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History and Current Events August 2020 |
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Our Time Is Now by Stacey Abrams What it is: A well-researched history of voter suppression and disenfranchisement in the United States.
Is it for you? Policy wonks and progressives looking for a hopeful rejoinder to current political discourse will be inspired by politician and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams' proposals to end suppression tactics.
Author alert: 2018 Georgia gubernatorial candidate Abrams made history in 2019 by becoming the first African American woman to deliver the response to the State of the Union address. | | 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. | | The Moscow Rules: The Secret CIA Tactics That Helped America Win the Cold War by Antonio & Jonna Mendez with Matt Baglio What it is: A fast-paced account of husband-and-wife duo Antonio and Jonna Mendez's time spent working as CIA agents in 1970s Moscow.
Don't miss:The gadgets (including a rappelling tool nicknamed "the Spiderman") and techniques (disguises, sleight of hand, and misdirection taught by magicians) the pair utilized in their spycraft.
| | Burning Down the Haus: Punk Rock, Revolution, and the Fall of the Berlin Wall by Tim Mohr What it's about: The underground East German punk movement whose political activism contributed to the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989.
Featuring: 15-year-old "Major," the self-proclaimed first punk in East Germany, known for her safety pin-adorned jackets.
Awards buzz: This engaging and richly detailed history was longlisted for the 2019 Andrew Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Nonfiction. | | The Mysterious Affair at Olivetti: IBM, the CIA, and the Cold War Conspiracy to Shut Down... by Meryle Secrest What it's about: How the development of the Olivetti Programma 101, the world's first desktop computer, was stalled by American intelligence fearful of the technology's use by China and the Soviet Union.
What happened: Prior to the P101's release, two Olivetti employees who worked on the project, including company heir Adriano Olivetti, died under suspicious circumstances. Coincidence -- or cover-up?
Who it's for: Readers who don't mind a bit of speculation in their history will enjoy this intensifying tale full of bizarre twists and turns. | | Blood and Sand: Suez, Hungary, and Eisenhower's Campaign for Peace by Alex Von Tunzelmann What it's about: How two 1956 crises -- the joint invasion of Egypt by Israeli, British and French forces, and a Soviet victory in the Hungarian Revolution -- almost plunged the world into nuclear war.
Read it for: A suspenseful, hour-by-hour account of the conflicts, which happened within weeks of each other. | |
Contact your librarian for more great books!
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