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History and Current Events May 2026 |
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Recent Releases - History |
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| This Land Is Your Land: A Road Trip Through U.S. History by Beverly GageRide along with Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Beverly Gage as she travels the country to see the museums, historic sites, roadside attractions, reenactments, and souvenir shops where Americans learn--and fight--about our history. From the birth of the nation in Philadelphia to Disneyland and the California dream, This Land Is Your Land offers a guided tour of thirteen places and thirteen key moments that define America's greatest successes and challenges. Try this next: American Rambler: Walking the Trail of Johnny Appleseed by Isaac Fitzgerald. |
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| Chain of Ideas: The Origins of Our Authoritarian Age by Ibram X. KendiNational Book Award-winning author Ibram X. Kendi's thought-provoking latest details the origins and evolution of the great replacement theory -- the far-right conspiracy that claims white European people are deliberately being replaced by non-white immigrants -- and examines how leading politicians around the globe openly propagate these views. "Kendi argues brilliantly that we must work across race and class lines to eradicate social ills and eliminate fascism." (Los Angeles Times) |
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Rasputin: The Downfall of the Romanovs
by Antony Beevor
Though he had no official position at court, Grigori Rasputin's hold over the Romanovs became the stuff of legend. Exaggerated accounts of political and financial corruption swirled around him, to say nothing of the stories of his debauchery with the Empress. The consequences of the rumor and conspiracy theories were devastating--when the February revolution broke out in 1917, hardly a sword was raised in the Tsar's defense. Through extensive use of previously unpublished reports, interviews, and interrogations, Beevor shows the truth of Rasputin's rampant lust and opportunism, victimization of poor and vulnerable women, and deep hypocrisy and corruption. Part political thriller, part gothic mystery, Rasputin is a fascinating story of human perversity.
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The Sea Captain's Wife: A True Story of Mutiny, Love, and Adventure at the Bottom of the World
by Tilar J. Mazzeo
Summer, 1856. Nineteen-year-old Mary Ann Patten and her husband Joshua were young and ambitious. If they could win a sailing race to San Francisco that year, their dream of building a farm and a family might be within reach. As their ship left New York Harbor and sailed down the jagged coast of South America, Joshua fell deathly ill and was confined to his bunk, delirious. With no obvious option for a new captain, Mary Ann stepped into the breach and convinced the crew to support her, just as they slammed into a gale that would last 18 days. Publishers Weekly calls it, "a bracing high-seas adventure and a forgotten slice of women's history."
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In the Shadow of the Great House: A History of the Plantation in America
by Daniel Rood
The plantation was invented on the small Atlantic island of São Tomé in the 1500s, and the island also became the site, soon enough, of the first slave revolt. The brutal technology was then perfected in Barbados, where planters worked tens of thousands of African captives to their deaths in sugar factories. But it was in the United States that the plantation found its most powerful manifestations. "An important and revelatory work that brings economic history to life with narrative and nuance." (Kirkus Reviews)
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Recent Releases - Current Events
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| London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family's Search for Truth by Patrick Radden KeefeIn his richly detailed latest, award-winning journalist Patrick Radden Keefe chronicles the shocking death of 19-year-old Zac Brettler in 2019 London, revealing how Brettler's secret life posing as the son of a Russian oligarch led to his involvement in the city's seedy underworld. "An exemplary account of naïveté, wealth, and menace, impeccably told by a top-notch journalist." (Kirkus Reviews) |
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Like, Follow, Subscribe: Influencer Kids and the Cost of a Childhood Online
by Fortesa Latifi
A searing investigation into the child influencer industry, the perils of childhood internet fame, and the ethics of online content. Journalist Fortesa Latifi dives into the lives of children whose parents mine their everyday activities for monetizable content, exposing issues like privacy violations, financial abuse, and the absence of child labor protections. "Latifi observes how understandable it is that parents are willing to swap their family's privacy for financial stability, given the greater lack of structural support for families in the U.S. It's a perceptive, often stomach-churning exposé." (Publishers Weekly)
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Contact your librarian for more great books!
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630-653-7599, 0S291 Winfield Rd.
Winfield, IL 60190
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