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History and Current Events March 2022 |
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| Crown & Sceptre: A New History of the British Monarchy, from William the Conqueror to... by Tracy BormanWhat it is: a sweeping history of the British monarchy, chronicling the reigns of its 41 kings and queens from the 11th century to the present.
Read it for: an accessible and page-turning narrative rife with gossip and plenty of court intrigue.
About the author: Historian and novelist Tracy Borman is the Joint Chief Curator of Historic Royal Palaces and Chief Executive of the Heritage Education Trust. |
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| The Doomsday Mother: Lori Vallow, Chad Daybell, and the End of an American Family by John GlattWhat it's about: In July 2020, nearly a year after they disappeared, the bodies of seven-year-old J.J. Vallow and his sister, 16-year-old Tylee Ryan, were discovered in the backyard of their stepfather, Chad Daybell.
What happened next: Daybell and the children's mother, Lori Vallow, both members of a doomsday cult called Preparing a People, were charged with the siblings' murders and are scheduled to be tried in 2023.
Who it's for: Fans of nail-biting true crime stories will appreciate this disturbing tale of a case that's still making headlines. |
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| The Hard Sell: Crime and Punishment at an Opioid Startup by Evan HughesWhat it is: a sobering history of pharmaceutical startup Insys Therapeutics, whose manufacture of the fentanyl-based medication Subsys spurred the opioid crisis and whose founder, John Kapoor, was sentenced to five years in prison on racketeering charges.
Why you might like it: National Magazine Award finalist Evan Hughes' thought-provoking tale of hubris and corporate malfeasance unfolds in a fast-paced narrative worthy of a courtroom drama.
For fans of: Patrick Radden Keefe's Empire of Pain. |
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| South to America: A Journey Below the Mason-Dixon to Understand the Soul of a Nation by Imani PerryWhat it's about: Princeton professor Imani Perry, who was born in Alabama, traveled throughout the American South using the region's history and culture as a lens to view the country as a whole.
Why you might like it: Blending travelogue, history, and memoir, South to America weaves together musings on race and place and details about Perry's family and life.
Reviewers say: a "saturated, gorgeously written, and keenly revelatory travelogue" (Booklist); "a rich and imaginative tour" (Publishers Weekly). |
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| The Last Slave Ship: The True Story of How Clotilda Was Found, Her Descendants, and... by Ben RainesHow it began: In 2019 Mobile, Alabama, environmental journalist Ben Raines discovered the burned remains of the Clotilda, the last known ship to carry enslaved people to America.
What happened next: Raines investigated the history and legacy of the Clotilda's journey, including the post-Civil War settlement of Africatown, a thriving community established by the ship's survivors.
Further reading: Zora Neale Hurston's Barracoon, which chronicles the life of Cudjo Lewis, a Clotilda survivor and Africatown founder. |
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| The Storm Before the Storm: The Beginning of the End of the Roman Republic by Mike DuncanWhat it is: a fast-paced and engaging history of the years 146 to 78 B.C.E. in the Roman Republic, a period whose developments hastened the empire's fall.
Read it for: an accessible account of a lesser-known period in Roman history, supplemented with maps, timelines, and primary sources.
Author alert: Mike Duncan is an award-winning history podcaster who created and hosted The History of Rome and Revolutions. |
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| Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death by Anthony EverittWhat it is: a riveting, richly contextualized chronicle of the Macedonian conqueror's life that de-mythologizes history's prior depictions of him.
Chapters include: "First Blood;" "The Empire Strikes Back;" "Show Me the Way to Go Home."
Book buzz: In a starred review, Kirkus Reviews says Alexander the Great is "a story for everyone" that "reads as easily as a novel." |
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| The Story of Egypt: The Civilization That Shaped the World by Joann FletcherWhat it's about: the evolution of ancient Egyptian civilization from 55000 B.C.E. to 30 B.C.E.
Who it's for: General readers and fans of Toby Wilkinson's The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt will appreciate British archaeologist Joann Fletcher's accessible and comprehensive history.
Don't miss: Fletcher's focus on the women rulers whose accomplishments have often been overlooked. |
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| The Silk Roads: A New History of the World by Peter FrankopanWhat it's about: the Silk Roads, the Central Asian trading routes that bridged East and West and facilitated social, political, economic, cultural, and religious exchange beginning in the 2nd century B.C.E.
Reviewers say: "A vastly rich historical tapestry that puts ongoing struggles in a new perspective" (Kirkus Reviews).
Further reading: Oxford historian Peter Frankopan's follow-up volume The New Silk Roads: The Present and Future of the World. |
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| Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age by Annalee NewitzWhat it does: explores four so-called "lost" (abandoned) cities and analyzes their "common point of failure" (political instability plus environmental disaster).
Includes: the Neolithic Anatolian settlement of Çatalhöyük; the Roman town of Pompeii; Angkor, the capital of the Khmer Empire; and Cahokia, North America's largest city prior to European invasion.
About the author: Annalee Newitz is a journalist and science fiction writer who co-hosts the podcast Our Opinions Are Correct with novelist Charlie Jane Anders. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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