History and Current Events
May 2025*
Recent Releases
The folly of realism : how the West deceived itself about Russia and betrayed Ukraine
by Alexander S. Vindman

A national security expert argues that Western indecision and short-sightedness enabled Russia's return to imperialism, culminating in the brutal invasion of Ukraine, while proposing a long-term, values-based approach to counteract Russian expansionism and uphold liberal democracy.
There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America
by Brian Goldstone

In a sobering and richly detailed expansion of his viral 2019 article "The New American Homeless," journalist Brian Goldstone follows five Atlanta families experiencing homelessness despite having full-time jobs. Further reading: Seeking Shelter: A Working Mother, Her Children, and a Story of Homelessness in America by Jeff Hobbs.
The Mesopotamian Riddle: An Archaeologist, a Soldier, a Clergyman, and the Race to...
by Joshua Hammer

Journalist Joshua Hammer's (The Bad-Ass Librarians of Timbuktu) fast-paced latest chronicles the mid-19th century race among archaeologists and scholars to decode cuneiform script. This evocative adventure tale will appeal to fans of Margalit Fox's The Riddle of the Labyrinth: The Quest to Crack an Ancient Code. 
The Ride: Paul Revere and the Night That Saved America
by Kostya Kennedy

Released in time for the 250th anniversary of the event and featuring fresh insights, journalist Kostya Kennedy's accessible history chronicles Paul Revere's fateful midnight ride to warn American minutemen of the British army's impending arrival. Further reading: The British Are Coming: The War for America, Lexington to Princeton, 1775-1777 by Rick Atkinson.
Stuck : how the privileged and the propertied broke the engine of American opportunity
by Yoni Appelbaum

Explores the historical roots of America's mobility crisis, revealing how zoning laws and discriminatory policies have systematically limited economic opportunities and restricted access to good neighborhoods, schools and housing for marginalized communities, and offers solutions to restore mobility and reinvigorate the American dream.
Focus on: Asian/Pacific American Heritage Month
Asian American Histories of the United States
by Catherine Ceniza Choy

Exploring themes of violence and resistance, Catherine Ceniza Choy's insightful and well-researched work offers illuminating perspectives on the erasure of Asian Americans from United States histories. Further reading: My Life: Growing Up Asian in America edited by the Coalition of Asian Pacifics in Entertainment (CAPE).
The Eagles of Heart Mountain: A True Story of Football, Incarceration, and Resistance in...
by Bradford Pearson

Journalist Bradford Pearson's well-researched history spotlights the little-known story of the Eagles, a high school football team of Japanese American boys interned at Wyoming's Heart Mountain Relocation Center during World War II. Try this next: Facing the Mountain: A True Story of Japanese American Heroes in World War II by Daniel James Brown.
Rise: A Pop History of Asian America from the Nineties to Now
by Jeff Yang, Phil Yu, and Philip Wang

This engaging collection of essays, interviews, playlists, illustrations, and memes explores how Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders have impacted politics and popular culture in the last 30 years. Further reading: Giant Robot: Thirty Years of Defining Asian American Pop Culture edited by Eric Nakamura.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Madison County Public Libraries
1335 North Main Street
Marshall, North Carolina 28753
828-649-3741

https://www.madisoncountylibrary.net/