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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 heart-wrenching exploration of America's postwar "adoption-industrial complex" that was fueled by secrecy and shame.
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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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| The Spy Who Couldn't Spell: A Dyslexic Traitor, an Unbreakable Code, and the FBI's Hunt for... by Yudhijit BhattacharjeeWhat it's about: In the late 1990s, disaffected National Reconnaissance Office (NRO) employee Brian Regan attempted to sell classified information to foreign governments, though his efforts were thwarted by confusing encryption methods attributed to his dyslexia.
Why you might like it: This fast-paced chronicle of a little-known scheme will appeal to fans of stranger-than-fiction crime stories like Ben Mezrich's Sex on the Moon. |
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| Operation Columba: The Secret Pigeon Service: The Untold Story of World War II Resistance... by Gordon CoreraWhat it is: A dramatic and vivid account of British military intelligence gathering in Nazi-occupied western Europe, which was conducted by dropping more than 16,000 homing pigeons into the region.
Read it for: Author Gordon Corera's droll and lively writing style.
Want a taste? "If the Nazis come through your door, you might be able to explain away a pigeon but not a radio transmitter." |
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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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