|
Dutch Girl : Audrey Hepburn and World War II
by Robert Matzen
According to her son, Luca Dotti, “The war made my mother who she was.” Hepburn’s war included participation in the Dutch Resistance, working as a doctor’s assistant during the “Bridge Too Far” battle of Arnhem, the brutal execution of her uncle, and the ordeal of the Hunger Winter of 1944. She also had to contend with the fact that her father was a Nazi agent and her mother was pro-Nazi for the first two years of the occupation. But the war years also brought triumphs as Audrey became Arnhem’s most famous young ballerina. Audrey’s own reminiscences, new interviews with people who knew her in the war, wartime diaries, and research in classified Dutch archives shed light on the riveting, untold story of Audrey Hepburn under fire in World War II.
|
|
|
American Moonshot : John F. Kennedy and the Great Space Race
by Douglas Brinkley
American Moonshot is a portrait of the brilliant men and women who made this giant leap possible, the technology that enabled us to propel men beyond earth’s orbit to the moon and return them safely, and the geopolitical tensions that spurred Kennedy to commit himself fully to this audacious dream. Brinkley’s ensemble cast of New Frontier characters include rocketeer Wernher von Braun, astronaut John Glenn and space booster Lyndon Johnson.
|
|
| Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA, and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill with Dan PiepenbringWhat it is: a provocative rejoinder to Vincent Bugliosi's 1974 true crime classic Helter Skelter.
Read it for: Tom O'Neill and Dan Piepenbring's deep dive into alternative theories behind the Tate-LaBianca murders, including the possibility that Charles Manson was a subject in the CIA's LSD experiments.
What's inside: interviews with over 500 witnesses; redacted and never-before-seen police reports, FBI documents, and CIA files. |
|
|
Reckoning: The Epic Battle Against Sexual Abuse and Harassment
by Linda Hirshman
What it is: a 50-year chronicle of the ongoing fight to end sexual harassment, culminating in the rise of the #MeToo movement in 2017 and the confirmation of Brett Kavanaugh to the Supreme Court in 2018.
Why you might like it: Lawyer Linda Hirshman pulls no punches in this illuminating and incisive history, discussing the unheralded women of color who have been crucial to the fight and the men in power who have been detrimental to it.
|
|
| When Women Ruled the World: Six Queens of Egypt by Kara CooneyWhat it is: a sweeping yet accessible survey of six queens who ruled in times of crisis throughout ancient Egypt's 3,000 year history.
Starring: "big three" queens Cleopatra, Nefertiti, and Hatshepsut, as well as the little-known Merneith, Neferusobek, and Tawosret.
Reviewers say: This evocative history "will enchant those wishing to imagine what ancient Egyptian court life was like" (Publishers Weekly). |
|
| The Civil War in 50 Objects by Harold Holzer and the New-York Historical SocietyWhat it is: a chronological and illustrated object history of the Civil War, featuring 50 New-York Historical Society artifacts curated by Abraham Lincoln scholar Harold Holzer.
Objects include: a child slave's shackles, a Confederate POW newspaper, a Union soldier's footlocker; a Zouave uniform; a recruitment petition for black troops; a draft wheel; prison art.
Did you know? The Civil War in 50 Objects is the American companion to the British Museum's A History of the World in 100 Objects, written by Neil MacGregor. |
|
| Rome: A History in Seven Sackings by Matthew KnealeWhat it's about: how 2,000 years of the Eternal City's history have been shaped by invading forces, from the chariot-riding Gauls in 387 B.C.E. to the Nazi occupation during WWII.
Want a taste? "The city has changed so greatly that there have been many Romes, each of which would be largely unrecognizable to Romans of other times."
Read it for: lively pacing and a suspenseful tone. |
|
|
Accidental Presidents : Eight Men Who Changed America
by Jared Cohen
Illuminates the evolution of American presidential power through the unique lens of the eight successors to presidents who died in office, sharing insights into the significant historical contributions of leaders who came to the office indirectly.
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|