History and Current Events

Discover new releases in history and current events.

Updated October 17, 2024
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The demon of unrest : a saga of hubris, heartbreak, and heroism at the dawn of the Civil War
Larson, Erik
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The author of The Splendid and the Vile brings to life the pivotal five months between the election of Abraham Lincoln and the start of the Civil War in this "riveting reexamination of a nation in tumult" (Los Angeles Times). ...
The longest con : how grifters, swindlers, and frauds hijacked American conservatism
Conason, Joe
Paper Book
A sardonic chronicle of how conservatism turned into a racketeering enterprise - and why Donald Trump became the living emblem of the American right's moral decay. The Longest Con tells the fascinating story of the partisan con artists who have corrupted conservative...
Black pill : how I witnessed the darkest corners of the internet come to life, poison society, and capture American politics
Reeve, Elle
Paper Book
This tour de force of investigative journalism--in the vein of The Next Civil War and Why We're Polarized--reveals how the battle between the right and left is spilling out from the darkest corners of the internet into the real world with often tragic consequences. ...
The end of everything : how wars descend into annihilation
Hanson, Victor Davis
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller  In this "gripping account of catastrophic defeat" (Barry Strauss), a New York Times-bestselling historian charts how and why some societies chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of...
The wide wide sea : imperial ambition, first contact and the fateful final voyage of Captain James Cook
Sides, Hampton
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR SO FAR FOR 2024 BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW * A "thrilling and superbly crafted" (The Wall Street Journal) account of the most momentous voyage of the Age of Exploration, which culminated in Captain James Cook's...
White robes and broken badges : infiltrating the KKK and exposing the evil among us
Moore, Joe, (FBI undercover agent)
Paper Book
In this shocking memoir, a former FBI informant reveals what he learned from successfully infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan in the backwoods of the Sunshine State, uncovering details about the hate group's structure and its modern far-right spinoffs which are operating to achieve the same goal:...
The death of truth : how social media and the Internet gave snake oil salesmen and demagogues the weapons to destroy trust and polarize the world--and what we can do about it
Brill, Steven
Paper Book
How did we become a world where facts-shared truths-have lost their power to hold us together as a community, as a country, globally? How have we allowed the proliferation of alternative facts, hoaxes, even conspiracy theories, to destroy our trust in institutions, leaders, and legitimate experts...
Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great Hardcover
Kousser, Rachel.
Paper Book
"A heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure." --Ilyon Woo A riveting biography of Alexander the Great's final years, when the leader's insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy.   By 330 B.C.E., Alexander...
When the clock broke : con men, conspiracists, and how America cracked up in the early 1990s
Ganz, John
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER | National Indie Bestseller A Barack Obama summer reading pick | A New York Times best book of 2024 so far "Terrific . . . Vibrant . . . When the Clock Broke is one of those rarest of books: unflaggingly...
The age of grievance
Bruni, Frank
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Brilliant...Bruni writes with humor, insight, and precision." --Wall Street Journal * "The best prescription for our redemption." --The New York Times * "A wise and humane book for our foolish and cruel era." --Jonathan Haidt, author of The...
Antiracism as daily practice : refuse shame, change white communities, and help create a just world
Harvey, Jennifer
Paper Book
"Nurturing and inspiring."―Kirkus Reviews "An essential book of practical wisdom.... If you're white and have been asking, 'What can I do now?' this lively and timely book is for you."―Robert Jones, New York Times bestselling author of The Hidden Roots of...
Morning after the revolution : dispatches from the wrong side of history
Bowles, Nellie
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From former New York Times reporter Nellie Bowles, a look at how some of the most educated people in America lost their minds--and how she almost did, too. As a Hillary voter, a New York Times reporter, and frequent...
The talented Mrs. Mandelbaum : the rise and fall of an American organized-crime boss
Fox, Margalit
Paper Book
America's first great organized-crime lord was a lady--a nice Jewish mother named Mrs. Mandelbaum. "A tour de force . . . With a pickpocket's finesse, Margalit Fox lures us into the criminal underworld of Gilded Age New York."--Liza Mundy, author of The Sisterhood
Rebellion : how antiliberalism is tearing America apart-again
Kagan, Robert
Paper Book
A chilling and clear-eyed warning about the threats to our democracy posed by the increasing radicalization of the Republican Party, from a leading historian and intellectual The 2024 election could be the last free election held in a unified America. So warns Robert Kagan in...
The new Roman empire : a history of Byzantium
Kaldellis, Anthony
Paper Book
A major new history of the eastern Roman Empire, from Constantine to 1453. In recent decades, the study of the Eastern Roman Empire, also known as Byzantium, has been revolutionized by new approaches and more sophisticated models for how its society and state operated. No longer looked...
White poverty : how exposing myths about race and class can reconstruct American democracy
Barber, William J., II
Paper Book
One of the most pernicious and persistent myths in the United States is the association of Black skin with poverty. Though there are forty million more poor white people than Black people, most Americans, both Republicans and Democrats, continue to think of poverty--along with issues like welfare...
The indispensable right : free speech in an age of rage
Turley, Jonathan
Paper Book
A "timely and brilliant original" (Michael B. Mukasey, former US attorney general) look at freedom of speech--our most basic right and the one that protects all the others. Free speech is a human right, and the free expression of thought is at the very essence of being human. The...
The bookshop : a history of the American bookstore
Friss, Evan
Paper Book
AN INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "A spirited defense of this important, odd and odds-defying American retail category." --The New York Times "It is a delight to wander through the bookstores of American history in this warm, generous book." -...
For love of country : leave the Democrat Party behind
Gabbard, Tulsi
Paper Book
**New York Times bestseller** Tulsi Gabbard was the rising star of the Democrat Party. But the growing wokeness, fomenting racism, and intolerance were more than she could stomach, and she left. This is her story and a call to action to Americans who love our country and...
Out of the darkness : the Germans, 1942-2022
Trentmann, Frank
Paper Book
#1 Most Important Political Book of 2023, Sueddeutsche Zeitung (Germany) A Best Book of 2023, The Telegraph (Great Britain) A gripping and nuanced history of the German people from World War II to the war in Ukraine, including revealing new primary source material...
Democracy or else : how to save America in 10 easy steps
Favreau, Jon
Paper Book
INSTANT #1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER From your friends at Pod Save America comes a useful and illustrated guide to saving American democracy just in time for the 2024 election and 2025 insurrection If you're looking to navigate the chaotic,...
The Missing Thread: A Women's History of the Ancient World Hardcover
Dunn, Daisy.
Paper Book
"Thoroughly researched and sprightly.... a complete history of the [Mediterranean world] with the women added back in, as they always should have been."--The New York Times A dazzlingly ambitious history of the ancient world that places women at the center--from Cleopatra...
Kent State : an American tragedy
VanDeMark, Brian
Paper Book
On May 4, 1970, at Kent State University in Ohio, political fires that had been burning across America during the 1960s exploded. Antiwar protesters wearing bell-bottom jeans and long hair hurled taunts and rocks at another group of young Americans--National Guardsmen sporting gas masks and...
When the sea came alive : an oral history of D-Day
Graff, Garrett M.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Absolutely gripping." --The Washington Post * "A masterpiece of oral history...stirring, surprising, grim, joyous, moving, and always riveting." --Evan Thomas From the New York Times bestselling author of The Only Plane in...
All the worst humans : how I made news for dictators, tycoons, and politicians
Elwood, Phil
Paper Book
New York Times Editors' Choice "A rollicking, unexpectedly affecting story. . . It's going to be one of the big, buzzy Beltway books of the year." --Politico A bridge-burning, riotous memoir by a top PR operative in Washington...
Opening doors : the unlikely alliance between the Irish and the Jews in America
Diner, Hasia R.
Paper Book
The extraordinary untold story of how Irish and Jewish immigrants worked together to secure legitimacy in America. Popular belief holds that the various ethnic groups that emigrated to the United States at the turn of the twentieth century regarded one another with open...
The revolutionary temper : Paris, 1748-1789
Darnton, Robert
Paper Book
When a Parisian crowd stormed the Bastille in July 1789, it triggered an event of global consequence: the overthrow of the monarchy and the birth of a new society. Most historians account for the French Revolution by viewing it in retrospect as the outcome of underlying conditions such as a...
Tired of winning : Donald Trump and the end of the Grand Old Party
Karl, Jonathan
Paper Book
In the wake of January 6 and aided by his absence from Twitter, Donald Trump seemed to have faded from daily news coverage. After an unsuccessful reelection campaign, the losses continue to rack up: record fines for obstruction of justice, fights over real estate, and federal records rule violations...
The invention of prehistory : empire, violence, and our obsession with human origins
Geroulanos, Stefanos
Paper Book
Books about the origins of humanity dominate bestseller lists, while national newspapers present breathless accounts of new archaeological findings and speculate about what those findings tell us about our earliest ancestors. We are obsessed with prehistory--and, in this respect, our current era is...
The Nazi conspiracy : the secret plot to kill Roosevelt, Stalin, and Churchill
Meltzer, Brad
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER "An absolute home run! You will never look at WWII the same way again." --Brad Thor, #1 bestselling author "Meltzer and Mensch are masters." --Jon Meacham, author The Soul of America "A...
No going back : the truth on what's wrong with politics and how we move America forward
Noem, Kristi
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES, USA TODAY BESTSELLER! The New York Times bestselling author, governor of South Dakota, and former congresswoman tells eye-opening stories of DC dysfunction, shares lessons from leading her state through unprecedented challenge, and explains how...
Orwell's ghosts : wisdom and warnings for the twenty-first century
Beers, Laura
Paper Book
George Orwell dedicated his career to exposing social injustice and political duplicity, urging his readers to face hard truths about Western society and politics. Now, the uncanny parallels between the interwar era and our own--rising inequality, censorship, and challenges to traditional social...
The rise and fall of the second American republic : Reconstruction, 1860-1920
Sinha, Manisha
Paper Book
We are told that the present moment bears a strong resemblance to Reconstruction, the era after the Civil War when the victorious North attempted to create an interracial democracy in the unrepentant South. That effort failed--and that failure serves as a warning today about violent backlash to...
Taking London : Winston Churchill and the fight to save civilization
Dugard, Martin
Paper Book
From Martin Dugard, #1 New York Times bestselling coauthor of Bill O'Reilly's Killing series--with more than 12 million copies sold--comes a soaring account of England's desperate fight to fend off German invasion. Great Britain, summer 1940. The Battle of France is over....
The education wars : a citizen's guide and defense manual
Berkshire, Jennifer
Paper Book
A perfectly timed book for the educational resistance--those of us who believe in public schools Culture wars have engulfed our schools. Extremist groups are seeking to ban books, limit what educators can teach, and threaten the very foundations of public education. What's behind...
Mr. Churchill in the White House : the untold story of a prime minister and two presidents
Schmuhl, Robert
Paper Book
Well into the twenty-first century, Winston Churchill continues to be the subject of scores of books. Biographers portray him as a soldier, statesman, writer, painter, and even a daredevil, but Robert Schmuhl, the noted author and journalist, may be the first to depict him as a demanding, indeed...
Finish what we started : the MAGA movement's ground war to end democracy
Arnsdorf, Isaac
Paper Book
New York Times Book Review Editor's Choice Pick "Entertaining, enlightening and disturbing." - Ira Glass The immersive, captivating untold story of the mass radicalization of the Republican Party in the aftermath of January 6,...
The horse : a galloping history of humanity
Winegard, Timothy C.
Paper Book
THE NATIONAL BESTSELLER An Amazon Best Book of the Month A Next Big Idea Club Must-Read Book From New York Times bestselling author of The Mosquito, the incredible story of how the horse shaped human history   Timothy C....
The Eastern Front : a history of the Great War, 1914 -1918
Lloyd, Nick
Paper Book
Writing in the 1920s, Winston Churchill argued that the First World War on the Eastern Front was "incomparably the greatest war in history. In its scale, in its slaughter, in the exertions of the combatants, in its military kaleidoscope, it far surpasses by magnitude and intensity all similar...
The return of great powers : Russia, China, and the next world war
Sciutto, Jim
Paper Book
Instant New York Times Bestseller A Politico Top 10 Book of 2024 A New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice "An absorbing account of 21st-century brinkmanship . . . . one that should be read by every legislator or presidential...

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