 Memorial Hall Library
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History and Current Events August 2023 |
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| Anne Boleyn & Elizabeth I: The Mother and Daughter Who Forever Changed British History by Tracy BormanWhat it's about: Though Anne Boleyn was beheaded by Henry VIII only three years after her daughter Elizabeth I's birth, she had a lasting impact on the future queen's life and rule.
What sets it apart: historian Tracy Borman's well-researched insights on lesser-known facets of Elizabeth I's reign.
Try this next: For another engaging history exploring royal family dynamics and influences during the Tudor period, read Daughters of the Winter Queen by Nancy Goldstone. |
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| Revolutionary Spring: Europe Aflame and the Fight For a New World, 1848-1849 by Christopher ClarkWhat it's about: how multiple revolutionary conflicts throughout Europe in the late 1840s spurred political movements that continue to resonate.
What's inside: a sweeping and accessible account penned by award-winning Cambridge historian Christopher Clark.
Reviewers say: "a magisterial recreation of an explosion that birthed the modern world" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in... by Audrey Clare FarleyWhat it is: the disturbing story of the identical Morlok quadruplets, who endured years of harrowing abuse from their parents before all four were diagnosed as schizophrenic; they later became known as the pseudonymous Genain quadruplets during their institutionalization.
Read it for: a nuanced exploration of the "nature vs. nurture" debate.
Further reading: For another well-researched account of multiple instances of schizophrenia within a single family, pick up Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker. |
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| Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America's Revolutions by Mattie KahnWhat it is: a rousing chronicle of how teen girl activists have shaped American history from the 19th century to the present.
Don't miss: profiles of overlooked trailblazers, including Chinese American suffragist Mabel Ping-Hua Lee and Montgomery bus boycott participant Mary Louise Smith.
Book buzz: author Mattie Kahn's hopeful debut has earned raves from Glamour, Vogue, Town & Country, and more. |
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| Black Folk: The Roots of the Black Working Class by Blair LM KelleyWhat it is: an insightful account of how the Black working class in 19th- and 20th-century America were instrumental in labor and civil rights movements.
Why you should read it: Historian Blair LM Kelley's persuasive latest explores how conversations about the working class reinforce racial hierarchies by centering white perspectives.
Food for thought: "the most active, most engaged, most informed, and most impassioned working class in America is the Black working class." |
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| A Most Tolerant Little Town: The Explosive Beginning of School Desegregation by Rachel Louise MartinAugust 26, 1956: One year before the Little Rock Nine made headlines for desegregating their Arkansas high school, 12 Black teens in small town Clinton, Tennessee became the first students to integrate a public high school in the South.
What happened next: After weeks of protests and violence, Clinton High School was bombed and destroyed, leading to a tumultuous trial.
Featuring: dozens of oral histories from townspeople, including members of the Clinton 12. |
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| Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness: Britain and the American Dream by Peter MooreWhat it's about: how the ideals of Enlightenment Britain inspired the American Revolution.
What's inside: an evocative account of the tense relationship between Britain and the colonies on the eve of revolution.
Why you might like it: Historian Peter Moore's accessible and engaging history has "the readability of fiction" (Booklist Reviews). |
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| A Thread of Violence: A Story of Truth, Invention, and Murder by Mark O'ConnellWhat it's about: In 1982, Dublin socialite Malcolm Macarthur murdered two people; after his release from prison nearly 30 years later, he met with author Mark O'Connell for a series of interviews.
Read it for: a compelling true crime tale reminiscent of an Alfred Hitchcock film.
Further reading: John Banville's award-winning novel The Book of Evidence, inspired by the case. |
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| The Sullivanians: Sex, Psychotherapy, and the Wild Life of an American Commune by Alexander StilleHow it began: In 1957 New York City, married therapists Saul Newton and Jane Pearce founded the radical polyamorous group the Sullivan Institute for Research in Psychoanalysis.
What happened next: Over the following three decades, the Sullivan Institute devolved into an insular cult rife with abuse.
Reviewers say: "Doggedly researched and thoroughly compassionate, this is a page-turning exposé" (Publishers Weekly). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Memorial Hall Library
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Andover, MA 01810
978-623-8400
www.mhl.org
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