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History and Current Events July 2020 Special eBook edition! You must have a current Wilton Library card to use these services. If you are a non-Wilton resident, please check with your hometown library for these services.
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Team of Five: The Presidents Club in the Age of Trump
by Kate Andersen Brower
What it's about: this book goes beyond the White House to uncover what, exactly, comes after the presidency, offering a glimpse into the complex relationships of five former presidents and taking us inside the exclusive world of these powerful men and their families.
Author alert: you might also enjoy Brower's previous books First Women: The Grace and Power of America's Modern First Ladies (2016) and The Residence: Inside the Private World of the White House (2015).
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When Time Stopped: A Memoir of My Father's War and What Remains
by Ariana Neumann
What it is: A first book by a Venezuelan foreign correspondent describes the harrowing early experiences of her father, an only survivor of their Jewish-Czechoslovakian family, who hid from the Gestapo in plain sight before starting over in South America.
Booklist calls it a: "heartbreaking and unforgettable memoir that belongs in every library for the important history Neumann unearths. Like Anne Frank's diary, it offers a story that needs to be told and heard."
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Lincoln on the Verge: Thirteen Days to Washington
by Edward L. Widmer
What it's about: new research profiles Abraham Lincoln during thirteen pivotal days of his President-Elect period, during which he forged essential bonds with everyday people, foiled an assassination attempt and demonstrated early signs of legacy greatness.
Kirkus Reviews calls it: "A colorful, richly detailed overture to Lincoln's odyssey." (February 2020)
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The War Queens: Extraordinary Women Who Ruled the Battlefield
by Jonathan W. Jordan
What it uncovers: the ingenious wartime tactics of some of history’s most powerful female leaders across millennia and continents, from the stifling battlefields of ancient Egypt to the frigid waters off the Falkland Islands.
Who were the War Queens? England's Elizabeth Tudor, Golda Meir of Israel, Angola's Queen Njinga, Italy's Caterina Sforza, and Indira Gandhi of India.
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Grand Canyon to Hearst Ranch: One Woman's Fight to Save Land in the American West
by Elizabeth Austin
Who was Harriet Hunt Burgess? In the 1970's, the founder of the American Land Conservancy persevered in the face of daunting obstacles and took extraordinary risks to conserve hundreds of thousands of acres of land in the American West. Without her efforts, places like the Lake Tahoe region and the California coast would be much different today.
Burgess's rationale: "The land we save is our legacy. It's what we give to our children."
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Intriguing eBooks you may have missed... |
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Stamped From the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America
by Ibram X Kendi
What it is: A comprehensive history of anti-black racism focuses on the lives of five major players in American history: Puritan minister Cotton Mather, Thomas Jefferson, abolitionist William Lloyd Garrison, W.E.B. Du Bois, and legendary activist Angela Davis.
Awards/recognition: Winner of the 2016 National Book Award for Nonfiction, Finalist for the 2016 National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction, and noted on President Obama's Black History Month Recommended Reading List
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Red Fortress: History and Illusion in the Kremlin
by Catherine Merridale
What it is: Drawn on never-before-seen archives and rare collections, this richly woven historical tapestry of the Kremlin, and of the centuries of Russian elites who have shaped it, takes readers behind the blood-red walls of this majestic and enduring fortress.
From Library Journal's review: "Highly recommended for anyone looking for a very readable, comprehensively researched, and open discussion of the influence and role that the Muscovy region, embracing both the Kremlin and Moscow, has had upon the Russian nation."
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Three Women
by Lisa Taddeo
What it is: An account based on nearly a decade of reporting examines the sex lives of three American women, exploring the complexity and fragility of female desire.
Kirkus Reviews calls it: "Dramatic, immersive, and wanting--much like desire itself."
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The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
by Richard Rothstein
The author's premise: Laws and policies created by local, state, and federal government deliberately promoted segregation in metropolitan areas during the twentieth century, creating long-lasting consequences.
Publisher's Weekly says: "This compassionate and scholarly diagnosis of past policies and prescription for our current racial maladies shines a bright light on some shadowy spaces."
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One Summer: America, 1927
by Bill Bryson
What it is: the story of a pivotal cultural year in the United States when mainstream pursuits and historical events were marked by contributions by such figures as Charles Lindbergh, Babe Ruth and Al Capone.
By the author of: The Road to Little Dribbling (2016) and The Body: A Guide for Occupants (2019).
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Email a librarian at techref@wiltonlibrary.org for more stirring history eBooks! These eBooks may be downloaded in the Libby By OverDrive app or viewed online on our OverDrive page. For more information on borrowing eBooks, visit http://www.wiltonlibrary.org/ebooks-eaudiobooks-and-emagazines |
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