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History and Current EventsMay 2015
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"Around our house, my experiments were regarded as little more than mildly amusing, sort of weird, and definitely gross. My food collection was a funny little hobby. Until the guacamole incident." ~ from Melanie Warner's Pandora's Lunchbox
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New and Recently Released!
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| Kill Chain: The Rise of the High-Tech Assassins by Andrew CockburnDrones and other technological innovations have come to dominate American military budgets and strategies, according to security analyst Andrew Cockburn of Harper's magazine. These weapons make it possible to kill individuals by remote control, leading to changes in U.S. policy regarding assassination. In Kill Chain, which Kirkus Reviews calls "sharp-eyed and disturbing," Cockburn reviews the economic, political, and especially human costs of waging war by targeted killing. For more on remote assassination, read Chris Woods' Sudden Justice, and check out T. Mark McCurley's Hunter Killer for details on the technology and uses of drones. |
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| What Stands in a Storm: Three Days in the Worst Superstorm to Hit the South's... by Kim CrossIn What Stands in a Storm, journalist Kim Cross vividly recreates the effects of a three-day superstorm that produced 358 tornadoes across 21 states in April 2011. Her "you were there" narration focused on Alabama draws on personal interviews, video recordings, text messages, and meteorological records to chronicle the storms in that state. Though her descriptions of the tornadoes and aftermath are "gut-wrenching" (Publishers Weekly), Cross closes with inspiring accounts of how the recovery and rebuilding process brought a measure of healing and peace to survivors. For another page-turner, due out this month, try Holly Bailey's The Mercy of the Sky, about the May 20, 2013 tornado that struck Moore, Oklahoma. |
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| Future Crimes: Everything Is Connected, Everyone Is Vulnerable and What We Can... by Marc GoodmanMany people know about cybercrimes such as identity theft, but few are aware of the vast -- and rapidly increasing -- risks made possible by the combination of "smart" objects and the Internet. In easily understood descriptions, cybersecurity expert Marc Goodman details the vulnerability of convenient devices (like baby monitors, GPS, on-line calendars, and more) and describes the near-future potential for cybercrime or government interference to paralyze our lives. Though Future Crimes includes reassuring information about how to minimize the dangers of digital connectedness, anyone who uses the Internet will find this a sobering report. |
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| Anonymous Soldiers: The Struggle for Israel, 1917-1947 by Bruce HoffmanFrom 1917 to 1947, growing opposition to colonial rule in the eastern Mediterranean region led to guerrilla actions that undermined the British administration of the Palestinian Mandate. Drawing on recently declassified American, Israeli, and British documents, anti-terrorism expert Bruce Hoffman details key events that preceded the creation of the State of Israel, emphasizing the importance of both Arab opposition and Jewish underground terrorist movements in defeating the British authorities. Delving into personal communications and memoirs as well as official records, Hoffman reveals the opinions and actions of the "anonymous soldiers," in addition to well-known leaders, in this compelling portrait of an era. |
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| The Wilderness of Ruin: A Tale of Madness, Boston's Great Fire, and the Hunt... by Roseanne MontilloIn Gilded Age Boston, a serial criminal stalked, tortured, and sometimes killed children in working-class neighborhoods. Roseanne Montillo's The Wilderness of Ruin explores the criminal investigation that identified the murderer and the resulting international medical and judicial debate over the nature of criminal minds. Drawing on contemporaneous accounts, including the killer Jesse Pomeroy's autobiography, Montillo employs the "graphic descriptive powers of a historical novelist" (Kirkus Reviews) to produce a rich and gripping narrative of the murders and of Boston's late-19th-century history. For another disturbing analysis, focused more on Pomeroy than the historical context, read Harold Schechter's Fiend. |
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| Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World by Dan KoeppelIn this absorbing biological and cultural history of the banana, journalist Dan Koeppel traces the seedless, sexless fruit's journey from its Asian birthplace to Africa, where it became a staple crop, to the Caribbean and Central America, where it became the foundation of an industry capable of making (and breaking) entire nations. Banana also takes readers to labs where scientists develop new varieties, hoping to create a disease-resistant type. For more on the banana industry, check out Peter Chapman's Bananas or Rich Cohen's The Fish That Ate the Whale, a biography of United Fruit Company's founder Samuel Zemurray. |
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| The Food of a Younger Land: A Portrait of American Food... by Mark KurlanskyDescribing regional specialties from Montana's fried beaver tail to Sioux and Chippewa dishes to Maine lobster, the essays collected here were originally part of a 1930s Works Progress Administration (WPA) project called "America Eats." Thousands of writers (some well known) wrote about foods found across the country, but the guide was never completed. In The Food of a Younger Land, historian Mark Kurlansky (known for his microhistories Cod and Salt) has selected essays from the archived project and compiled them, including recipes, illustrations, and local slang. If you're looking for something different to prepare, don't miss out on this "culinary and historical keepsake" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| For All the Tea in China: How England Stole the World's Favorite Drink and Changed... by Sarah RoseUntil the early 19th century, large-scale tea cultivation took place only in China, which closely guarded trade in the popular drink. Hoping to break this monopoly, the East India Company sent Scottish botanist Robert Fortune to obtain young plants and smuggle them to India, where Britain ruled. In For All the Tea in China, journalist Sarah Rose provides an exciting account of Fortune's adventures in Chinese territory (where Westerners were unwelcome) and describes how he transplanted Camellia sinensis to the Indian Himalayan region. For another engaging history of the plant and beverage, check out Jeff Koehler's Darjeeling (to be released this month), which focuses on Himalayan tea. |
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| The Bloodless Revolution: A Cultural History of Vegetarianism from 1600... by Tristram StuartIn The Bloodless Revolution, historian Tristram Stuart explores the origins and development of vegetarianism, which was relatively unknown in Western society until the 17th century. The earliest vegetarians were inspired by a variety of biblical, philosophical, and scientific considerations, but by the 18th century Hindu influences spread to Europe, and later, socio-political theories connecting upper-class oppression and meat-eating emerged from the French Revolution. Tracing the increasingly complex vegetarian movement into the 21st century, Stuart outlines its connections to environmentalism as well as nutrition theory and advocacy for animal rights. He also supplies fascinating brief biographies of selected vegetarians in this "marvelously researched" (Booklist) book. |
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| Pandora's Lunchbox: How Processed Food Took Over the American Meal by Melanie WarnerAfter noticing that a slab of processed cheese can keep its color and shape for years, journalist Melanie Warner embarked on an investigative journey to learn about the production of packaged foods. Visiting research labs, food science departments, and factories, she gathered information about foods from breakfast cereal to soy meat-substitutes. In Pandora's Lunchbox, she describes what she learned and also reviews the history of food safety regulation. Considering additives from preservatives to vitamins, as well as nutritional value lost during processing, Warner concludes that it's best to avoid processed foods when possible. Kirkus Reviews praises her book as a "well-researched, nonpreachy, worthwhile" report. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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