[bksvol-discuss] Fw: History and Current Events June 2010

  • From: "Amber Wallenstein" <amber.wallens@xxxxxxxxx>
  • To: <bksvol-discuss@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
  • Date: Tue, 8 Jun 2010 05:52:10 -0700

"He who profits by a crime commits it."
~ Seneca (4 BC-65 AD), Roman philosopher and statesman
New and Recently Released!

War - by Sebastian Junger
Publisher: Twelve
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/11/2010
ISBN-13: 9780446556248
ISBN-10: 0446556246
In 2007, an infantry platoon in the U.S. Army's 173rd Airborne Brigade deployed 
to Afghanistan's Korengal valley; bestselling author and war correspondent
Sebastian Junger was embedded with them for much of that time. Junger lived, 
slept, and fought with these soldiers, joining in on patrols and experiencing
both the chaotic firefights and the periods of excruciating boredom that war 
often consists of. The result is this often-harrowing on-the-ground account
of what it's like to be a soldier in combat. (It's also worth noting that 
Junger also helped make an award-winning documentary called Restrepo, named 
after
a nickname for the firebase he lived in, which itself was named after a fallen 
medic.)

A Nation Rising: Untold Tales of Flawed Founders, Fallen Heroes, and Forgotten 
Fighters from America's Hidden History - by Kenneth C. Davis
Publisher: Smithsonian Books/HarperCollins
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/11/2010
ISBN-13: 9780061118203
ISBN-10: 0061118206
Those of you who like hearing little-known stories from American history might 
enjoy these essays, which focus on events in the U.S. from 1800 to 1850,
and which continue author Kenneth Davis' exploration of America's "hidden 
history." While these topics might be known to professional historians, those
of us with other day jobs can look forward to learning about an 1841 revolt 
aboard a slave ship, the 1844 Bible Riots in Philadelphia, and the Seminole
War in Florida. Davis also compares these dark times in American history to 
events in recent history; if you enjoyed his bestselling America's Hidden 
History,
this is the logical next step.

The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull, and the Battle of the Little Bighorn - by 
Nathaniel Philbrick
Publisher: Viking
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/04/2010
ISBN-13: 9780670021727
ISBN-10: 0670021725
Those familiar with American frontier history know that despite the lack of 
solid historical data on the Battle of the Little Bighorn, there's no shortage
of authors creating plausible scenarios. Now, here comes historian Nathaniel 
Philbrick, who attempts to analyze the characters and contributions of Native
American leaders Sitting Bull and Crazy Horse and Union cavalry officer Lt. 
Col. George Custer and his subordinates. Unsurprisingly, perhaps, the 
award-winning
Philbrick succeeds, producing a "fascinating integration of known fact and 
defensible speculation that should rivet his audience" (Booklist).

Last Call: The Rise and Fall of Prohibition, 1920-1933 - by Daniel Okrent
Publisher: Scribner
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 05/11/2010
ISBN-13: 9780743277020
ISBN-10: 0743277023
Taxes, women's suffrage, anti-German sentiment: these seemingly unconnected 
things all influenced the arrival of the Volstead Act, which in 1920 made the
sale, manufacture, and transportation of alcohol anywhere in the U.S. illegal. 
This informative and entertaining book--chock full of fascinating 
details--explains
exactly how Prohibition happened, what life under Prohibition was like, and 
what the consequences were of shutting down the U.S.'s fifth largest industry.
Kirkus Reviews calls it "intoxicating" (you knew someone was going to), and the 
author and his book figure prominently in Ken Burns' 2011 documentary on
the subject. Don't miss it if you're interested in this era in American history.

Hellhound on His Trail: The Stalking of Martin Luther King, Jr. and the 
International Hunt for His Assassin - by Hampton Sides
Publisher: Random House
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 04/27/2010
ISBN-13: 9780385523929
ISBN-10: 0385523920
In this spellbinding book, bestselling author Hampton Sides explores the 
assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. with all the "immediacy, intimacy, and
the pacing of a thriller" (Booklist). As April 4th, 1968 approaches, Sides 
alternates perspectives between King and his eventual killer--escaped criminal
James Earl Ray, who traveled under the name Eric Galt as he stalked and plotted 
to kill the civil rights leader. Sides goes on to follow the FBI investigation
and the manhunt that ended in Ray's capture, addressing theories that Ray did 
not act alone and that FBI leader J. Edgar Hoover was behind the assassination.
If you'd like to read more about King and his legacy, try Michael Eric Dyson's 
April 4, 1968.
Criminals and Their Crimes

Killing Pablo: The Hunt for the World's Greatest Outlaw - by Mark Bowden
Publisher: Penguin Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 04/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780142000953
ISBN-10: 0142000957
Journalist Mark Bowden may be better known for the National Book Award-winning 
Black Hawk Down, but this riveting nonfiction thriller covers a compelling
topic--the exploits of and the hunt for Pablo Escobar, the terrifying Colombian 
cocaine kingpin whose propensity for kidnapping and torture held an entire
country in thrall. Using eyewitness accounts, the transcripts of bugged 
telephone calls, and other restricted documents, Bowden covers Escobar's 
ruthless
building of the Medellín cartel, the often-frustrating hunt by Columbian and 
U.S. forces, and the shadowy, violent world of international drug trafficking.
For an insider's account of Escobar's multi-billion dollar empire, try The 
Accountant's Story, by his brother (and business partner) Roberto Escobar.
First Chapter
Table of Contents

Stealing Lincoln's Body - by Thomas J. Craughwell
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 04/15/2007
ISBN-13: 9780674024588
ISBN-10: 0674024583
In a misguided attempt to obtain a pardon for a fellow counterfeiter moldering 
in an Illinois penitentiary, three men attempted to break into Springfield's
Oak Ridge Cemetery, steal the 16th U.S. President's body, and hold it for 
ransom. Fortunately, their plan was foiled, but not before Lincoln's crypt was
disturbed and his casket temporarily removed from its sarcophagus... This event 
might have gotten more attention had it not taken place on the same night
as the hotly contested (and scandal-ridden) 1876 presidential election, but it 
resulted in several more reburials before Lincoln's body came to rest securely
ensconced in steel and concrete. Booklist calls this account of a bizarre night 
and its consequences "irresistible."
Table of Contents

The Forger's Spell: A True Story of Vermeer, Nazis, and the Greatest Art Hoax 
of the Twentieth Century - by Edward Dolnick
Publisher: Harper
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 07/01/2008
ISBN-13: 9780060825416
ISBN-10: 0060825413
In the 1930s, Han van Meegeren was a not-very-successful Dutch painter who 
turned to selling "lost Vermeers" to the Nazis and other wealthy art collectors.
He made millions doing this, but earned the enmity of those who considered him 
a collaborator--until it turned out that he had painted all the Vermeers
himself, for years duping his former critics and Nazi officer Herman Göring 
alike. The Forger's Spell brilliantly retells this story of art fraud, from
painting technique to forged bills of sale to, most importantly, the 
psychological spell van Meegeren wove over those he deceived. For more on crime 
and
the arts, check out the author's The Rescue Artist or Jonathan Harr's The Lost 
Painting.
Table of Contents
First Chapter

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That 
Changed America - by Erik Larson
Publisher: Crown Publishers
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 02/01/2003
ISBN-13: 9780609608449
ISBN-10: 0609608444
Chicago's World Fair of 1893 boasted the best of American ingenuity--the first 
Ferris Wheel, the introduction of the zipper--as well as the worst, for as
crowds gathered on the fairgrounds, a charismatic serial killer preyed on 
innocents in a specially constructed complex nearby. The stories of the two men
who shaped the way this historic event would be remembered--architect Daniel 
Burnham, who coordinated the construction of the White City, and serial killer
Herman Mudgett, who exploited it--are shared in this "compelling and aptly 
claustrophobic" (Publishers Weekly) book, which also draws an illuminating 
picture
of America at the turn of the century.
First Chapter

The Bureau and the Mole: The Unmasking of Robert Philip Hanssen, the Most 
Dangerous Double Agent in FBI History - by David A. Vise
Publisher: Grove Press
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 09/01/2002
ISBN-13: 9780802139511
ISBN-10: 0802139515
Almost ten years ago, special agent Robert Philip Hanssen of the FBI was 
arrested for selling top-secret intelligence and defense information to Russia.
Hanssen--a counterintelligence expert--had been selling secrets for 20 years, 
making his betrayal one of the worst security breaches the FBI had ever seen.
This well-researched book offers not just an explanation of how Hanssen managed 
to go so long without being caught, but also suggests why it was that Hanssen
betrayed his country in the first place. If you're captivated by this story and 
want more, you can try Adrian Havill's The Spy Who Stayed Out in the Cold,
Elaine Shannon and Ann Blackman's The Spy Next Door, or the Hollywood movie, 
Breach.
First Chapter
The man who loved books too much - Allison Hoover Bartlett
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Check Library Catalog
Pub Date: 09/17/2009
ISBN-13: 9781594488917
ISBN-10: 1594488916
A full-length narrative account of the author's original article as included in 
Best American Crime Reporting 2007 describes the lucrative heists of book
thief John Charles Gilkey and the cat-and-mouse efforts of book dealer Ken 
Sanders to bring him to justice.



__________ Information from ESET Smart Security, version of virus signature 
database 5181 (20100608) __________

The message was checked by ESET Smart Security.

http://www.eset.com

Other related posts:

  • » [bksvol-discuss] Fw: History and Current Events June 2010 - Amber Wallenstein