|
|
History and Current Events September 2020 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
True crimes and misdemeanors : the investigation of Donald Trump
by Jeffrey Toobin
The CNN chief legal analyst and best-selling author of American Heiress presents a behind-the-scenes account of the Mueller investigation to explain how in spite of associate convictions and an impeachment, Donald Trump has survived to run for reelection.
|
|
| The Unidentified: Mythical Monsters, Alien Encounters, and Our Obsession With... by Colin DickeyWhat it's about: the hows and whys of humans' enduring fascination with fringe beliefs and unexplained paranormal phenomena.
Topics include: the lost civilization of Lemuria; the 1876 Kentucky meat shower; Bigfoot; the Jersey Devil; the Loch Ness Monster.
What sets it apart: author Colin Dickey's thought-provoking exploration of how these myths appropriate and erase Native cultures. |
|
| To Start a War: How the Bush Administration Took America Into Iraq by Robert DraperWhat it is: an eye-opening history of the 2003 invasion of Iraq.
Read it for: a richly detailed and evenhanded account of how hubris, Bush administration infighting, congressional support, and favorable media coverage facilitated this fateful policy decision.
What's inside: interviews with key officials including Colin Powell, Paul Wolfowitz, and Condoleezza Rice. |
|
|
|
God's shadow : Sultan Selim, his Ottoman empire, and the making of the modern world
by Alan Mikhail
"An explosive global history that redefines the historical origins of the modern world through the life of Sultan Selim I and his Ottoman Empire. Long neglected in accounts of world history, the Ottoman Empire was a hub of flourishing intellectual fervor, geopolitical power, and enlightened pluralistic rule. At the helm of its ascent was the omnipotent Sultan Selim I (1470-1520), who, with the aid of his extraordinarily gifted mother, Gülbahar, hugely expanded the empire, propelling it onto the world stage. Aware of centuries of European suppression of Islamic history, Alan Mikhail centers Selim's Ottoman Empire and Islam as the very pivots of global history, redefining such world-changing events as Christopher Columbus's voyages-which originated, in fact, as a Catholic jihad that viewed Native Americans as somehow "Moorish"-the Protestant Reformation, the transatlantic slave trade, and the dramatic Ottoman seizure of the Middle East and North Africa. Drawing on previously unexamined sources and writtenin gripping detail, Mikhail's groundbreaking account vividly recaptures Selim's life and world. An historical masterwork, God's Shadow radically reshapes our understanding of a world we thought we knew"
|
|
Exploration and Exploitation
|
|
| Silver, Sword, & Stone: Three Crucibles of the Latin American Story by Marie AranaWhat it is: a concise history that explores how exploitation, violence, and religion have shaped 1,000 years of Latin American history.
Why you might like it: Peruvian American author Marie Arana weaves her compelling narrative between past and present by profiling three contemporary Latin Americans (a Peruvian miner, a Cuban exile, and a Spanish priest in Bolivia) and connecting their stories to the history of the region.
Awards buzz: A Booklist 2019 Top of the List Pick, Silver, Sword, & Stone was also longlisted for the Andrew Carnegie Medal. |
|
| Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood... by William CarlsenWhat it's about: In 1839, American diplomat John Lloyd Stephens and British architect Frederick Catherwood explored the jungles of Yucatán, where they encountered 1,500-year-old Mayan ruins.
Why it matters: Stephens and Catherwood's findings challenged their contemporaries' notions of Indigenous cultural inferiority.
Read it for: a lively and evocative tale of friendship, adventure, and rediscovery. |
|
| The Last Wild Men of Borneo: A True Story of Death and Treasure by Carl HoffmanWhat it's about: two enigmatic Westerners -- one a "buccaneer," the other a "do-gooder" -- who called Borneo home in the 1970s and '80s.
Starring: American art dealer Michael Palmieri, who made a fortune acquiring native relics for museums; and Swiss environmentalist Bruno Manser, who lived among the Penan tribe, fought logging efforts in the region, and mysteriously disappeared in 2000.
Awards buzz: This haunting cautionary tale from travel writer Carl Hoffman was a 2019 Edgar Award Nominee for Best Fact Crime and a Banff Mountain Book Awards Finalist. |
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
Culpeper County Library
271 Southgate Shopping Center
Culpeper, Virginia 22701
540-825-8691
www.cclva.org
|
|
|
|
|