New and Recently Released!
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| The edge of the world: How the North Sea made us who we are by Michael PyeIn this "eye-opening reexamination" (Publishers Weekly) of Europe's early Middle Ages, historian Michael Pye recounts the political, economic, and cultural development found in seafaring regions bordering the North Sea. During the centuries from the fall of the Roman Empire to late Medieval times, Frisians in the Low Countries spread new ideas as they engaged widely in trade, and the Vikings put their own stamp on civilization through both raids and peaceful commerce. Universities developed, people copied and borrowed books, and women's legal and social status improved. Those who enjoyed Thomas Cahill's How the Irish Saved Civilization will relish this view of how western Europe and the British Isles laid the foundation for the Renaissance. |
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Midnight's furies : the deadly legacy of India's partition
by Nisid Hajari
Nobody expected the liberation of India and birth of Pakistan to be so bloody - it was supposed to be an answer to the dreams of Muslims and Hindus who had been ruled by the British for centuries. Jawaharlal Nehru, Gandhi's protege and the political leader of India, believed Indians were an inherently nonviolent, peaceful people. Pakistan's founder, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, was a secular lawyer, not a firebrand. But in August 1946, exactly a year before Independence, Calcutta erupted in street-gang fighting. A cycle of riots - targeting Hindus, then Muslims, then Sikhs - spiraled out of control. As the summer of 1947 approached, all three groups were heavily armed and on edge, and the British rushed to leave. Hell let loose. Trains carried Muslims west and Hindus east to their slaughter. Some of the most brutal and widespread ethnic cleansing in modern history erupted on both sides of the new border, searing a divide between India and Pakistan that remains a root cause of many evils.
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The stranger : Barack Obama in the White House
by Chuck Todd
NBC's award-winning Chief White House Correspondent presents a behind-the-scenes narrative of the 44th President's first term that explores how Obama's pre-presidency status as a Washington outsider has been an advantage and disadvantage and how his decisions are setting the stage for future politics.
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| Dreamland: The true tale of America's opiate epidemic by Sam QuinonesInvestigative journalist Sam Quinones explores the impact of widespread addiction to opiates in the U.S. showing how pharmaceutical companies have promoted the use of painkillers such as OxyContin. Quinones makes the connection between painkiller addiction and the desire for cheaper highs, which have become available in the form of black tar heroin smuggled from Mexico. Describing how the drug runners operate, he also analyses law enforcement issues and relates personal stories of smugglers, addicts, and their families. This report provides a startling and disturbing view of illegal drugs and illicit use of legal opiates in America. |
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| Target Tokyo: Jimmy Doolittle and the raid that avenged Pearl Harbor by James M. ScottThe Americans' retaliatory bombing of Tokyo in 1942, led by Air Force Lt. Col. James "Jimmy" Doolittle, is a celebrated action of World War II. Historian James Scott recounts aspects of the raid that are less well known, supplying details on planning, preparing, and executing the attack while emphasising Doolittle's leadership. He also relates personal stories of the bomber crewmen, some of whom were captured by the Japanese. Rounding out this comprehensive and accessible history, Scott describes the brutal effects of the Japanese retaliation in China and explains how Japan's subsequent attack on Midway Island affected the course of the war. |
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The Queen and Mrs Thatcher: An inconvenient relationship
by Dean Palmer
This is the remarkable story of how the two most powerful women in Britain at the time met and disliked each other on sight. For over a decade they quietly waged a war against each other on both a personal and political stage, disagreeing on key issues including sanctions against South Africa, the Miners' Strike and allowing US planes to bomb Libya using UK military bases. Elizabeth found the means to snub and undermine her prime minister through petty class put-downs and a series of press leaks. Margaret attacked her monarch by sidelining her internationally, upstaging her at home and allowing the Murdoch press to crucify the royal family. This book is a window into the 80s, an era when Britain was changed beyond recognition by a woman who made 'Thatcherism' the defining word of the decade.
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| KL: A history of the Nazi concentration camps by Nikolaus WachsmannWhile many accounts of Nazi concentration camps have focused on particular facilities or described the effects on prisoners, historian Nicolaus Wachsmann is the first to analyse the entire system of labour camps and extermination centers. This gripping, revelatory study draws on massive collections of documents, some of which have only become available over the past 25 years. KL doesn't just detail Nazi Germany's methodology of slave labour and genocide: it reveals how it was integral to the Third Reich's economic and political system. For another study of the concentration camps' inner workings, read Bettina Stangneth's groundbreaking Eichmann Before Jerusalem. |
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Focus on: King John and the Magna Carta, 800th Anniversary |
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King John : Treachery and tyranny in Medieval England: the road to Magna Carta
by Marc Morris
The brilliantly compelling new biography of the treacherous and tyrannical King John, published to coincide with the 800th anniversary of Magna Carta. King John is familiar to everyone as the villain from the tales of Robin Hood greedy, cowardly, despicable and cruel. But who was the man behind the legend? Was he truly a monster, or a capable ruler cursed by ill luck? In this book, bestselling historian Marc Morris draws on contemporary chronicles and the king's own letters to bring the real John vividly to life.
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Magna Carta and all that
by Rod Green
Published to mark the 800th anniversary of the charter, Magna Carta and All That reveals the compelling story behind this document, as well as what life was truly like in England in 1215. Looking at how Magna Carta impacted on the people and the customs of the day and the key personalities behind the political power struggle of the time, it also explores the lives of ordinary people, both free men and serfs, in medieval English society. With fascinating facts and insights, Magna Carta and All That, gives a richly detailed look at the medieval world and the lasting legacy of this crucial document.
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Magna Carta : The making and legacy of the great charter
by Dan Jones
On a summer's day in 1215 a beleaguered English monarch met a group of disgruntled barons in a meadow by the river Thames named Runnymede. Beset by foreign crisis and domestic rebellion, King John was fast running out of options. On 15 June he reluctantly agreed to fix his regal seal to a document that would change the world. A milestone in the development of constitutional politics and the rule of law, the 'Great Charter' established an Englishman's right to Habeas Corpus and set limits to the exercise of royal power. For the first time a group of subjects had forced an English king to agree to a document that limited his powers by law and protected their rights. Dan Jones's elegant and authoritative narrative of the making and legacy of Magna Carta is amplified by profiles of the barons who secured it and a full text of the charter in both Latin and English.
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King John : And the road to Magna Carta
by S. D. Church
A renowned medieval historian analyses the reign of King John, the infamous English king who brought about the establishment of the Magna Carta and the birth of constitutional democracy, which would prove to be a crucial turning point in English history and become the blueprint for good governance.
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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