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History and Current Events August 2025 |
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Between Two Rivers : Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of history
by Moudhy N. Al-Rashid
"Thousands of years ago, in a part of the world we now call ancient Mesopotamia, people began writing things down for the very first time.What they left behind, in a vast region between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, preserves leaps in human ingenuity,like the earliest depiction of a wheel and the first approximation of pi.... the world's first cities, the first writing system, early seeds of agriculture, and groundbreaking developments in medicine and astronomy"
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| Threads of Empire: A History of the World in Twelve Carpets by Dorothy ArmstrongMaterial culture historian Dorothy Armstrong's sweeping and well-researched world history details the practical and symbolic roles carpets have played in shaping human civilization by spotlighting 12 individual carpets woven between 500 BCE and the present. Try this next: Rope: How a Bundle of Twisted Fibers Became the Backbone of Civilization by Tim Queeney. |
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| Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World by Tim BouverieRife with dramatic political intrigue and sly humor, British historian Tim Bouverie's fast-paced account offers fresh insights on the "incongruous alliance" of the Allied forces during World War II, profiling lesser known battles and players that nonetheless played a key role in winning the war. For fans of: The Allies: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II by Winston Groom. |
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| The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature by Charlie EnglishFormer Guardian journalist Charlie English evocatively chronicles the CIA's successful efforts to weaken Soviet censorship and control by distributing subversive and pro-democracy literature to Eastern Europe in the 1980s. Try this next: The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War by Delphine Minoui. |
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| Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream by Megan GreenwellIn her incisive debut, journalist Megan Greenwell draws upon her own experience as a former writer for Deadspin to investigate the damaging impact private equity firms have on American workers and communities. Further reading: These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs — and Wrecks — America by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner. |
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| Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings by Honorée Fanonne JeffersNational Book Award-nominated poet and novelist Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois) makes her genre-defying nonfiction debut with this unflinching and insightful essay collection exploring various crossroads Black women have faced throughout history. For fans of: In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker; Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry. |
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| Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights... by Sam KeanBestselling science writer Sam Kean (The Icepick Surgeon) offers a lively chronicle of how experimental archeologists utilize evidence found at dig sites to replicate ancient rituals and customs, including hunting with period-appropriate weaponry, playing an Aztec ballgame, brewing ancient Egyptian beer, and even mummifying corpses. Further reading: Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive by Eliot Stein. |
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The Kelowna Story : An Okanagan History
by Sharron J. Simpson
The Kelowna story is a comprehensive full-length history of the largest metropolitan centre outside BC's Lower Mainland, a labour of love by a leading local historian whose family roots have been entwined with Kelowna's for five generations. It embraces the full sweep of central Okanagan history, starting with the days of the S-Ookanhkchinx, who enjoyed a largely peaceful existence along the shores of the lakes and rivers before the earliest explorers came to trade, followed by Father Pandosy and his Okanagan Mission in 1859. It was the mission that attracted Kelowna's first homesteaders, soon followed by cattle ranchers and orchardists, and much later by the empire-builders like the Bennett family who paved the way for today's budding metropolis.
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