Culpeper County Library271 Southgate Shopping Center, Culpeper, Virginia 22701 | 540-825-8691https://www.cclva.org |
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History and Current Events July 2026 |
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The Case for America: An Argument on Behalf of Our Nation
by Bret Baier
Can the Founders' ideals still inspire and unite the nation 250th years after the Declaration of Independence? The impossible dream of the United States of America began with a declaration. Years before the Revolution was won, long before the Constitution was created, we were a nation because of our decision to be free.Though the universal hunger for freedom that endures, these days our country often seems at cross purposes. Our very history is divisive. On one side, there are the unrelenting complaints about all the things we're getting wrong. Such critics seem intent on focusing on the darker chapters of our story. On the other side is a sanitized version of history that leaves little room for self-reflection. It's as if any admission of frailty or failure is an unpatriotic act.In The Case for America Bret Baier argues that neither of these pictures reflects our reality. To make the case for the nation's enduring value, he underscores our fundamental character: unity, freedom, resilience. Baier shares his own reflections alongside those of numerous historians, commentators, and business leaders in a moving ode to a nation.
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The Man Who Stole the Gods: A True Story of War, Obsession, and a Global Art Conspiracy
by Matthew Campbell
Amidst the chaos of Cambodia's brutal genocide, a new crime wave emerged--one that would sweep across borders and entangle the world's most prestigious art institutions. Priceless treasures of the ancient Khmer Empire, the civilization that produced Angkor Wat, vanished from sacred temples, looted by smugglers and trafficked into the hands of elite collectors. At the center of it all was a man named Douglas Latchford. Known later as Dynamite Doug for the ruthless methods used to extract statues from temple ruins, Latchford orchestrated one of history's most audacious cultural heists. From dusty Cambodian villages to the glittering auction houses of London and New York and institutions like the Met, he played a double game--presenting himself as an expert on Khmer art while secretly flooding the market with stolen antiquities. In The Man Who Stole the Gods, award-winning journalist Matthew Campbell unravels the gripping story of Latchford's criminal enterprise, and a global conspiracy of greed and collusion--one that involves some of the world's most powerful museums and collectors.
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| The Last of the Old Breed: An Oral History of the Final Marines from World War II by Scott DavisHistorian Scott Davis' evocative debut is an immersive oral history told by the last surviving Marines who fought in World War II's Pacific Theater, offering "a raw record of a generation's little discussed trauma" (Publishers Weekly). Try this next: The Devil Reached Toward the Sky: An Oral History of the Making and Unleashing of the Atomic Bomb by Garrett M. Graff. |
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| America, U.S.A.: How Race Shadows the Nation's Anniversaries by Eddie S. Glaude Jr.New York Times bestselling author Eddie S. Glaude Jr. (Begin Again: James Baldwin's America and Its Urgent Lessons for Our Own) incisively examines the racial contradictions of America's founding in his reflective history that demythologizes 250 years of the country's milestone anniversaries. Further reading: The Great Contradiction: The Tragic Side of the American Founding by Joseph J. Ellis. |
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A Pox on Fools: The True Believers, Grifters, and Cynics Who Convinced Us to Reject Vaccines
by Thomas Levenson
Since the advent of smallpox inoculation in the eighteenth century, the idea that a disease introduced to the body in some lesser, weakened form might prevent full-blown infection has been one of the greatest public health insights of the modern era, inspiring the invention of numerous vaccines and saving countless human lives. But, just as humanity acquired the god-like power to stop infectious disease in its tracks, some feared we had gone too far, leading to the skepticism that has hijacked public health discourse today. In three sweeping essays written for our current moment of scientific mistrust, Thomas Levenson searches for the origins of the most common arguments against vaccines: that they are unnatural; that they are more dangerous than the illnesses they claim to prevent; and that they are an affront to freedom. Each arose from the earliest development of particular vaccines and the campaigns to distribute them. Even as the pattern repeats, Levenson reveals how innocent that skepticism initially was and, in each case, how very human fears and questions ultimately turned into something darker, where no truth would be enough to overcome the doubt.
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Two Ships: Jamestown 1619, Plymouth 1620, and the Struggle for the Soul of America
by David S. Reynolds
A revelatory history of American division through the prism of two ships once widely used as symbols in the war of ideas between North and South--a struggle whose echoes remain with us today In the bitterly polarized decades leading up to the American Civil War, it was commonplace to argue that America's strife could be traced back to the arrival of two ships, less than a year apart--The White Lion, which brought the first enslaved Africans to Jamestown in 1619, and the Mayflower, which brought the Pilgrims to Plymouth Rock in 1620.
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An Inconvenient Widow: The Torment, Trial, and Triumph of Mary Todd Lincoln
by Lois Romano
Mary Lincoln was at the center of politics at a time when society's expectations for women were rigid and circumscribed. The product of Southern aristocracy, she grew up among an influential clan of politicians and elites who founded Lexington, Kentucky. Mary's early exposure to the male-dominated world of politics instilled in her a keen political acumen and a fierce ambition. Proclaiming as a child that she was destined to become the wife of a president, she played a crucial role in boosting her husband to greatness. But her hopes for a triumphant experience at the pinnacle of power were lost to the Civil War and unfathomable family tragedies. Still, Mary persevered. She steadfastly supported the Union war effort, visited encampments, tended to wounded soldiers, and generously donated money and gifts to refugees from slavery. She was an unconventional, larger-than-life character who dressed too ostentatiously, grieved too publicly, suffered a shopping addiction, and seemed unable or unwilling to corral her emotions, her temper, and her opinions. She made enemies--influential men who wrote her story for her, often unfairly. After Lincoln was assassinated, she was all but abandoned by the nation he had given his life to defend and preserve. Former Washington Post writer and columnist Lois Romano rectifies the tortured legacy of Mary Todd Lincoln, who was failed at nearly every turn in her widowhood--by her family, by her government, by medical professionals ill-equipped to diagnose her mental illness, and finally, by history.
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| The Killer and Frank Lloyd Wright: The True Story of Mass Murder in Paradise by Casey ShermanJournalist Casey Sherman's richly detailed true crime account chronicles the shocking 1914 murders and arson that took place at architect Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin compound in Wisconsin. Among the victims were Wright's mistress, her two children, and four staffers; the suspected murderer died by suicide while being apprehended, leaving his motives a mystery. For fans of: Saving Sin City: William Travers Jerome, Stanford White, and the Original Crime of the Century by Mary Cummings. |
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| On Witness and Respair: Essays by Jesmyn WardMacArthur Fellow Jesmyn Ward's reflective latest collects nearly two dozen essays, lectures, and other pieces published from 2008-2025, covering writing, film, literature, and her experiences as a Black woman. Try this next: To Free the Captives: A Plea for the American Soul by Tracy K. Smith. |
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Focus on: The American Revolution
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| Running from Bondage: Enslaved Women and Their Remarkable Fight for Freedom in... by Karen Cook BellScholar Karen Cook Bell's enlightening and well-researched history draws upon primary resources to detail enslaved women's resistance during America's Revolutionary era, spotlighting five women fugitives (whom she refers to as "Black Founding Mothers") who fought for their freedom while the nascent country was seeking independence. Try this next: The Escapes of David George: An Odyssey of Slavery, Freedom, and the American Revolution by Gregory E. O'Malley. |
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| The American Revolution and the Fate of the World by Richard BellIn his lively and accessible latest, historian Richard Bell reveals how the American Revolution was "a world war in all but name," detailing how the conflict impacted countries throughout the globe. Further reading: The American Revolution: A World War edited by Daniel K. Allison and Larrie D. Ferreiro. |
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| The Cause: The American Revolution and Its Discontents, 1773-1783 by Joseph J. EllisPulitzer Prize-winning historian Joseph J. Ellis' thought-provoking chronicle of the American Revolution explores the complexities and contradictions of the colonists' fight for independence, which they referred to as "The Cause." This richly detailed rethinking of a pivotal era includes profiles of forgotten figures including Mohawk chief Joseph Brant and Billy Lee, George Washington's enslaved valet. Further reading: Our First Civil War: Patriots and Loyalists in the American Revolution by H.W. Brands. |
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| Liberty Is Sweet: The Hidden History of the American Revolution by Woody HoltonAward-winning historian Woody Holton's revisionist account reveals how Black and Indigenous Americans, enslaved people, and women helped shape the outcome of the American Revolution, despite their conflicts with the colonists. Try this next: Obstinate Daughters: The Rebels, Writers, and Renegade Women Who Ignited the American Revolution by Denise Kiernan. |
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| The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America by Kostya KennedyJournalist Kostya Kennedy's insightful and accessible history chronicles Paul Revere's fateful midnight ride to warn American minutemen of the British army's impending arrival on April 18, 1775. Further reading: The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson. |
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| Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters by Edward J. LarsonPulitzer Prize-winning historian Edward J. Larson's concise history chronicles the events of the pivotal year of 1776, which began with many colonists not advocating for independence, and ended with the majority taking up the cause. For fans of: 1776 by David McCullough. |
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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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