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Showing 1 - 20 of 34168 items
On August 29, 1949, the first Soviet test bomb, dubbed "First Lightning", exploded in the deserts of Kazakhstan. This surprising…
international event marked the beginning of an arms race that would ultimately lead to nuclear proliferation beyond the Soviet Union and the United States. Using newly opened archives, Gordin follows a trail of espionage, secrecy, deception, political brinksmanship, and technical innovation to provide a fresh understanding of the nuclear arms race. 2009.
"Le 7 juin 1998, on découvre, devant le plus vieux cimetière noir de la ville de Jasper, Texas, les restes…
d'un homme ; les genoux et les organes génitaux ont été rabotés, la tête et le bras droit arrachés. Les traces de sang permettent de retrouver un dentier, des clés et, un kilomètre plus loin, le bras et la tête dans un fossé. C'est un lynchage, celui de James Byrd, le dernier exemple de lynchage traditionnel. Il est l'oeuvre de trois hommes, qui veulent venger un Blanc assassiné en donnant une leçon à tous les Noirs. Depuis la guerre de Sécession, Jasper est, selon la communauté noire du lieu, "un endroit où les choses arrivent longtemps après leur temps". Aux États-Unis, le racisme ne se cantonne pas aux ghettos urbains. Dans le Sud profond, il ressurgit parfois, avec une violence qu'on voulait croire oubliée. Précis dans ses références, pointu dans ses analyses, effrayant dans ses descriptions, cet essai s'appuie sur les publications récentes d'historiens américains : jusque dans les années 1990, le lynchage était un sujet tabou. En France, c'est le premier livre qui lui est consacré." -- 4e de couv.
Le temps est exécrable en ce 3 décembre de l'an 1776 sur les côtes bretonnes lorsque débarque, d'un frêle esquif,…
un vieillard perclus de rhumatismes. Son arrivée se fait dans le plus grand secret - il s'agit pourtant d'un homme célèbre et respecté dans le monde entier, et qui lors de son séjour français, changera le cours de l'histoire de l'Amérique. Son nom : Benjamin Franklin. Sa mission : rallier la France de l'Ancien Régime à la cause de la Révolution américaine. Et au vu des mille péripéties qui jalonneront cette première aventure franco-américaine au cours des mois suivants, c'est miracle qu'il y soit parvenu ! [...] Cette extraordinaire biographie historique, couronnée par de nombreux prix, se lit comme un roman picaresque, bourré d'intrigues entrecroisées, de quiproquos, de rebondissements inattendus et de personnages inouïs. Dans une prose étincelante, pleine d'humour et de saveur, tissant la toile fabuleuse des mille petites histoires qui font la grande, Stacy Schiff déroule la saga de l'homme qui, presque à lui seul, permit aux futurs États-Unis de gagner leur indépendance. -- 4e de couv. Titre uniforme: The great improvisation.
An account of the causes of the war of 1812 and of the campaigns and battles that raged on land…
and water, from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico. Hitsman describes the life and role of the soldiers - both the regulars and the militia - and the difficulties of waging war in largely trackless territory, where rivers and lakes were the main means of transport. Some descriptions of violence. 1999.
A biography of Harriet Tubman, who helped slaves escape to freedom. It tells her story and describes what life was…
like in St. Catharines during the eight years she lived in Canada. The author also illustrates the importance of family history by tracing Harriet's descendants to the present day. Grades 5-8. 1997.
Evaluates the parallel worlds of the twenty-eighth president's personal and political arenas, examining his World War I leadership, his failed…
efforts to bring the United States into the League of Nations, and his contributions toward the creation of the United Nations. 2009.
The gravest decision in a democracy is the one to go to war. In a book that brings a command…
of history to the most urgent of contemporary questions, the author explores the war in Iraq, the presidency, and the future of democracy. Describing unilateralism as "the oldest doctrine in American history," he nevertheless warns of the dangers posed by the fatal turn in U.S. policy from deterrence and containment to preventive war. 2004.
An overview of the struggle between the Texan settlers and Mexico's General Santa Anna for control of Texas, with a…
detailed description of the 1836 siege of the Alamo. The author's inside book separates fact from fiction as often as possible. For junior and senior high readers. 2003.
Reopens the unsolved mystery of the most catastrophic library fire in American history; chronicles the Los Angeles Public Library fire…
and its aftermath to showcase the larger, crucial role that libraries play in our lives; delves into the evolution of libraries across the country and around the world, from their humble beginnings as a metropolitan charitable initiative to their current status as a cornerstone of national identity; brings each department of the library to vivid life through on-the-ground reporting; studies arson attempts to burn a copy of a book herself; reflects on her own experiences in libraries; and reexamines the case of Harry Peak, the blond-haired actor long suspected of setting fire to the LAPL more than thirty years ago. Bestseller. 2018.
A biography of Harriet Tubman, who helped slaves escape to freedom. It tells her story and describes what life was…
like in St. Catharines during the eight years she lived in Canada. The author also illustrates the importance of family history by tracing Harriet's descendants to the present day. Grades 5-8. 1997.
A riveting, deeply personal account of history in the making—from the president who inspired us to believe in the power…
of democracy#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE TEN BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWNAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The Washington Post • Jennifer Szalai, The New York Times • NPR • The Guardian • Marie Claire In the stirring, highly anticipated first volume of his presidential memoirs, Barack Obama tells the story of his improbable odyssey from young man searching for his identity to leader of the free world, describing in strikingly personal detail both his political education and the landmark moments of the first term of his historic presidency—a time of dramatic transformation and turmoil.Obama takes readers on a compelling journey from his earliest political aspirations to the pivotal Iowa caucus victory that demonstrated the power of grassroots activism to the watershed night of November 4, 2008, when he was elected 44th president of the United States, becoming the first African American to hold the nation’s highest office.Reflecting on the presidency, he offers a unique and thoughtful exploration of both the awesome reach and the limits of presidential power, as well as singular insights into the dynamics of U.S. partisan politics and international diplomacy. Obama brings readers inside the Oval Office and the White House Situation Room, and to Moscow, Cairo, Beijing, and points beyond. We are privy to his thoughts as he assembles his cabinet, wrestles with a global financial crisis, takes the measure of Vladimir Putin, overcomes seemingly insurmountable odds to secure passage of the Affordable Care Act, clashes with generals about U.S. strategy in Afghanistan, tackles Wall Street reform, responds to the devastating Deepwater Horizon blowout, and authorizes Operation Neptune’s Spear, which leads to the death of Osama bin Laden.A Promised Land is extraordinarily intimate and introspective—the story of one man’s bet with history, the faith of a community organizer tested on the world stage. Obama is candid about the balancing act of running for office as a Black American, bearing the expectations of a generation buoyed by messages of “hope and change,” and meeting the moral challenges of high-stakes decision-making. He is frank about the forces that opposed him at home and abroad, open about how living in the White House affected his wife and daughters, and unafraid to reveal self-doubt and disappointment. Yet he never wavers from his belief that inside the great, ongoing American experiment, progress is always possible.This beautifully written and powerful book captures Barack Obama’s conviction that democracy is not a gift from on high but something founded on empathy and common understanding and built together, day by day.
A vibrant, revealing memoir about the cultural and familial pressures that shaped George Elliott Clarke’s early life in the Black…
Canadian community that he calls Africadia, centred in Halifax, Nova Scotia.As a boy, George Elliott Clarke knew that a great deal was expected from him and his two brothers. The descendant of a highly accomplished lineage on his paternal side—great-grandson to William Andrew White, the first Black officer (non-commissioned) in the British army—George felt called to live up to the family name. In contrast, his mother's relatives were warm, down-to-earth country folk. Such contradictions underlay much of his life and upbringing—Black and White, country and city, outstanding and ordinary, high and low. With vulnerability and humour, George shows us how these dualities shaped him as a poet and thinker. At the book’s heart is George’s turbulent relationship with his father, an autodidact who valued art, music and books but worked an unfulfilling railway job. Bill could be loving and patient, but he also acted out destructive frustrations, assaulting George’s mother and sometimes George and his brothers, too. Where Beauty Survived is the story of a complicated family, of the emotional stress that white racism exerts on Black households, of the unique cultural geography of Africadia, of a child who became a poet, and of long-kept secrets.
A fascinating history of Canada’s role in the American Civil War. Thousands fled north to escape the bloody battles: draft…
dodgers, deserters, recruiters, plotters and spies, and those escaping slavery through the Underground Railroad. Martin illuminates how the traffic between countries shaped both.
A dazzling, epic biography of Levon Helm––the beloved, legendary drummer and singer of the Band. He sang the anthems of…
a generation: "The Weight," "Up on Cripple Creek," and "Life Is a Carnival." Levon Helm's story––told here through sweeping research and interviews with close friends and fellow musicians––is the rollicking story of American popular music itself. In the Arkansas Delta, a young Levon witnessed "blues, country, and gospel hit in a head-on collision," as he put it. The result was rock 'n' roll. As a teenager, he joined the raucous Ronnie Hawkins and the Hawks, then helped merge a hard-driving electric sound with Bob Dylan's folk roots, and revolutionized American rock with the Band. Helm not only provided perfect "in the pocket" rhythm and unforgettable vocals, he was the Band's soul. Levon traces a rebellious life on the road, from being booed with Bob Dylan to the creative cauldron of Big Pink, the Woodstock Festival, world tours, The Last Waltz, and beyond with the man Dylan called "one of the last true great spirits of my or any other generation." Author Sandra B. Tooze digs deep into what Helm saw as a devastating betrayal by his closest friend, Band guitarist Robbie Robertson––and Levon's career collapse, his near bankruptcy, and the loss of his voice due to throat cancer in 1997. Yet Helm found success in an acting career that included roles in Coal Miner's Daughter and The Right Stuff. Regaining his singing voice, he made his last decade a triumph, opening his barn to the Midnight Rambles and earning three Grammys. Cancer finally claimed his life in 2012. Levon is a penetrating, skillfully told tale of a music legend from Southern cotton fields to global limelight.
Washington Post writer chronicles the life of African American butler Eugene Allen (1919-2010) who served in the White House for…
eight presidential administrations, from Harry Truman to Ronald Reagan. Discusses the making of the 2013 movie starring Forest Whitaker. Some strong language. Bestseller. 2013
Author Crespi received missionary training with Junipero Serra and, as a member of The Sacred Expedition, in the capacity as…
official diarist Crespi gives a detailed account of what the region looked like before European settlement
Lawyer discusses the Second Amendment, the rise of the NRA, and how money, power, and race have long dictated our…
ability to own guns. For grades 6-9 and older readers. 2020
The author recounts the destruction suffered by the black community in Oklahoma during the 1921 Tulsa Race Riot and examines…
the difficulties of pinpointing its full extent. Explores the events leading up to the violence and documents the subsequent silence surrounding it. Violence and strong language. 2001