History

  • The writing of the gods : the race to decode the Rosetta Stone

    Creator

    Dolnick, Edward

    Abstract

    The surprising and compelling story of two rival geniuses in an all-out race to decode one of the world's most famous documents--the Rosetta Stone--and their twenty-year-long battle to solve the mystery of ancient Egypt's hieroglyphs. The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the world, attracting millions of visitors to the British museum ever year, and yet most people don't really know what it is. Discovered in a pile of rubble in 1799, this slab of stone proved to be the key to unlocking a lost language that baffled scholars for centuries.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    [New York]

    Simon & Schuster Audio

    Not specified
  • The women with silver wings : the inspiring true story of the women airforce service pilots of World War II

    Creator

    Landdeck, Katherine Sharp

    Abstract

    The thrilling true story of the daring female aviators who helped the United States win World War II -- only to be forgotten by the country they served. When the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Cornelia Fort was already in the air. At twenty-two, Fort had escaped Nashville's debutante scene for a fresh start as a flight instructor in Hawaii. She and her student were in the middle of their lesson when the bombs began to fall, and they barely made it back to ground that morning. Still, when the U.S.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    [Prince Frederick, Md.]

    [Distributed by] RBdigital

    Not specified
  • The wizard and the prophet : two remarkable scientists and their dueling visions of tomorrow's world

    Creator

    Mann, Charles C.

    Abstract

    In 40 years, Earth's population will reach 10 billion. Can our world support that? What kind of world will it be? Those answering these questions generally fall into two deeply divided groups - Wizards and Prophets, as Charles Mann calls them in this balanced, authoritative, nonpolemical new book. The Prophets, he explains, follow William Vogt, a founding environmentalist who believed that in using more than our planet has to give, our prosperity will lead us to ruin. Cut back! was his mantra. Otherwise everyone will lose!

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Alfred A. Knopf

    Not specified
  • The three mothers : how the mothers of Martin Luther King, Jr., Malcolm X, and James Baldwin shaped a nation

    Creator

    Tubbs, Anna Malaika

    Abstract

    Much has been written about Berdis Baldwin's son James, about Alberta King's son Martin Luther, and Louise Little's son Malcolm. But virtually nothing has been said about the extraordinary women who raised them. In her groundbreaking and essential debut The Three Mothers, scholar Anna Malaika Tubbs celebrates Black motherhood by telling the story of the three women who raised and shaped some of America's most pivotal heroes.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    [New York]

    Macmillan Audio

    Not specified
  • The third pole : mystery, obsession, and death on Mount Everest

    Creator

    Synnott, Mark

    Abstract

    A hundred-year mystery lured veteran climber Mark Synnott into an unlikely expedition up Mount Everest during the spring 2019 season that came to be known as “the Year Everest Broke”. What he found was a gripping human story of impassioned characters from around the globe and a mountain that will consume your soul - and your life - if you let it. The mystery? On June 8, 1924, George Mallory and Sandy Irvine set out to stand on the roof of the world, where no one had stood before. They were last seen 800 feet shy of Everest’s summit still “going strong” for the top.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Penguin Random House

    Not specified
  • The taking of Jemima Boone : colonial settlers, tribal nations, and the kidnap that shaped America

    Creator

    Pearl, Matthew

    Abstract

    In his first work of narrative nonfiction, Matthew Pearl, bestselling author of acclaimed novel The Dante Club, explores the little-known true story of the kidnapping of legendary pioneer Daniel Boone's daughter and the dramatic aftermath that rippled across the nation. On a quiet midsummer day in 1776, weeks after the signing of the Declaration of Independence, thirteen-year-old Jemima Boone and her friends Betsy and Fanny Callaway disappear near the Kentucky settlement of Boonesboro, the echoes of their faraway screams lingering on the air.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    [New York]

    HarperAudio

    Not specified
  • The story of Jane : the legendary underground feminist abortion service

    Creator

    Kaplan, Laura

    Abstract

    First published in 1997, The Story of Jane recounts the evolution of Jane, the underground group in Chicago that performed abortion services before the procedure was legalized. An extraordinary history by one of its members, this is the first account of Jane's evolution, the conflicts within the group, and the impact its work had both on the women it helped and the members themselves. This book stands as a compelling testament to a woman's most essential freedom-control over her own body-and to the power of women helping women.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    Ashland, Or.

    Blackstone Audio

    Not specified
  • The Stonewall reader

    Abstract

    For the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, an anthology chronicling the tumultuous fight for LGBTQ rights in the 1960s and the activists who spearheaded it, with a foreword by Edmund White. June 28, 2019 marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Stonewall uprising, which is considered the most significant event in the gay liberation movement, and the catalyst for the modern fight for LGBTQ rights in the United States.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Books on Tape

    Not specified
  • The spy and the traitor : the greatest espionage story of the Cold War

    Creator

    Macintyre, Ben

    Abstract

    The celebrated author of Double CrossAmericansIf anyone could be considered a Russian counterpart to the infamous British double-agent Kim Philby, it was Oleg Gordievsky. The son of two KGB agents and the product of the best Soviet institutions, the savvy, sophisticated Gordievsky grew to see his nation's communism as both criminal and philistine. He took his first posting for Russian intelligence in 1968 and eventually became the Soviet Union's top man in London, but from 1973 on he was secretly working for MI6.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    New York

    Crown Publishing Group

    Not specified
  • The sisters of Auschwitz : the true story of two Jewish sisters' resistance in the heart of Nazi territory

    Creator

    Iperen, Roxane van

    Abstract

    The unforgettable story of two unsung heroes of World War II: sisters Janny and Lien Brilleslijper who joined the Dutch Resistance, helped save dozen of lives, were captured by the Nazis, and ultimately survived the Holocaust. Eight months after Germany's invasion of Poland, the Nazis roll into The Netherlands, expanding their reign of brutality to the Dutch. But by the Winter of 1943, resistance is growing. Among those fighting their brutal Nazi occupiers are two Jewish sisters, Janny and Lien Brilleslijper from Amsterdam.

    Audience
    Adult**
    Publisher (Source)

    [New York]

    HarperAudio

    Not specified