History and Current Events
August 2025
Recent Releases
Spitfires: The American Women Who Flew in the Face of Danger During World War II
by Becky Aikman

Becky Aikman chronicles the heart-pounding true story of the daring American women who piloted the most dangerous aircraft of World War II through the treacherous skies of Britain. For fans of: Women of War: The Italian Assassins, Spies, and Couriers Who Fought the Nazis by Suzanne Cope.
Threads of Empire: A History of the World in Twelve Carpets
by Dorothy Armstrong

Material culture historian Dorothy Armstrong's sweeping and well-researched world history details the practical and symbolic roles carpets have played in shaping human civilization by spotlighting 12 individual carpets woven between 500 BCE and the present. Try this next: Fabric: The Hidden History of the Material World by Victoria Finlay. 
Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World
by Tim Bouverie

Rife with dramatic political intrigue and sly humor, British historian Tim Bouverie's fast-paced account offers fresh insights on the "incongruous alliance" of the Allied forces during World War II, profiling lesser known battles and players that nonetheless played a key role in winning the war. For fans of: The Allies: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II by Winston Groom.
Midnight on the Potomac: The Last Year of the Civil War, the Lincoln Assassination, and the...
by Scott Ellsworth

Award-winning historian Scott Ellsworth's compelling and well-researched latest focuses on the final year of the American Civil War, revealing how John Wilkes Booth may have been part of a long-planned Confederate conspiracy to assassinate President Abraham Lincoln. Further reading: Lincoln's Peace: The Struggle to End the American Civil War by Michael Vorenberg.
The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature
by Charlie English

Former Guardian journalist Charlie English evocatively chronicles the CIA's successful efforts to weaken Soviet censorship and control by distributing subversive and pro-democracy literature to Eastern Europe in the 1980s. Try this next: The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War by Delphine Minoui.
Georgia's Historical Recipes: Seeking Our State's Oldest Written Foodways and the Stories Behind Them
by Valerie J. Frey

Georgia's Historical Recipes is a survey of Georgia's historical cookbooks, recipes, and related foodways from 1733 to the end of World War II. As Valerie J. Frey puts it, "the book explores what Georgians grew, gathered, hunted, cooked, and ate. It explains various changes in technology, transportation, communication, social norms, and food science that slowly altered what could be found between the covers of Georgia's old cookbooks." Try this next: Tasting History: Explore the Past Through 4,000 Years of Recipes by Max Miller with Ann Volkwein.  
Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings
by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

National Book Award-nominated poet and novelist Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois) makes her genre-defying nonfiction debut with this unflinching and insightful essay collection exploring various crossroads Black women have faced throughout history. For fans of: Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts: Stories and Recipes from Five Generations of Black Country Cooks by Crystal Wilkinson; Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry.
Dinner with King Tut: How Rogue Archaeologists Are Re-creating the Sights...
by Sam Kean

Bestselling science writer Sam Kean (The Icepick Surgeon) offers a lively chronicle of how experimental archeologists utilize evidence found at dig sites to replicate ancient rituals and customs, including hunting with period-appropriate weaponry, playing an Aztec ballgame, brewing ancient Egyptian beer, and even mummifying corpses. Further reading: Custodians of Wonder: Ancient Customs, Profound Traditions, and the Last People Keeping Them Alive by Eliot Stein.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Forsyth County Public Library
770-781-9840 | ForsythPL.org