[bksvol-discuss] Fw: History and Current Events March 2010
- From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Tue, 9 Mar 2010 09:05:50 -0500
New and Recently Released!
Birthright: The True Story that Inspired Kidnapped - by A. Roger Ekirch
Publisher: W.W. Norton
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 01/25/2010
ISBN-13: 9780393066159
ISBN-10: 0393066150
As an eight-year-old, James "Jemmy" Annesley, heir to several Irish estates,
was turned out of the family home to placate his father's mistress. After his
father's death when Jemmy was 12, he was kidnapped by his uncle (who had
already claimed that Jemmy was both illegitimate and dead) and shipped to
America
as an indentured servant. After more than a decade in near-slavery, Jemmy
escaped and returned to the British Isles, where he fought to regain his
birthright,
despite his lack of any real proof. His story--and the decades-long
trial--inspired many novels, including Robert Louis Stevenson's Kidnapped. For
the
full story, don't miss historian A. Roger Ekirch's well-documented and
compelling narrative.
Table of Contents
Daring Young Men: The Heroism and Triumph of the Berlin Airlift, June 1948-May
1949 - by Richard Reeves
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 01/05/2010
ISBN-13: 9781416541196
ISBN-10: 1416541195
In 1948, when Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin ordered Berlin's blockade, U.S.
President Harry Truman refused to abandon Germany, and so for nearly a year,
Allied forces delivered food, medicine, and other necessities to the residents
of the city. This massive airlift involved tens of thousands of individuals,
and relied on a single airport in Berlin--a plane landed or took off there at
the rate of one every 45 seconds. Despite a narrow fly zone, several crashes,
a brutal winter, anti-Western propaganda, and the challenging logistics of
supplying a city by air, the air lift was a success. Author Richard Reeves
masterfully
recounts this episode in history. If you read and enjoyed Andrei Cherny's The
Candy Bombers, you'll appreciate the perspectives offered here.
First Chapter
Table of Contents
The Making of African America: The Four Great Migrations - by Ira Berlin
Publisher: Viking
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 01/21/2010
ISBN-13: 9780670021376
ISBN-10: 0670021377
This 400-year history of the African-American experience traces four pivotal
migrations: the transatlantic slave trade; the relocation of slaves from the
coast to antebellum Southern plantations; the "great migration" of black
Americans from the rural South to industrial cities in the North; and, since the
late 1960s, the arrival of black immigrants from Africa, the Caribbean, and
Europe. Historian Ira Berlin focuses on how these movements--both forced and
voluntary--have shaped African-American history and culture, and his book
should appeal to readers interested in these topics specifically as well as to
those interested in cultural shifts in general.
The Last Train from Hiroshima: The Survivors Look Back - by Charles R.
Pellegrino
Publisher: Henry Holt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 01/19/2010
ISBN-13: 9780805087963
ISBN-10: 0805087966
Using government documents as well as the dramatic firsthand accounts of
survivors, author Charles Pellegrino skillfully recreates the horrific aftermath
of the nuclear bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945. Kirkus Reviews notes
that The Last Train from Hiroshima is "enormously painful to read, but
absolutely essential to do so," so sensitive readers will want to keep that in
mind before opening this powerfully written, haunting book.
Focus on: Sensational Trials
The Custom of the Sea - by Neil Hanson
Publisher: Wiley
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 03/15/2000
ISBN-13: 9780471383895
ISBN-10: 0471383899
The idea of eating a fellow survivor when you're lost at sea may sound
unappealing--but it's also illegal, thanks to the aftermath of the shipwreck of
the
Mignonette. On its way from England to Australia in 1884, the small yacht was
overtaken by a storm; its four-man crew had only minutes to board their
lifeboat.
After more than 20 days adrift, the crew discussed drawing straws to see who
would be sacrificed so that the others could live (the accepted "custom of
the sea") but days later when the cabin boy slipped into unconsciousness, he
was killed. The three remaining sailors were eventually rescued, but were
put on trial by British authorities concerned about the custom. If you're
interested in Victorian or maritime law or enjoyed Nathaniel Philbrick's In the
Heart of the Sea, the details of this compelling book will capture your
interest.
First Chapter
In the Devil's Snare: The Salem Witchcraft Crisis of 1692 - by Mary Beth Norton
Publisher: Vintage Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 10/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780375706905
ISBN-10: 0375706909
In this chronological history of the Salem witchcraft trials of 1692, historian
Mary Beth Norton looks closely at the other events of the time, most
specifically
the Second Indian War (also known as King William's War), which was taking
place not far from Salem. Though the trials themselves take center stage, it
is what spurred the "witchcraft crisis" that interests Norton. She notes, among
other things, that the losses suffered--both by individuals and by governmental
authorities--at the hands of the Abenaki (or Wabanaki) Indians were seen as
proof of God's displeasure and Satan's work. Both fear of attacks and the
willingness
to see the Devil's hand may have contributed to the alacrity with which cries
of "witch" were accepted. The New York Times calls this book both stunning
and rabble-rousing.
First Chapter
Arc of Justice: A Saga of Race, Civil Rights, and Murder in the Jazz Age - by
Kevin Boyle
Publisher: H. Holt
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 08/01/2004
ISBN-13: 9780805071450
ISBN-10: 0805071458
Though he's better known for his role in the Scopes Monkey Trial (try Edward
Larson's Summer for the Gods for an account), attorney Clarence Darrow was
also involved in the sensational 1925 murder trial of African-American doctor
Ossian Sweet and his friends and family, who were accused of murdering a
white man during a mob attack on Dr. Sweet's home. As the first black family in
a previously all-white Detroit neighborhood, the Sweets were prepared to
defend their home; the results inflamed racial tension but also proved to be an
important step for civil rights. Author Kevin Boyle's retelling of the
events is "meticulously researched and engrossing" (The New York Times).
First Chapter
Table of Contents
The Great Arizona Orphan Abduction - by Linda Gordon
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/19/1999
ISBN-13: 9780674360419
ISBN-10: 0674360419
In 1904, Catholic nuns brought 40 abandoned Irish children by train from New
York to Arizona, where they were to be adopted by Mexican families. Sending
orphaned children west was fairly standard practice at the time (the
locomotives carrying them were known as "orphan trains"), but vigilantes who
didn't
think that Mexican parents could provide appropriate homes for white children
were incensed, and kidnapped the children at gunpoint. The ensuing trial
went all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court--which held that the kidnapping was
legal. With fascinating looks at the mining towns of Arizona and the evolution
of racial and religious prejudices at the time, The Great Arizona Orphan
Abduction is "microhistory at its best" (Kirkus Reviews).
Table of Contents
Sacco and Vanzetti: The Men, the Murders, and the Judgment of Mankind - by
Bruce Watson
Publisher: Penguin Group USA
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 11/25/2008
ISBN-13: 9780143114284
ISBN-10: 014311428X
In 1920, a Massachusetts robbery left two dead; seven years later, after a
controversial trial and many appeals, two Italian immigrants were executed for
the crime. Nicola Sacco and Bartolomeo Vanzetti, both avowed anarchists as well
as immigrants, faced much prejudice from police and prosecutors, and may
have been convicted of crimes they never committed. (Author Bruce Watson,
however, is careful to focus on the trial and its ramifications and never shares
his opinion.) Certainly evidence was inconclusive and testimonies often
contradictory; controversy over the way Sacco and Vanzetti were treated
continues
to this day.
Table of Contents
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