History and Current Events
April 2026

Recent Releases
The Price of Mercy: Unfair Trials, a Violent System, and a Public Defender's Search for...
by Emily Galvin Almanza

Co-founder and executive director of Partners for Justice and former public defender Emily Galvin Almanza presents a thought-provoking and incisive examination of the failures of the American criminal justice system and offers solutions for reform. For fans of: The New Jim Crow by Michelle Alexander; Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson.
Mafia: A Global History
by Ryan Gingeras

Historian Ryan Gingeras' (The Last Days of the Ottoman Empire) sweeping account surveys the origins and exploits of organized crime syndicates throughout the world, including the Mafia, yakuza, triad, and more. Try this next: Naples 1343: The Unexpected Origins of the Mafia by Amedeo Feniello.
Citizenship: Notes on an American Myth
by Daisy Hernández

Blending memoir and cultural criticism, Daisy Hernández's moving and incisive book explores the racialization and politicization of American citizenship, exploring how refugees and their descendants have difficulty obtaining citizenship. Further reading: Conditional Citizens: On Belonging in America by Laila Lalami; The Ungrateful Refugee: What Immigrants Never Tell You by Dina Nayeri.
The Death of Trotsky: The True Story of the Plot to Kill Stalin's Greatest Enemy
by Josh Ireland

Writer and editor Josh Ireland's fast-paced and compelling history details Soviet espionage efforts during World War II, focusing on the 1940 assassination of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky. For fans of: The Spy and the Traitor: The Greatest Espionage Story of the Cold War by Ben Macintyre.
American Struggle: Democracy, Dissent, and the Pursuit of a More Perfect Union...
by Jon Meacham (editor)

Edited by Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jon Meacham and spanning 1619 to the present, this thought-provoking anthology explores the promises and failures of American democracy, featuring primary sources including speeches, letters, poems, and more. Try this next: Myth America: Historians Take On the Biggest Legends and Lies About Our Past, edited by Kevin M. Kruse and Julian E. Zelizer.
We the Women: The Hidden Heroes Who Shaped America
by Norah O'Donnell with Kate Andersen Brower

Emmy Award-wining journalist Norah O'Donnell's sweeping and inspiring book surveys women's contributions throughout American history via 35 biographical profiles. Further reading: The American Women's Almanac: 500 Years of Making History by Deborah G. Felder.
The Blood Countess: Murder, Betrayal, and the Making of a Monster
by Shelley Puhak

Writer and poet Shelley Puhak's (The Dark Queens) nuanced and demythologizing latest examines the life and exploits of 16th-century Hungarian noblewoman Elizabeth Báthory, whose conviction of (and imprisonment for) torturing and murdering 80 girls and women was the result of a smear campaign. It's "a stunning feminist reconsideration of one of history's most reviled villainesses" (Publishers Weekly). Try this next: When Women Kill: Four Crimes Retold by Alia Trabucco Zerán.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Benicia Public Library
150 East L Street, Benicia, California 94510
(707) 746-4343

https://benicialibrary.org/