|
History and Current Events September 2018
|
|
|
|
| The Fighters by C.J. ChiversWhat it is: a collection of portraits detailing the experiences of six U.S. military servicemen serving in Iraq and Afghanistan, chronicled over 12 years of on-the-ground reportage.
Why you might like it: Searing and empathetic, this enlightening glimpse at combat will appeal to readers "no matter their feelings about the wars" (Booklist).
About the author: C.J. Chivers is a Gulf War veteran and New York Times senior editor who won a Pulitzer Prize for the story on which The Fighters is based. |
|
|
The Viking wars : war and peace in King Alfred's Britain, 789-955
by Max Adams
Describes the history of Britain during the violent era of Viking raids between 789 and 954, which ultimately led to the creation of the modern kingdoms of England, and highlights the important influence of Alfred the Great. By the author of In the Land of Giants
|
|
|
A girl's guide to missiles : growing up in America's secret desert
by Karen Piper
"A poignant, surreal, and fearlessly honest look at growing up on one of the most secretive weapons installations on earth, by a young woman who came of age with missiles. The China Lake missile range is located in a huge stretch of the Mojave Desert, about the size of the state of Delaware. It was created during the Second World War, and has always been shrouded in secrecy. But people who make missiles and other weapons are regular working people, with domestic routines and everyday dilemmas, and four of them were Karen Piper's parents, her sister, and--when she needed summer jobs--herself. Her dad designed the Sidewinder, which was ultimately used catastrophically in Vietnam. When her mom got tired of being a stay-at-home mom, she went to work on the Tomahawk. Once, when a missile nose needed to be taken offsite for final testing, her mother loaded it into the trunk of the family car, and set off down a Los Angeles freeway. Traffic was heavy, and so she stopped off at the mall, leaving the missile in the parking lot. Piper sketches in the belief systems--from Amway's get-rich schemes to propaganda in The Rocketeer to evangelism, along with fears of a Lemurian takeover and Charles Manson--that governed their lives. Her memoir is also a search for the truth of the past and what really brought her parents to China Lake with two young daughters, a story that reaches back to her father's World War II flights with contraband across Europe. Finally, it recounts the crossroads moment in a young woman's life when she finally found a way out of a culture of secrets and fear, and out of the desert."--Provided by publisher
|
|
| The Poisoned City: Flint's Water and the American Urban Tragedy by Anna ClarkWhat it's about: the ongoing man-made water crisis that has afflicted residents of Flint, Michigan since April 2014 and to date has resulted in 12 deaths.
Why it's significant: Detroit-based journalist Anna Clark pulls no punches in this compelling call to arms, utilizing extensive research to show how racial inequality, housing segregation, and government underfunding led to this "decades-old, slow-burn emergency." |
|
| Dopesick: Dealers, Doctors, and the Drug Company That Addicted America by Beth MacyWhat it is: a gut-wrenching history of America's rising opioid epidemic that puts a human face on the disheartening statistics.
Why it matters: Journalist Beth Macy began her research in her own community of Roanoke, Virginia, highlighting the day-to-day struggles of those from all walks of life struggling with addiction.
Further reading: American Fix: Inside the Opioid Addiction Crisis -- and How to End It by Ryan Hampton. |
|
|
Small animals : parenthood in the age of fear
by Kim Brooks
A full-length memoir based on the author's viral essay recounts a harrowing family event and how it reflected changes in beliefs and heightened fears that have transformed parenting in the course of a single generation.
|
|
| Fly Girls: How Five Daring Women Defied All Odds and Made Aviation History by Keith O'BrienWhat it is: an intriguing, richly detailed history of five women (including Amelia Earhart) who competed in the national air races of the 1920s and 1930s -- and changed aviation forever.
For fans of: Margot Lee Shetterly's Hidden Figures and its film adaptation.
Reviewers say: "A vivid, suspenseful story of women determined to defy gravity -- and men -- to fulfill their lofty dreams" (Kirkus Reviews). |
|
|
Travelers in the Third Reich : the rise of fascism : 1919-1945
by Julia Boyd
Recounts the rise of the Nazis in Germany between 1919 and 1945 through the first-hand accounts of politicians, musicians, diplomats, schoolchildren, communists, scholars, athletes, poets, fascists, artists, tourists, and even celebrities like Charles Lindbergh and Samuel Beckett.
|
|
|
America : the farewell tour
by Chris Hedges
"A profound and provocative examination of America in crisis, where unemployment, deindustrialization, and a bitter hopelessness and malaise have resulted in an epidemic of diseases of despair--drug abuse, gambling, suicide, magical thinking, xenophobia,and a culture of sadism and hate. America, says Pulitzer PrizeĀ-winning reporter Chris Hedges, is convulsed by an array of pathologies that have arisen out of profound hopelessness, a bitter despair and a civil society that has ceased to function. The opioid crisis, the retreat into gambling to cope with economic distress, the pornification of culture, the rise of magical thinking, the celebration of sadism, hate, and plagues of suicides are the physical manifestations of a society that is being ravaged by corporate pillage and a failed democracy. As our society unravels, we also face global upheaval caused by catastrophic climate change. All these ills presage a frightening reconfiguration of the nation and the planet. Donald Trump rode this disenchantment to power. In America: The Farewell Tour, Hedges argues that neither political party, now captured by corporate power, addresses the systemic problem. Until our corporate coup d'etat is reversed these diseases will grow and ravage the country. Apoignant cry reported from communities across the country, America: The Farewell Tour seeks to jolt us out of our complacency while there is still time"
|
|
Contact your librarian for more great books!
|
|
|
Culpeper County Library 271 Southgate Shopping Center Culpeper, Virginia 22701 540-825-8691
www.cclva.org
|
|
|
|
|