscripts to depict a man who was not cruel enough for his cruel times, and who paid a terrible price for his personal honor he so valued.
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The last Palestinian : the rise and reign of Mahmoud Abbas
by Grant Rumley
Draws on interviews with key figures in Ramallah, Jerusalem and Washington to trace the Palestinian leader's youth in Galilee, his family's escape from the 1948 Israeli-Arab war, his education abroad, his emergence as a pivotal contributor to the Oslo peace process and his unsuccessful attempt to promote nonviolence during the Second Intifada.
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The last girl : my story of captivity, and my fight against the Islamic State
by Nadia Murad
A human rights activist and Nobel Peace Prize nominee traces the harrowing and ultimately inspiring story of her captivity by the Islamic State, describing how militants massacred the people of her Iraqi farming village, killing most of her family members and forcing her into prostitution before she escaped and became an advocate for human rights.
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Schlesinger : the imperial historian
by Richard Aldous
A major portrait of preeminent historian and intellectual Arthur Schlesinger Jr. traces his architecture of JFK's presidential legacy, his achievements as a biographer, his talents as a political image maker and the enduring influence of his best-selling A Thousand Days.
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The three lives of James Madison : genius, partisan, president
by Noah Feldman
A controversial assessment of what the author identifies as the three distinct arcs of the fourth American President's career explores how he redefined the United States in each of his political roles through his design of the Constitution, co-founding of the Democratic-Republican Party and invention of wartime economic sanctions.
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| Act of War: Lyndon Johnson, North Korea, and the Capture of the Spy Ship Pueblo by Jack CheeversWhat it's about: In 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.
Why you might like it: This is a well-researched and thrilling account. Espionage buffs, aficionados of Cold War history, and those concerned about current U.S.-North Korea relations shouldn't miss Act of War. |
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| The Rush: America's Fevered Quest for Fortune, 1848-1853 by Edward DolnickWhat it's about: The California Gold Rush, which was kicked off by the discovery of gold in January 1848 at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California.
Who will want to read it: American history buffs, those interested in financial history, and readers who appreciate vivid details of an exciting time.
Nuggets: 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 FriedmanBackground: The Treaty of Rome authorized the formation of the European Economic Community, effective January 1, 1958. This grew into today's European Union.
Why it's significant: Intelligence expert George Friedman discusses the 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.
Further reading: Take a look at Belgian Guy Verhofstadt's Europe's Last Chance, which argues for a strong federal European democracy. |
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| Killers of the King: The Men Who Dared to Execute Charles I by Charles SpencerWhat it's about: What 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.
Why you might like it: This detailed history illuminates the lives and political motives of the regicides, many of them now forgotten. |
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| Helga's Diary: A Young Girl's Account of Life in a Concentration Camp by Helga Weiss; translated by Neil BermelWhat it is: A personal record of the Holocaust by one of the few survivors of the Auschwitz concentration camp, which was destroyed in January 1945 just before Soviet troops arrived. Helga Weiss' diary depicts the frantic efforts of Nazi administrators to shuttle captive Jews to a functioning camp in the face of Allied advances.
What sets it apart: Begun when Weiss was eight years old, the diary depicts a child's-eye view of the Holocaust, from a Prague bomb shelter in 1938 to the end of World War II. It concludes with a 2011 interview with the author. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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