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History and Current Events March 2021
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| American Baby: A Mother, a Child, and the Shadow History of Adoption by Gabrielle GlaserWhat it's about: In 1961 New York City, pregnant teen Margaret Erle was sent to a maternity home, where she gave birth to a son she was forced to give up in a closed adoption.
Read it for: a heartwrenching exploration of America's postwar "adoption-industrial complex" that was fueled by secrecy and shame.
Try this next: For another illuminating history of mid-20th century adoption practices, check out Ann Fessler's The Girls Who Went Away. |
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| Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019 by Ibram X. Kendi and Keisha N. Blain (editors)What it is: a thoughtful anthology of essays, poems, profiles, and testimonies chronicling four centuries of Black American history.
Why you should read it: This well-researched tome features a diverse array of more than 80 contributors and spotlights lesser known events and figures that have all but been erased from history.
Reviewers say: "An impeccable, epic, essential vision of American history" (Kirkus Reviews). |
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| The Crown in Crisis: Countdown to the Abdication by Alexander LarmanWhat it's about: England's abdication crisis of 1936, which saw King Edward VIII stepping down from his royal duties to marry American divorcee Wallis Simpson.
What's inside: recently declassified documents that offer new insights on Edward and Wallis' relationship, their Nazi sympathies, and more.
Who it's for: Fans of the Netflix series The Crown will enjoy this juicy account rife with plenty of royal intrigue and scandal. |
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| Made in China: A Prisoner, an SOS Letter, and the Hidden Cost of America's Cheap Goods by Amelia PangWhat it is: journalist Amelia Pang's sobering investigation of Chinese labor camps, where exploited workers endure brutal working conditions to manufacture products for American consumers.
Featuring: political prisoner Sun Yi, whose handwritten plea for help found in a package of Halloween decorations led to global media coverage of China's "reeducation through labor."
Why it matters: This thought-provoking exposé will make readers think twice about the origins and unseen costs of the goods they consume. |
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| Land: How the Hunger for Ownership Shaped the Modern World by Simon WinchesterWhat it is: a sweeping and richly detailed global history of humankind's relationship to land ownership.
Topics include: the ecological impact of colonization; land reclamation efforts; the politics of cartography; Indigenous land rights.
Did you know? America's top 100 private landowners own acreage equal to the size of Florida. |
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Spies in the Family: An American Spymaster, His Russian Crown Jewel, and the...
by Eva Dillon
Who it's about: Russian double agent Dimitri Polyavok and his handler, American CIA operative Paul Dillon (the author's father), two men on opposite sides of the Cold War who nonetheless struck up a lifelong friendship.
Why you might like it: Eva Dillon's intimate and well-researched account alternates between both men's experiences and explores the surprising commonalities in their home lives and career trajectories.
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| The Scientist and the Spy: A True Story of China, the FBI, and Industrial Espionage by Mara HvistendahlWhat it's about: In 2011, three Chinese scientists were arrested for stealing hybrid seeds from an Iowa cornfield and sending them to China.
Why you should read it: Pulitzer Prize finalist Mara Hvistendahl's accessible latest offers insights on the China-United States trade war.
Reviewers say: "Not since Alfred Hitchcock's North by Northwest has a cornfield produced so much excitement" (Booklist). |
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Chasing Phil : the adventures of two undercover agents with the world's most charming con man by David Howard"A thrilling true crime caper, bursting with colorful characters and awash in '70s glamour, that spotlights the FBI's first white-collar undercover sting 1977, the Thunderbird Motel. J.J. Wedick and Jack Brennan--two fresh-faced, maverick FBI agents--were about to embark on one of their agency's first wire-wearing undercover missions. Their target? Charismatic, globetrotting con man Phil Kitzer, whom some called the world's greatest swindler.
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| The First Conspiracy: The Secret Plot to Kill George Washington by Brad Meltzer and Josh Mensch What it's about: the Hickey Plot, a 1776 scheme orchestrated by prominent New York politicians to kidnap and murder George Washington.
Read it for: the thrilling immediacy of the fast-paced prose; the evocative account of a Revolutionary-era New York City in turmoil.
Why it matters: Washington's counterintelligence unit, led by future Supreme Court Chief Justice John Jay, inspired the creation of the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) nearly two centuries later. |
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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