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History and Current Events January 2019
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| The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America's Soul... by Andrew DelbancoWhat it's about: This sweeping and accessible chronicle reveals how the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850 ultimately drove the United States to war, forcing a divided America to confront the myth of benevolent slavery and its own hypocrisy as a newly "free" country.
Want a taste? "Even free black people in the North -- including those who had never been enslaved -- found their lives infused with terror of being seized and deported." |
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| American Overdose: The Opioid Tragedy in Three Acts by Chris McGrealWhat it is: a compassionate, deftly researched examination of the medical establishment and pharmaceutical industry's culpability in America's staggering opioid crisis.
About the author: Guardian reporter Chris McGreal pulls no punches in his urgent and incisive debut.
Did you know? In 1908, physician Hamilton Wright, the United States' first opium commissioner, described Americans as "the greatest drug fiends in the world." |
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| The Victorian City: Everyday Life in Dickens' London by Judith FlandersWhat it's about: Offering striking imagery and a strong sense of place, this colorful social history vividly recreates the London that Charles Dickens occupied: squalid, overpopulated, pungent, and loud.
Read it for: Judith Flanders' insights on how the rapidly transforming London informed Dickens' work (including how the meaning of the word "Dickensian" changed over time).
Reviewers say: "This is a superb portrait of an exciting, thriving, and dangerous city" (Booklist). |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Glenside Public Library District 25 E Fullerton Ave Glendale Heights, Illinois 60139 630–260–1550www.glensidepld.org |
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