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History and Current Events May 2017 |
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| Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David GrannIn 1920s Oklahoma, the Osage Indian Nation possessed immense wealth because their land contained large petroleum reserves. In Killers of the Flower Moon, New Yorker staff writer David Grann portrays a series of murders on the reservation. Local authorities couldn't solve the crimes, but an investigation by the relatively new FBI (led by the young J. Edgar Hoover) identified and charged the killers, whose primary motivation was greed. In this thoroughly researched history, Grann also reveals conspiracy and corruption beyond what the FBI discovered. Whether you're interested in Native American history or fascinated by true crime stories, check out this thrilling narrative, complete with photographs. |
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We'll Always Have Casablanca: The Life, Legend, and Afterlife of Hollywood's Most...
by Noah Isenberg
The World War II-set film Casablanca, featuring Humphrey Bogart, Ingrid Bergman, and Claude Rains, won multiple Oscars and became a perennial favorite. In this extensively researched history, film expert Noah Isenberg covers all the details, from the screenplay's source (an unproduced play titled Everybody Comes to Rick's), to casting and production, to credits, to isolationist objections and the wartime context of its release in 1942. He also adds some little-known facts, including that the cast included several refugees from the Nazi regime. Isenberg's discussion of the movie's enduring appeal will give classic film buffs much to discuss, perhaps with soft piano music in the background.
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| The Way of the Knife: The CIA, a Secret Army, and a War at the Ends of the Earth by Mark MazzettiAfter the 9/11 attacks, the CIA changed its practice of shunning violence in its operations and adopted covert paramilitary techniques to carry out White House orders to assassinate specific enemies. In The Way of the Knife, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Mark Mazzetti reviews the policy shift that now permits the use of predator drones, paramilitary contract agents, and similar operations, obscuring the distinction between espionage and acts of war. Focusing on less-well-known operations in Pakistan, Somalia, and Yemen, Mazzetti details the CIA's work and explains how these maneuvers prompt increased anti-Americanism abroad. This is "a well-reported, smoothly written" account, says Kirkus Reviews. |
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| Every Man in This Village Is a Liar: An Education in War by Megan K. StackWhen Megan Stack was a child, she learned from a Marine veteran that people affected by war could "survive and not survive, both at the same time." In this eloquent memoir, she herself goes to war as a young journalist. Covering the time between September 11, 2001 and the end of 2006, Stack describes her encounters with warlords, CIA operatives, and regular people, as well as how she witnessed death and carnage, dealt with innocent people being killed, and heard government officials lie to the public. Stack visited Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, Lebanon, and Israel, among other places, and this evocative, personal book (a National Book Award finalist) provides much food for thought about the strife-filled Middle East. |
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Guantánamo diary
by Mohamedou Ould Slahi
The diary of a still-imprisoned Guantánamo detainee traces the events that led to his imprisonment, his firsthand experiences and his ongoing incarceration in spite of a federal judge's order for his release.
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Duty : memoirs of a Secretary at war
by Robert Michael Gates
The former Secretary of Defense and director of the CIA recounts his service under Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama during the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, describing his roles in such major events as the Bin Laden raid, the Guantánamo Bay controversy and the WikiLeaks scandal.
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Navy SEAL dogs : my tale of training canines for combat
by Mike Ritland
A young adult adaptation of the best-selling Trident K9 Warriors presents an insider's tour of the world of elite Navy SEAL working dogs to explain how they are trained, the extreme missions they undertake and how after retiring they are placed in loving homes. Reprint.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Central Mississippi Regional Library System
100 Tamberline Street
Brandon, Mississippi 39042
601-825-0100
http://www.cmrls.lib.ms.us
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