[bksvol-discuss] Fw: History and Current Events July 2010
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 13 Jul 2010 20:56:24 -0700
History and Current Events July 2010
Give me the money that has been spent in war
and I will clothe every man, woman, and child
in an attire of which kings and queens will be proud.
I will build a schoolhouse in every valley over the whole earth.
I will crown every hillside with a place of worship consecrated to peace.
~Charles Sumner
American Politician and Abolitionist
1811-1874
New and Recently Released!
The Promise: President Obama, Year One - by Jonathan Alter
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/18/2010
ISBN-13: 9781439101193
ISBN-10: 1439101191
In his first year as President of the United States, Barack Obama faced such
challenges as the faltering financial and automotive industries, a hard-hit
economy, and the continuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. He also won the Nobel
Peace Prize and pushed for health care reform despite heavy opposition.
Most people would say he's had some successes and some failures--Newsweek
senior editor Jonathan Alter takes that analysis many steps further by reporting
on the promises Obama has kept and the goals he hasn't yet achieved during his
first year in office. The Washington Post calls it "deeply reported and
analytically arresting," while The New York Times says it is "informative but
detached."
Table of Contents
None of Us Were Like This Before : American Soldiers and Torture - Joshua E. S.
Phillips
Publisher: W W Norton & Co Inc
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 06/14/2010
ISBN-13: 9781844675999
ISBN-10: 1844675998
Recounts the journey of a U.S. tank battalion--trained for conventional
combat--as its focus switches to guerilla warfare and prisoner detention,
showing
how a group of ordinary soldiers, ill-trained for their new responsibilities,
descended into the degradations of abuse.
Table of Contents
Revolutionaries: A New History of the Invention of America - by Jack N. Rakove
Publisher: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/11/2010
ISBN-13: 9780618267460
ISBN-10: 0618267468
Using the stories of famous (and not so famous) men to capture what it was like
to live during the most crucial decades of the country's birth, from 1772
to 1792, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Jack Rakove offers a new and
revealing perspective on the founding of America. By focusing on the stories of
individuals (such as Continental army officer John Lauren or statesman John
Adams), Rakove allows his readers to understand how ideas spread and took shape
as the revolutionaries struggled with the huge challenges inherent in bringing
forth a new nation. Don't miss Revolutionaries if you're interested in an
"intelligent exploration into the intellectual underpinnings of the Revolution"
(Kirkus Reviews).
Table of Contents
The Ninth: Beethoven and the World in 1824 - by Harvey Sachs
Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 06/15/2010
ISBN-13: 9781400060771
ISBN-10: 140006077X
In 1824, in an era marked by political unrest and artistic advancement,
Beethoven premiered his most recognizable work, his ninth and last symphony.
Using
this achievement to limn the era as well as Beethoven's other accomplishments,
former conductor Harvey Sachs has created a book that is likely to appeal
to armchair historians, musicologists, and those who appreciate Beethoven and
his contemporaries. Although a background in music theory would not go amiss,
it's not entirely necessary--though listening to a recording of the Ninth would
probably add to the experience. You can follow it up with Thomas Forrest
Kelly's analysis of the premier of the Ninth and four other masterpieces in
First Nights.
"Great" Moments in History
The Great Influenza: The Epic Story of the Deadliest Plague in History - by
John M. Barry
Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 09/27/2005
ISBN-13: 9780143036494
ISBN-10: 0143036491
The 1918-1920 influenza pandemic, which killed millions of people around the
world (50 million in 1918 alone), was particularly deadly for two reasons--the
virus itself mutated quickly, which confounded efforts to stop it, and it was
spread at least in part by troop movements during World War I. In this
intriguing
account of the deadly health crisis, author John Barry examines the origins of
the killer flu, the failure of the U.S. government to recognize the seriousness
of the situation, the response of the medical community, and the impact on
early 20th-century society. With such subject matter, it's no surprise that
"every page compels attention" (Booklist). To read about another deadly
outbreak--this time of the plague--try John Kelly's The Great Mortality.
Table of Contents
The Great Deluge: Hurricane Katrina, New Orleans, and the Mississippi Gulf
Coast - by Douglas Brinkley
Publisher: Harper Perennial
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 08/01/2007
ISBN-13: 9780061148491
ISBN-10: 0061148490
Though the Gulf Coast region is now dealing with the repercussions of BP's
terrible oil spill, it was only five years ago that Hurricane Katrina devastated
New Orleans and the Gulf Coast region. Himself displaced by the storm,
historian Douglas Brinkley provides a deeply personal account of Katrina and its
aftermath, while his interviews with federal, state, and local officials offer
a different perspective. Full of revealing information, this analysis will
appeal to anyone affected by Katrina or with an interest in the past and future
of Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Gulf Coast. For more on Katrina, try
Jed Horne's Breach of Faith.
First Chapter
Table of Contents
Alexander the Great : journey to the end of the earth - Norman F. Cantor and
Dee Ranieri
Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 12/01/2005
ISBN-13: 9780060570125
ISBN-10: 0060570121
A concise portrait of the conqueror and empire builder draws on the writings of
Alexander's contemporaries as well as modern psychiatric and cultural studies
to offer insight into his military ambitions, use of Achilles as a role model,
and sexuality. Booklist calls this "A book that does the biographical art
proud."
First Chapter
The grand design : strategy and the U.S. Civil War - Donald J. Stoker
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 07/20/2010
ISBN-13: 9780195373059
ISBN-10: 0195373057
The earliest histories published in the northern states commonly refer to the
Civil War as "The Great Rebellion." Of the tens of thousands of books exploring
virtually every aspect of the Civil War, surprisingly little has been said
about what was in fact the determining factor in the outcome of the conflict:
differences in Union and Southern strategy.
In The Grand Design, Donald Stoker provides a comprehensive and often
surprising account of strategy as it evolved between Fort Sumter and
Appomattox. Reminding
us that strategy is different from tactics (battlefield deployments) and
operations (campaigns conducted in pursuit of a strategy), Stoker examines how
Abraham Lincoln and Jefferson Davis identified their political goals and worked
with their generals to craft the military means to achieve them--or how
they often failed to do so. Stoker shows that Davis, despite a West Point
education and experience as Secretary of War, failed as a strategist by losing
control of the political side of the war. His invasion of Kentucky was a
turning point that shifted the loyalties and vast resources of the border states
to the Union. Lincoln, in contrast, evolved a clear strategic vision, but he
failed for years to make his generals implement it. At the level of generalship,
Stoker notes that Robert E. Lee correctly determined the Union's center of
gravity, but proved mistaken in his assessment of how to destroy it. Stoker
also presents evidence that the Union could have won the war in 1862, had it
followed the grand plan of the much-derided general, George B. McClellan.
Historians have often argued that the North's advantages in population and
industry ensured certain victory. In The Grand Design, Stoker reasserts the
centrality
of the overarching military ideas--the strategy--on each side, arguing
convincingly that it was strategy that determined the war's outcome.
Jefferson's Great Gamble: The Remarkable Story of Jefferson, Napoleon and the
Men Behind the Louisiana Purchase - by Charles A. Cerami
Publisher: Sourcebooks
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/01/2004
ISBN-13: 9781402202407
ISBN-10: 1402202407
The Louisiana Purchase, which doubled the size of the U.S. at its signing in
1803, was the largest recorded real-estate deal in history. The two major groups
of people involved were of course the American buyers (President Thomas
Jefferson and diplomats Robert Livingston and James Monroe) and the French
sellers
(Napoleon Bonaparte, who had control over Spain's North American holdings and
who loved to frustrate the British Empire, and his Ministers). Author Charles
Cerami focuses on these principle actors (and a few others) in the 30 months
leading up to the final negotiated purchase, creating a "fast-paced and muscular
story" (Booklist).
Down the Great Unknown: John Wesley Powell's 1869 Journey of Discovery and
Tragedy Through the Grand Canyon - by Edward Dolnick
Publisher: Perennial
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 09/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780060955861
ISBN-10: 0060955864
These days the Colorado River, which runs through the Grand Canyon, is a
popular destination for river rafters of all levels. But for the first men to
ride
the rapids, danger lay at every turn. Unknown rapids coupled with the wrong
type of boats, hostile locals, and a lack of game to supplement dwindling
rations
made for a perilous journey--but the inexperienced rafters nevertheless managed
to explore the uncharted Green and Colorado rivers and make it to their
destination. Or at least most of them did... For more information on John
Wesley Powell, the strong-willed, one-armed leader of the 1869 expedition, try
his biography, A River Running West, by Donald Worster.
First Chapter
Table of Contents
The Last Great Revolution: Turmoil and Transformation in Iran - by Robin B.
Wright
Publisher: Vintage Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/01/2001
ISBN-13: 9780375706301
ISBN-10: 0375706305
In The Last Great Revolution, long-time foreign correspondent and Mideast
expert Robin Wright argues that the transformation of Iranian society will stand
with the French and Russian revolutions as one of the greatest social movements
of the modern era. First published in 2000, this book focuses on the revolution
of 1978-79 and the 20 years of changes that followed. Covering both everyday
life and the religious politics of Iran, The Last Great Revolution is a
fascinating
and insightful account of those years. If you're looking to continue your study
of Iran, try Hooman Majd's more recent The Ayatollah Begs to Differ.
Table of Contents
First Chapter
__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature
database 5275 (20100713) __________
The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.
http://www.eset.com
Other related posts:
- » [bksvol-discuss] Fw: History and Current Events July 2010 - Amber Wallenstein
