Category Archives: History & Current Events

America the Beautiful: Rediscovering What Made This Nation Great

April 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
america_beautiful_rediscovering_made_nation_great

By Ben Carson Zondervan, $14.99, 224 pages If you’ve watched the news lately, you’ve likely heard about Ben Carson. Neurosurgeon, professor, author, and inspiring political mind Dr. Carson gave a now-famous speech at the National Prayer Breakfast in early February …

Enough Is Enough: Building a Sustainable Economy in a World of Finite Resources

April 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
enough_is_enough

By Rob Dietz, Dan O’Neill Berrett Koehler, $19.95, 240 pages That roar you hear on the horizon is the next generation rising in protest at their inheritance from the Me Generation: unfathomable debt, crashed financial markets, and a thoroughly exploited …

In the Shadow of the Greatest Generation

April 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
shadow_greatest_generation

By Melinda L. Pash New York University Press, $35.00, 336 pages Caught between the two most discussed wars of the twentieth century, the “good” war that was World War II and the “bad” war in Vietnam, the Korean War is …

Salt Sugar Fat: How the Food Giants Hooked Us

April 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
salt_sugar_fat

By Michael Moss Random House, $28.00, 480 pages This book isn’t meant to be an indictment of the way America eats; really, it’s an indictment of the food industry and how carefully it has engineered its products and orchestrated its …

On the Map: A Mind-Expanding Exploration of the Way the World Looks

March 21, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
on_the_map

By Simon Garfield Gotham, $27.50, 464 pages With careful detail, this fascinating history takes the reader from the earliest recorded maps to the electronic and satellite-generated maps of today. Starting with the first world maps from the Great Library at Alexandria through …

500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars

March 21, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
500_days

By Kurt Eichenwald Touchstone, $30.00, 611 pages This is a stunningly good, and often sad and depressing, account of the first five hundred days of the Bush administration’s response to 9/11. As detailed here, a number of innocent people were labeled as …

That’s Not What They Meant!: Reclaiming the Founding Fathers From America’s Right Wing

February 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
thats_not_what_they_meant

By Michael Austin Prometheus Books, $19.00, 253 pages Over the years, different political factions have tried to claim the Founding Fathers as their own, saying that their views align perfectly with those of the men who founded America, and clearly anyone who …

American Antislavery Writings: Colonial Beginnings to Emancipation (Library of America)

February 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
LOA jacket template

By James G. Basker, editor Library of America, $40.00, 886 pages To commemorate the 150th anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, the Library of America has compiled an impressive collection of antislavery writings from the late 17th century through to the passage of …

Modern History in Pictures: A Visual Guide to the Events That Shaped Our World

February 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
modern_history_pictures

By DK Publishing DK Publishing, $30.00, 320 pages The editors at DK Publishing, in concert with the Smithsonian, have collected this comprehensive visual guide to 20th and early 21st century history. Each page is a visual scrapbook with photos, maps, graphs and …

On Saudi Arabia: Its People, Past, Religion, Fault Lines — and Future

February 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
on_saudi_arabia

By Karen Elliott House Knopf, 28.95, 308 pages It is a kingdom that has important implications for the world economy. Yet few people truly understand its history, culture, or the people who live in Saudi Arabia. In this new book, Karen House explores …

The Complete Roman Legions

February 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
complete_roman_legions

By Nigel Pollard, Joanne Berry Thames & Hudson, $39.95, 240 pages Not only the legions of Rome but her co-evolving politics, organization and frontiers are lovingly detailed in this superlative volume. The authors progress cogently from the original, almost legendary, units of …

Tower: An Epic History of the Tower of London

February 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
tower_epic_history_tower_london

By Nigel Jones St. Martin’s Press, $35.00, 464 pages If you need a wonderful gift for any Anglophiles of your acquaintance, I’m quite certain that nothing could please them more than a copy of this gorgeous book. It’s a ‘Wow!’ for sure. …

Young Henry: The Rise of Henry VIII

February 26, 2013 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
young_henry_VIII

By Robert Hutchinson St. Martin’s Press, $27.99, 368 pages For centuries, the public has been fascinated with Henry VIII and his legacy. Thanks to TV shows like The Tudors, King Henry has become part of the popular culture. Is it any wonder …

The Lost Battles: Leonardo, Michelangelo, and the Artistic Duel That Defined the Renaissance

December 21, 2012 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
lost_battles_leonardo

By Jonathan Jones Knopf, $35.00, 354 pages This is a rich and thorough book. Although the book weighs in at 354 pages and appears daunting, seventy-one pages of it are author notes, list of art, and bibliography. The text is interspersed with …

The Barbarous Years: The Peopling of British North America: The Conflict of Civilizations, 1600-1675

December 21, 2012 0 Comments the_category Category:History & Current Events
barbarous_years

By Bernard Bailyn Knopf, $35.00, 640 pages Bailyn is a long-time expert on early American history and the American Revolution. In his newest book, he tells the history of the years 1600-1675 on the North American continent. This is not a demographic …