History and Current Events
August 2025
Recent Releases
Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World
by Tim Bouverie

Rife 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.
Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the...
by Scott Ellsworth

Award-winning historian Scott Ellsworth's compelling and well-researched latest focuses on the final year of the American Civil War, revealing how John Wilkes Booth may have been part of a long-planned Confederate conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Further reading: Lincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War by Michael Vorenberg.
Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream
by Megan Greenwell

In 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.  
Snafu: The Definitive Guide to History's Greatest Screwups
by Ed Helms

Spanning from the 1950's to the 2000's, Ed Helms steps in as unofficial history teacher for a deep dive into each decade's craziest SNAFUs. Coined during World War I, SNAFU is an acronym that stands for Situation Normal: All F*cked Up. Filled with sharp humor and lively illustrations, SNAFU is a wild ride through time that not only entertains but offers fresh insights that just might prevent history from repeating itself again and again.
Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings
by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

National 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.
Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights...
by Sam Kean

Bestselling 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.
Their Accomplices Wore Robes: How the Supreme Court Chained Black America to the...
by Brando Simeo Starkey

Legal scholar Brando Simeo Starkey's (In Defense of Uncle Tom) richly detailed history explores the role the United States Supreme Court has played in the systemic oppression of Black people. Try this next: The Worst Trickster Story Ever Told: Native America, the Supreme Court, and the U.S. Constitution by Keith Richotte, Jr.
The Art Spy: The Extraordinary Untold Tale of WWII Resistance Hero Rose Valland
by Michelle Young

Based on troves of previously undiscovered documents, The Art Spy chronicles the brave actions of the key Resistance spy in the heart of the Nazi's art looting headquarters in the French capital. A veritable female Monuments Man, Valland has, until now, been written out of the annals, despite bearing witness to history's largest art theft. 
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