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History and Current Events December 2025 |
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| The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding by Joseph J. EllisPulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis follows up The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783 with an incisive exploration of how America's Founding Fathers were complicit in slavery and Indigenous dispossession despite their calls for universal freedom. Further reading: Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution by Woody Holton. |
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History Hiding Around Broadway: Backstage Lore, Secrets & Surprises from New York's Famed Theater District
by Teale Dvornik
Go behind the scenes of the Great White Way with this illustrated guide to the Theater District's hidden history--an essential book for your explorations of the district from a seasoned Broadway guide. Broadway is one of New York's greatest treasures, and where there is treasure, there is a backstory. When it comes to Broadway, that backstory is fittingly juicy, dramatic, and unexpected. And no one knows these hidden histories like Teale Dvornik, who has been leading Broadway fans on tours of the theater district since 2017.
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The Greatest Sentence Ever Written
by Walter Isaacson
To celebrate America's 250th anniversary, Walter Isaacson takes readers on a ... deep dive into the creation of one of history's most powerful sentences: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.' Drafted by Thomas Jefferson and edited by Benjamin Franklin and John Adams, this line lays the foundation for the American Dream and defines the common ground we share as a nation. Isaacson unpacks its genius, word by word, illuminating the then-radical concepts behind it--
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| Dead and Alive: Essays by Zadie SmithZadie Smith's wide-ranging and witty latest collects 30 essays and talks penned during the last ten years, offering the author's reflections on pop culture, politics, loss, aging, and more. For fans of: Like Love: Essays and Conversations by Maggie Nelson. |
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Titles You May Have Missed |
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Icons of Style: In 100 Garments
by Josh Sims
Behind nearly every item in the modern wardrobe is a 'first of its kind' - the definitive item, often designed by a single company or brand for specialist use, on which all subsequent versions have been based (and originals of which are now collector items in the booming vintage market). Icons of Style examines, garment by garment, the most important and famous of these products - their provenance and history, the stories of their design, the brand/company that started it all and how the item shaped the way we all dress today. As traditional definitions of men's and women's clothes are fast changing, this book combines all key garments for everyone. Inspiring images of the best examples of the garment - from the 1930s to contemporary times, from Marlene Dietrich to Mick Jagger - show the timeless beauty of these garments that are the basics of the stylish.
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The Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World's Most Dangerous Spirit
by Evan Rail
An astonishing true crime story about an eccentric grifter who blew up the lucrative black market for vintage bottles of the legendary drink of artistic renegades, absinthe . . . Thought to be hallucinogenic and banned globally for a century, absinthe is once again legal and popular. Journalist Evan Rail sets out to discover the truth about the enigmatic dealer and the secret stashes. Along the way, he drinks with absintheurs frantically chasing down the pre-bans, visits modern distillers who have seen their status rise from criminal bootleggers to sought-after celebrities, and relates the legendary history of absinthe, from its birth in Switzerland through its coming of age in France, and on to its modern revival.
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On Air: The Triumph and Tumult of NPR
by Steve Oney
An epic, decade-long reported history of National Public Radio that reveals the unlikely story of one of America's most celebrated but least understood media empires--
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A History of the World in 6 Glasses
by Tom Standage
There aren't many books this entertaining that also provide a cogent crash course in ancient, classical and modern history. -Los Angeles Times Beer, wine, spirits, coffee, tea, and Coca-Cola: In Tom Standage's deft, innovative account of world history, these six beverages turn out to be much more than just ways to quench thirst. A History of the World in 6 Glasses tells the story of humanity from the Stone Age to the twenty-first century through each epoch's signature refreshment. As Standage persuasively argues, each drink is in fact a kind of technology, advancing culture and catalyzing the intricate interplay of different societies.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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