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History and Current Events July 2020
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| The Cubans: Ordinary Lives in Extraordinary Times by Anthony DePalmaWhat it is: an immersive portrait of everyday life for contemporary Cubans grappling with their country's "bizarre mash-up of an economy."
Read it for: the eye-opening interviews.
Author alert: A former Latin America correspondent for the New York Times, Anthony DePalma is the author of The Man Who Invented Fidel. |
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| Dark Mirror: Edward Snowden and the American Surveillance State by Barton GellmanThen: In 2014, journalist Barton Gellman won the Pulitzer Prize for reporting on Edward Snowden's leak of classified National Security Agency (NSA) documents.
Now: Gellman reflects on the pressures of his white-knuckle investigation and his complicated relationship with Snowden in this propulsive deep dive into the modern surveillance state.
For fans of: All the President's Men. |
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| The Last Kings of Shanghai: The Rival Jewish Dynasties That Helped Create Modern China by Jonathan KaufmanStarring: the Sassoons and the Kadoories, two Jewish families originally from Baghdad whose business pursuits had a powerful impact on the economy of 19th- and 20th-century Shanghai.
Is it for you? This sweeping history confronts the darker aspects of the families' prosperity, including their willful ignorance of China's political troubles and their participation in the opium trade.
Don't miss: the Sassoons and the Kadoories putting aside their bitter rivalry to protect 18,000 Jewish refugees during World War II. |
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Why we're polarized
by Ezra Klein
What it is: explains how today’s rigidly partisan politics came to be, why we all participate in it and what it means for America’s future.
Reviewers say: "It is likely to become the political book of the year." Fareed Zakaria, CNN
About the author: Klein is a journalist, political commentator, and co- founder of Vox.
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Igniting the American Revolution : 1773-1775
by Derek W Beck
What it is: examines the years leading up to the Declaration of Independence, looking at the perspectives, ambitions, people, and events on both the British and the American sides that eventually would lead to revolution.
Reviewers say: "For those who like their history rich in vivid details, Derek Beck has served up a delicious brew in this book." Thomas Fleming, author, Liberty! The American Revolution
For further Reading: American Spring: Lexington, Concord and the Road to Revolution by Walter R. Borneman
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Those turbulent sons of freedom : Ethan Allen's Green Mountain boys and the American Revolution
by Christopher S. Wren
What it is: chronicles the exploits of Ethan Allen and the much-loved Green Mountain Boys of Vermont and their role in the American Revolution—both the myth and the reality.
What sets it apart: it shatters the legends and presents a surprising and interesting new account.
About the author: Wren retired from the New York Times after nearly twenty nine years as a reporter, foreign correspondent and editor. He is a visiting professor in Dartmouth's Masters of Arts in Liberal Studies Program.
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| In the Hurricane's Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown by Nathaniel PhilbrickSeptember 5, 1781: a decisive French victory at the Battle of the Chesapeake heralded the final days of the American Revolution.
Why you might like it: Author Nathaniel Philbrick draws upon letters, journal entries, sea logs, and his own firsthand knowledge of sailing to deliver a dramatic account of a key battle.
Author alert: Pulitzer Prize finalist Philbrick is the National Book Award-winning author of In the Heart of the Sea. |
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| Revolution Song: The Story of America's Founding in Six Remarkable Lives by Russell ShortoWhat it is: an evocative history of the American Revolution as experienced by six people navigating the era's nascent conceptions of individual freedom.
Featuring: Seneca diplomat Cornplanter, who fought with the British; soldier's daughter Margaret Moncrieffe, a demimondaine who eschewed the era's gender norms; Venture Smith, a Connecticut slave who bought his freedom. |
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| Of Arms and Artists: The American Revolution through Painters' Eyes by Paul StaitiWhat it's about: how five artists, often working alongside the Founding Fathers, created visual narratives of the American Revolution that have endured for centuries.
Reviewers say: "A lively, splendid history that captures the times with insight, acumen, and a juggler's finesse" (Kirkus Reviews).
Try this next: Jane Kamensky's award-winning biography A Revolution in Color offers an intimate portrait of John Singleton Copley, one of the painters profiled in Of Arms and Artists. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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