Through the extraordinary life of Angelica Schuyler Church, a politically astute and socially influential figure, Molly Beer reveals how women shaped early American history through diplomacy, personal networks, and a strategic presence in key revolutionary moments. For further reading: Young and Restless: The Girls Who Sparked America's Revolutions by Mattie Kahn.
Yale Journalism Initiative director Haley Cohen Gilliland’s compelling debut spotlights the Argentinian grandmothers who founded the Abuelas de Plaza de Mayo in 1977 and stood up to their government’s military dictatorship to help locate their kidnapped grandchildren. Further reading: Still Life With Bones: Genocide, Forensics, and What Remains by Alexa Hagerty.
Cultural critic Tre Johnson's impassioned debut essay collection examines the ways in which Black genius is overlooked and undervalued, revealing how gentrification, cultural appropriation and extraction, and policy undermine Black creatives' accomplishments. For fans of: How We Do It: Black Writers on Craft, Practice, and Skill edited by Jericho Brown.
Board game designer and author Philip E. Orbanes’ (Tortured Cardboard) cinematic World War II history details the lesser-known story of how Allied military intelligence concealed tools, money, and fake identification cards in Monopoly game pieces to help servicemen escape from German prisoner-of-war camps. Try this next: The Army That Never Was: George S. Patton and the Deception of Operation Fortitude by Taylor Downing.
Journalist and spy novelist Jon Stock's disturbing true crime book utilizes medical records and firsthand accounts to detail the sinister exploits of revered British psychiatrist William Sargent (1907-1988), who preyed on his women patients by inducing comas without their consent at London’s Royal Waterloo Hospital. Try this next: The Case of the Murderous Dr. Cream: The Hunt for a Victorian Era Serial Killer by Dean Jobb.
Pulitzer Prize winner Tim Weiner follows up his National Book Award-winning Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA with a richly detailed exploration of the CIA’s shifting role in United States foreign policy following the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks, delivering a “singular triumph” that “should be required reading” (Kirkus Reviews). Further reading:The Sisterhood: The Secret History of Women at the CIA by Liza Mundy.