Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori - Māori Language Week
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New and Recently Released!
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| The true American: murder and mercy in Texas by Anand GiridharadasSoon after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, a Dallas resident with a criminal record went on a shooting rampage, killing two people he thought were Muslims and critically injuring another. Mark Stroman, a self-characterized biker, was soon arrested, tried, and sentenced to death. The injured victim, Raisuddin Bhuiyan, a Bangladeshi immigrant, not only recovered but launched a campaign to save Stroman from execution. By alternating the two men's stories, journalist Anand Giridharadas compares their backgrounds, extensively using direct quotes to help readers understand their motivations. The True American sharply and subtly depicts the "shifting, volatile meaning of American identity in the post-9/11 era" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The little girl who fought the Great Depression: Shirley Temple and 1930s America by John F. KassonWhen Franklin D. Roosevelt moved into the White House in 1933, he was determined to restore Americans' spirits and the American economy, but he needed resources besides social and economic measures to restore consumer confidence. Cue the entrance of Hollywood child star Shirley Temple, with her irresistible smile and engaging talents. In this fascinating book, cultural historian John Kasson shows how her 1930s films raised spirits, incidentally leading Americans to spend millions on movie tickets and memorabilia. Her partnership with co-star Bill "Bojangles" Robinson also gave hope to African Americans while significantly breaking a racial barrier. Not just a biography, The Little Girl Who Fought the Great Depression presents an absorbing study of cultural history. |
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The blood telegram
by Gary J. Bass
A full-length account of the involvement of Richard Nixon and Henry Kissinger in Pakistan's brutal 1970s military dictatorship argues that they encouraged China's military presence in India, illegally supplied weapons used in massacres and embraced military strategies that have negatively impacted geopolitics for decades. By the author of Freedom's Battle.
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Village of secrets: defying the Nazis in Vichy France
by Caroline Moorehead
High up in the mountains of the southern Massif Central in France lie tiny, remote villages united by a long and particular history. During the Nazi occupation, the inhabitants of Le Chambon-sur-Lignon and the other villages of the Plateau Vivarais Lignon saved several thousand people from the concentration camps. There were no informers, no denunciations, and no one broke ranks. Together, the villagers held their silence, and kept persecuted people - resisters, freemasons, communists and above all Jews, many of them children and babies - from danger. Just why and how Le Chambon and its outlying villages came to save so many people has never been fully told. But several of the remarkable architects of the mission are still alive, as are a number of those they saved. Caroline Moorehead travelled across the world to interview these people, and searched archives that few have seen, to bring us the unforgettable testimonies of many of those involved in this extraordinary account. .
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Japan: the paradox of harmony
by Keiko Hirata
Following a crushing defeat in World War II, Japan rose like a phoenix from the literal ashes to become a model of modernity and success, for decades Asia's premier economic giant. Yet it remains a nation hobbled by rigid gender roles, protectionist policies, and a defensive, inflexible corporate system that has helped bring about political and economic stagnation. The unique social cohesion that enabled Japan to cope with adversity and develop swiftly has also encouraged isolationism, given rise to an arrogant and inflexible bureaucracy, and prevented the country from addressing difficult issues. Its culture of hard work--in fact, overwork--is legendary, but a declining population and restrictions on opportunity threaten the nation's future.
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| The scorpion's sting: antislavery and the coming of the Civil War by James OakesIn The Scorpion's Sting, historian James Oakes presents a riveting analysis of the abolition of slavery in the United States. He begins by explaining that leading antislavery advocates hoped that surrounding slaveholding states with free states would gradually and peacefully eliminate the institution. However, secession and the Civil War broke out before slavery could be less violently extinguished. Oakes' insightful discussion highlights a key difference between pro- and antislavery views: the question of property rights versus the human right to freedom. This complex work offers a thought-provoking contribution to Civil War history and the broader history of slavery. |
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| The long shadow: the legacies of the Great War in the Twentieth Century by David ReynoldsWorld War I devastated much of continental Europe, realigned colonial holdings among imperial powers, and killed or wounded nearly 39 million military personnel. Its political and economic effects remain apparent in the 21st century. In The Long Shadow, Cambridge University historian David Reynolds analyzes not only the impact of the Great War, but the reasons each country joined the fight, the ways in which non-European countries were involved, civilian attitudes about the war at the time (especially in Britain), and the many other global repercussions. Kirkus Reviews praises the scholarship in "this highly readable analysis," which anyone interested in the history of the past 100 years will want to take in. |
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Focus on: Ancient Peoples and Civilizations
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| The rise of Rome: the making of the world's greatest empire by Anthony EverittHow did a humble market village on the Tiber River become the Western world's first superpower? In The Rise of Rome, historian Anthony Everitt narrates Roman history beginning with the arrival of Aeneas and his band of refugees from the sack of Troy about 1100 BC. Governed by a series of kings for hundreds of years, Rome became a republic by the fifth century BC., and eventually elected its first emperor, Octavian Caesar Augustus, in 27 BC. This briskly told, compact history is perfect for readers looking for an introduction or those more versed in Roman history and intrigued by Everitt's narrative approach. |
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Egypt-omania: our three thousand year obsession with the land of the pharaohs
by Bob Brier
From ancient times to the discovery of Tutankhamen's tomb by Howard Carter in the 1920s, this is an exploration into the ancient civilization that still endures in ours today. It traces our obsession with the mummies that seem to have cheated death and the pyramids that seem to have grown from the sand.
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Ancient Syria: a three thousand year history
by Trevor Bryce
Syria has long been one of the most trouble-prone and politically volatile regions of the Near and Middle Eastern world. This book looks back beyond the troubles of the present to tell the 3000 year story of what came before: the peoples, cities, and kingdoms that arose, flourished, declined, and disappeared in the lands that now constitute Syria, from the time of the region's earliest written records in the third millennium BC, right through the reign of the Roman emperor Diocletian in the early 4th century AD.
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| The rise and fall of ancient Egypt by Toby WilkinsonAncient Egypt, well known for its artifacts that include the Great Pyramid at Giza, the Sphinx, and the items found in the tomb of Tutankhamun, developed and sustained the first nation-state from about 3000 BC until the Roman conquest in 30 BC. Egyptian culture exemplified stability, artistic and engineering achievement, and social harmony. Historian Toby Wilkinson surveys Egypt's history in a compact, accessible, and well-researched volume that includes endnotes extending his discussions. Wilkinson, contrary to most Egyptologists' views, also emphasizes the despotic measures the Pharaohs employed to sustain their regimes. This comprehensive presentation introduces Egyptian history to general readers and offers thought-provoking conclusions to specialists. |
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