History and Current Events
October 2025*
Recent Releases
Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History
by Moudhy Al-Rashid

In her accessible and illuminating debut, historian Moudhy Al-Rashid utilizes eight artifacts, including cuneiform tablets and weapon fragments, to explore everyday life and culture in ancient Mesopotamia. Further reading: The Library of Ancient Wisdom: Mesopotamia and the Making of the Modern World by Selena Wisnom.
Behind the badge : answering the call to serve on America's homefront by Johnny Joey Jones
Behind the badge : answering the call to serve on America's homefront
by Johnny Joey Jones

"A collection of stories from first responders, police officers, EMTs, firefighters, and other brave men and women facing danger on the home front"-- Provided by publisher
The Martians: The True Story of an Alien Craze That Captured Turn-of-the-Century America
by David Baron

Science journalist David Baron (American Eclipse) chronicles how early-20th century astronomers, writers, and intellectuals popularized a cultural fascination with Mars (and its potential lifeforms) that ushered in a new era of exploration, tabloid journalism, and conspiracy theories. Try this next: Dead Air: The Night That Orson Welles Terrified America by William Elliott Hazelgrove.
Deadwood: Gold, Guns, and Greed in the American West
by Peter Cozzens

Historian Peter Cozzens' rollicking revisionist history of Deadwood, South Dakota, the Black Hills Gold Rush settlement famously immortalized in the HBO series Deadwood, offers a nuanced portrait of the town's origins and its larger-than-life characters. For fans of: Wild Bill: The True Story of the American Frontier's First Gunfighter by Tom Clavin.
The man no one believed : the untold story of the Georgia church murders by Joshua Sharpe
The man no one believed : the untold story of the Georgia church murders
by Joshua Sharpe

Chronicles the story of a 1985 double murder, a long-overdue investigation and the fight to exonerate an innocent man.
Could Should Might Don't: How We Think About the Future
by Nick Foster

Futurist and designer Nick Foster's thought-provoking study blends history and current events to examine four mindsets of approaching the future -- "could" (based on projections), "should" (based on goals), "might" (based on data), and "don't" (based on consequences). Further reading: A Century of Tomorrows: How Imagining the Future Shapes the Present by Glenn Adamson.
Black Moses: A Saga of Ambition and the Fight for a Black State
by Caleb Gayle

Journalist Caleb Gayle's compelling and well-researched history offers a nuanced portrait of Black separatist politician and entrepreneur Edward McCabe, whose attempts to establish Black-run communities in the post-Reconstruction Oklahoma Territory spurred the displacement of the Cherokee already living there. Try this next: The Cost of Free Land: Jews, Lakota, and an American Inheritance by Rebecca Clarren. 
The Fort Bragg Cartel: Drug Trafficking and Murder in the Special Forces
by Seth Harp

Journalist and Iraq War veteran Seth Harp's disturbing debut chronicles the criminal exploits of United States Special Forces soldiers based at North Carolina's Fort Bragg military base, where a 2020 double murder exposed a drug trafficking operation. Try this next: Code Over Country: The Tragedy and Corruption of SEAL Team Six by Matthew Cole.
Jews vs. Rome: Two Centuries of Rebellion Against the World's Mightiest Empire
by Barry Strauss

Drawing upon historical documents and recent archaeological discoveries, historian Barry Strauss explores two centuries of Jewish rebellion against the Romans, from the conquest of Jerusalem in 63 B.C.E. to the Bar Kokhba revolt of 132-136 C.E. "There is no better history of this important but little-known subject," raves Library Journal. Further reading: Rome and Jerusalem: The Clash of Ancient Civilizations by Martin Goodman.
Putting myself together : writing 1974- by Jamaica Kincaid
Putting myself together : writing 1974-
by Jamaica Kincaid

This collection of nonfiction writing, including early pieces from publications such as The New Yorker, The Village Voice and Ms., proves what the author's admirers have always known: from the start, she has been a consummate stylist, and she has always been herself. Illustrations.
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