History and Current Events
August 2025
Recent Releases
Allies at War: How the Struggles Between the Allied Powers Shaped the War and the World
by Tim Bouverie

Rife with dramatic political intrigue and sly humor, British historian Tim Bouverie's fast-paced account offers fresh insights on the "incongruous alliance" of the Allied forces during World War II, profiling lesser known battles and players that nonetheless played a key role in winning the war. For fans of: The Allies: Roosevelt, Churchill, Stalin, and the Unlikely Alliance That Won World War II by Winston Groom.
Taking Midway : naval warfare, secret codes, and the battle that turned the tide of World War II
by Martin Dugard

Chronicles the events leading to the pivotal Battle of Midway, highlighting Lt. Commander Joseph Rochefort's efforts to decode Japanese plans despite skepticism from U.S. Navy leadership, and detailing the high-stakes strategies and dramatic confrontations that turned the tide of World War II in the Pacific.
I seek a kind person : my father, seven children and the adverts that helped them escape the Holocaust
by Julian Borger

This powerful family memoir uncovers the hidden stories of children who escaped the Holocaust, tracing their survival across continents through newspaper ads that offered them refuge, while exploring themes of trauma, courage and intergenerational connections. Original.
The CIA Book Club: The Secret Mission to Win the Cold War with Forbidden Literature
by Charlie English

Former Guardian journalist Charlie English evocatively chronicles the CIA's successful efforts to weaken Soviet censorship and control by distributing subversive and pro-democracy literature to Eastern Europe in the 1980s. Try this next: The Book Collectors: A Band of Syrian Rebels and the Stories That Carried Them Through a War by Delphine Minoui.
Bad Company: Private Equity and the Death of the American Dream
by Megan Greenwell

In her incisive debut, journalist Megan Greenwell draws upon her own experience as a former writer for Deadspin to investigate the damaging impact private equity firms have on American workers and communities. Further reading: These Are the Plunderers: How Private Equity Runs — and Wrecks — America by Gretchen Morgenson and Joshua Rosner.  
Misbehaving at the Crossroads: Essays & Writings
by Honorée Fanonne Jeffers

National Book Award-nominated poet and novelist Honorée Fanonne Jeffers (The Love Songs of W.E.B. Du Bois) makes her genre-defying nonfiction debut with this unflinching and insightful essay collection exploring various crossroads Black women have faced throughout history. For fans of: In Search of Our Mothers' Gardens: Womanist Prose by Alice Walker; Black in Blues: How a Color Tells the Story of My People by Imani Perry.
Contact your librarian for more great books!
Iredell County Public Library
201 N. Tradd Street, Statesville, North Carolina 28677
704-878-3090
www.iredell.lib.nc.us