Culpeper County Library271 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper, Virginia 22701 | 540-825-8691https://www.cclva.org |
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History and Current Events April 2026 |
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| Kennedy's Coup: A White House Plot, a Saigon Murder, and America's Descent Into Vietnam by Jack CheeversIn his richly detailed latest, political reporter Jack Cheevers (Act of War) utilizes previously unavailable government documents to chronicle the Kennedy administration's role in the 1963 ousting and assassination of South Vietnam president Ngo Dinh Diem. Try this next: All the Shah's Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror by Stephen Kinzer. |
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Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters
by Edward J. Larson
On the 250th anniversary of American independence, with the history of our founding a political battleground, this study of the ideas and battlefield sacrifices of 1776 by a Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar could not be more timely.
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Super Nintendo: The Game-Changing Company That Unlocked the Power of Play
by Keza MacDonald
An exuberant, behind-the-scenes look at the designers and the company that brought us Mario, Zelda, Pok mon, and so much more Keza MacDonald pulls back the curtain on the Nintendo dream factory. --Walt Williams, author of Significant Zero What magical mushroom could have turned an unassuming playing card company into one of the dominant cultural forces of the twenty-first century? In Super Nintendo, lifelong gamer and a renowned video games journalist Keza MacDonald traces Nintendo back to its quirky beginnings in 1889, illuminating its singular ethos, its endlessly innovative leaders and developers, its massive cultural impact, and, most of all, the video games themselves, which have inspired joy and creativity in millions. Leaping from game to game, Super Nintendo tells the remarkable story of the people who brought us Super Mario Bros., Zelda, Pok mon, Animal Crossing, Splatoon, and more--not to mention the SNES, N64, Game Boy, Wii, Switch, and a host of other wacky gizmos--and charts the delights they've offered over the decades. MacDonald draws on private interviews with icons like Shigeru Miyamoto, the creator of Mario, who continues to leave his stamp on the company, and takes readers on a trip to the secretive Nintendo HQ--making her one of the few Western journalists to have set foot inside the building. Along the way, she uncovers the driving force behind these creative triumphs: a willingness to take risks and place long-term success over short-term profits. A carousel of wonders, Super Nintendo whisks you back to the couch in the den, a controller in your hands for the very first time, staring up at a screen of infinite possibilities.
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| American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union... by Jon Meacham (editor)Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham and spanning 1619 to the present, this thought-provoking anthology explores the promises and failures of American democracy, featuring primary sources including speeches, letters, poems, and more. Try this next: Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past, edited by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer. |
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Defiance: A Memoir of Awakening, Rebellion, and Survival in Syria
by Loubna Mrie
Defiance takes my breath away. A nail-biting tale of astonishing courage. --Jeannette Walls #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Glass Castle A heartbreaking account of a young woman's struggle for freedom against the rampaging forces of fanaticism and tyranny . . . Unforgettable. --Lawrence Wright, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of The Looming Tower and The Human Scale A stunning memoir of personal rebellion and political awakening from a young woman raised to be loyal to a brutal regime--and the unimaginable cost of choosing freedom Like any good Alawite girl, every day at school, Loubna Mrie pledged allegiance to Hafez al-Assad. When she complained about memorizing his speeches for class, she was told to shorten her tongue--without the president, her family believed, the Alawites would be persecuted by the Sunni majority, as they had been for centuries before the Assads came to power. A girl's role was to obey, not to question. Loubna's father, a mercurial businessman with close ties to the Assad regime, ruled over his wife and daughters with absolute authority. In their world, loyalty was sur-vival. Curiosity was blasphemy. Dissent was betrayal. But everything changed in 2011, when the pro-democracy uprisings of the Arab Spring reached Syria. Unable to suppress her curiosity, Loubna attended an anti-government protest. What she witnessed--the courage, the brutality, and the lies that followed--ignited something in her that would not be extinguished. She joined the resistance, risking her life by fearlessly proclaiming her Alawite heritage and, later, as a photojournalist documenting the war for Reuters and other outlets. Her defiance would come at a devastating cost: the loss of loved ones, her community, and ultimately her country. Leaving behind everything she knew, she would have to find a new home within herself. Defiance is the unforgettable account of one woman's fight for freedom--against a father, a dictator, and the weight of inherited belief. From the streets of Aleppo to exile in New York City, it offers an electrifying portrait of moral courage in the face of authoritarianism and violence. Told with clarity, fury, and grace, Defiance offers a rare ground-level portrait of what it means to wake up, to resist, and to become.
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| The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster by Shelley PuhakWriter and poet Shelley Puhak's (The Dark Queens) nuanced and demythologizing latest examines the life and exploits of 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Báthory, whose conviction of (and imprisonment for) torturing and murdering 80 girls and women was the result of a smear campaign. It's "a stunning feminist reconsideration of one of history's most reviled villainesses" (Publishers Weekly). Try this next: When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold by Alia Trabucco Zerán. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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Culpeper County Library271 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper, Virginia 22701 | 540-825-8691https://www.cclva.org |
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