The 1970s: A New Global History from Civil Rights to Economic Inequality ( America in the World )

Thomas Borstelmann. Keeping contemporary history timely and accessible, Borstelmann shows the significance of 1970s American politics, culture, and religion on the following decades. He accurately explores political and social crises, gender and racial equality protests, alterations in global market trends, and regional turbulence throughout the Soviet Union, Africa, and the Far East. Nuggets of genuine insight without any social agenda are found frequently within these pages.--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)

After the Fall: The End of the European Dream and the Decline of a Continent

Walter Laqueur. Laqueur draws on past history and current insight to present a profile of the current European crisis. The author is more concerned with broader questions of demography and culture, assimilation of immigrants and new approaches to education and social policy than to questions of political and economic integration. A clear guide to understanding and solving a profound set of problems.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

The Swerve: How the World Became Modern

Stephen Greenblatt. Harvard humanities professor Greenblatt shows how the discovery of the last existing manuscript of Lucretius's "On the Nature of Things"—a radical book proclaiming that the world manages without gods and is made of small particles in constant motion—led to the Renaissance. The swerve? Lucretius allowed for the existence of free will in his atom-bound universe by theorizing that those little particles swerve randomly. More wonderfully illuminating Renaissance history from a master scholar and historian.--Library Journal/Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Jack Kennedy: Elusive Hero

Chris Mathews. Drawing on interviews with friends and former staffers, as well as on such familiar biographical incidents as Kennedy's rescue of the PT-109 crew and his resulting back injury, Matthews reveals a man who through inner direction and tenacious will created himself out of the loneliness and illness of his youth and who taught himself the hard discipline of politics through his own triumphs and failures. Matthews' stirring biography reveals Kennedy as a fighting prince never free from pain, never far from trouble, and never accepting the world he found.--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)

Inferno: The World at War, 1939-1945

Max Hastings. Hastings emphasizes personal experiences as well as his often squirm-inducing opinions. Most general histories sprinkle their pages with anecdotes, but Hastings has this down to a science. He employs numerous specialists, delving into Russian and Italian archives and personally tracking down obscure, vivid, often painful stories from the usual combatants as well as Poles, Bengalese, Chinese and Japanese. Excellent general WWII accounts abound—including those by historical superstars such as Stephen Ambrose and John Keegan—but Hastings is matchless.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Deadline Artists: America's Greatest Newspaper Columns

Avlon, John (Editor), Angelo, Jesse (Editor), Louis, Errol (Editor). Well-catalogued and categorized, this exultant retrospective of American journalism seems ideal for today's attention spans and travel schedules. "Well done is better than well said," Benjamin Franklin wrote, but as far as this essential anthology goes, it's so well done, there's nothing left to say.--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)

Fatal Crossroads: The Untold Story of the Malmedy Massacre at the Battle of the Bulge

Danny Parker. Military historian Parker returns with a sharply focused look at a grisly 1944 incident, the massacre of more than 80 American prisoners outside Malmédy, Belgium. Assembling a massive amount of data, the author views the tragedy from the perspectives of survivors, the Germans and the Belgian civilians, some of whom aided the wounded, some of whom did not. Comprehensive, definitive, grim and gripping.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Taking Liberties: The War on Terror and the Erosion of American Democracy

Susan Herman. A focused, thorough account of the federal government's panicked response to 9/11 and the consequent rollback of our civil liberties. Divided into three major sections—"Dragnets and Watchlists," "Surveillance and Secrecy" and "American Democracy"—the book offers a compelling case that the basic constitutional protections most Americans take for granted, including the rights to free speech, a fair trial and due process, as well as freedom from unreasonable searches and seizures, were seriously compromised after 9/11 as a result of the government's well-meaning but ill-conceived efforts to safeguard the country against another attack.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Moscow, December 25, 1991 : the last day of the Soviet Union

Conor O'Clery. The author gives microscopic attention to the telling details: whose pen was used to sign documents, how CNN got to broadcast Gorbachev's speech and much more. Shaping the day, writes O'Clery, were the successive effects of the bitterness, resentments and grudges of the five-year rivalry between Gorbachev and Yeltsin. A compelling story about how sometimes the little everyday things can shape the broad sweep of history more powerfully than ideologies or competitive economic systems.--Kirkus (Check Catalog).