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History and Current Events February 2026 |
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Shadow Cell: An Insider Account of America's New Spy War
by Andrew Bustamante
A thrilling firsthand account by husband-and-wife CIA operatives who, against all odds, triumphed in a deadly cat-and-mouse game against a mole within the agency--an unprecedented insider account of 21st-century spycraft in the tradition of Argo and Black Ops.--Provided by publisher.
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Declaring Independence: Why 1776 Matters
by Edward J. Larson
On the 250th anniversary of American independence, with the history of our founding a political battleground, this study of the ideas and battlefield sacrifices of 1776 by a Pulitzer Prize-winning scholar could not be more timely.
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Lessons from Bobby: Ten Reasons Robert F. Kennedy Still Matters
by Chris Matthews
From the host of Hardball with Chris Matthews (now on Substack) and acclaimed Kennedy biographer comes a centennial tribute about why Robert F. Kennedy's revolutionary vision offers the roadmap America needs today. 100 years after his birth, Bobby Kennedy matters more than ever. That is because he led us in pursuit of America's ideals. He took risks for peace and united a fractured country. He showed moral courage and political bravery. In today's bitterly divided nation, his message has the power to help us reimagine a better future. On the historic occasion of Bobby Kennedy's centennial, Chris Matthews, one of America's foremost political commentators and Kennedy biographers, gives us ten electrifying lessons for today drawn from Bobby's life. Take them as a guide. America is great when it tries, at its best, to be good. This special anniversary book also includes a selection of Bobby Kennedy's greatest speeches, which, when read today, offer a renewed and inspiring vision for America.
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Focus on: Black History Month
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| My Black Country: A Journey Through Country Music's Black Past, Present, and Future by Alice RandallIn her impassioned and insightful blend of history and memoir, Nashville-based songwriter and producer Alice Randall (the first Black woman to co-write a number one country song) spotlights trailblazing yet forgotten Black country musicians whose artistry has influenced the genre. Try this next: Before Elvis: The African American Musicians Who Made the King by Preston Lauterbach. |
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Simply More: A Book for Anyone Who Has Been Told They're Too Much
by Cynthia Erivo
Cynthia Erivo learned the music to Wicked a decade before she needed it, not knowing those ... lyrics would change her life. Now she has performed those songs on the world stage, showing us there is always time to keep discovering ourselves--and to illustrate that it's often the parts of ourselves we are told to bury that make us shine. In a series of ... personal vignettes, Cynthia reflects on the ways she has grown as an actor and human and the practices she's learned over years of performing and reminds us all we are capable of so much more than we thin--
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| The Conjuring of America: Mojos, Mermaids, Medicine, and 400 Years of Black Women's... by Lindsey StewartBlack feminist philosopher Lindsey Stewart's sweeping and richly detailed follow-up to The Politics of Black Joy traces the origins and evolution of West African spiritual practices in America, popularized by enslaved conjure women who utilized their skills to heal their communities. Try this next: When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and America's Black Botanical Legacy by Beronda L. Montgomery. |
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The Zorg: A Tale of Greed and Murder That Inspired the Abolition of Slavery
by Siddharth Kara
A book of great importance and one that will likely become a classic. - New York Times Book ReviewOne of The New York Times' 100 Most Notable Books of 2025 A Time Magazine Must-Read Book of 2025A New Yorker Essential Read From the Pulitzer Finalist and New York Times bestselling author of Cobalt Red: How the Blood of the Congo Powers Our Lives Perfect for fans of David Grann's The Wager and The Wide, Wide Sea by Hampton Sides In late October 1780, a slave ship set sail from the Netherlands, bound for Africa's Windward and Gold Coasts, where it would take on its human cargo. The Zorg (a Dutch word meaning care) was one of thousands of such ships, but the harrowing events that ensued on its doomed journey were unique. By the time its journey ends, the Zorg would become the first undeniable argument against slavery. When a series of unpredictable weather events and navigational errors led to the Zorg sailing off course and running low on supplies, the ship's captain threw more than a hundred slaves overboard in order to save the crew and the most valuable slaves. The ship's owners then claimed their loss on insurance, a first for slaves who had not been killed due to insurrection or died of natural causes. The insurers refused to pay due to the higher than usual mortality rate of the slaves on board, leading to a trial which initially found in their favor, in which the Chief Justice compared the slaves to horses. Thanks to the outrage of one man present in court that day, a retrial was held. For the first time, concepts such as human rights and morality entered the discourse on slavery in a courtroom case that boiled down to a simple yet profound question: Were the Africans on board people or cargo? What followed was a fascinating legal drama in England's highest court that turned the brutal calculus of slavery into front-page news. The case of the Zorg catapulted the nascent anti-slavery movement from a minor evangelical cause to one of the most consequential moral campaigns in historysparking the abolitionist movement in both England and the young United States. The Zorg is the astonishing yet little-known true story of the most consequential ship that ever crossed the Atlantic.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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New Carlisle-Olive Township Public Library
408 S. Bray St.
New Carlisle, Indiana 46552
(574) 654-3046ncpl.lib.in.us |
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