The decline of the West

By Spengler, Oswald

Publishing Date: 1991

Classification: 900

Call Number: 909.0982 SPE

Spengler's work describes how we have entered into a centuries-long "world-historical" phase comparable to late antiquity, and his controversial ideas spark debate over the meaning of historiography.

Wallflower at the orgy

By Ephron, Nora

Publishing Date: 2007

Classification: 900

Call Number: 917.3 EPH

A collection of interviews of American pop culture icons of the 1960s and 1970s offers revealing profiles of such notables as Helen Gurley Brown, Jacqueline Susann, Julia Child, Ayn Rand, Craig Claiborne, Bill Blass, and Mike Nichols.

The hidden children: the secret survivors of the Holocaust

By Marks, Jane

Publishing Date: ℗♭1993

Classification: 900

Call Number: 940.5318 MAR

They hid wherever they could for as long as it took the Allies to win the war -- Jewish children, frightened, alone, often separated from their families. For months, even years, they faced the constant danger of discovery, fabricating new identities at a young age, sacrificing their childhoods to save their lives. These secret survivors have suppressed these painful memories for decades. Now, in The Hidden Children, twenty-three adult survivors share their moving wartime experiences -- some for the first time.

Wine and war: the French, the Nazis, and the battle for France's greatest treasure

By Kladstrup, Don

Publishing Date: ©2001

Classification: 900

Call Number: 940.5344 KLA

In 1940, France fell to the Nazis, and the German army almost immediately began a campaign of pillaging one of the assets the French hold most dear: their wine. Like others in the French Resistance, wine makers mobilized to oppose their occupiers, but the tale of their heroism has remained largely unknown -- until now. Wine and War tells the alternately thrilling and harrowing story of the French wine producers who undertook ingenious and often daring measures to save their finest and most precious crops and bottles as the Germans closed in on them.

NEW RELEASE

The Duchess: Camilla Parker Bowles and the love affair that rocked the crown

By Junor, Penny

Publishing Date: [2018]

Classification: 900

Call Number: 941.086 JUN

The esteemed royal biographer traces the unlikely and extraordinary story of the once-reviled wife of Britain's Prince Charles, detailing her roles in some of the darkest days of the modern monarchy and her role in helping restore its reputation.

Revolutionary science: transformation and turmoil in the age of the guillotine

By Jones, Steve

Publishing Date: 2017

Classification: 900

Call Number: 944.04 JON

"Paris at the time of the French Revolution was the world capital of science. Its scholars laid the foundations of today's physics, chemistry, and biology. They were true revolutionaries: agents of an upheaval both of understanding and of politics ... In this ... book ... science writer Steve Jones ... takes a new look at Paris, its history, and its science, to give the reader ... new insight into the City of Light"--Amazon.com.

France: the dark years, 1940-1944

By Jackson, Julian

Publishing Date: 2001

Classification: 900

Call Number: 944.0816 JAC

"In this study of Occupied France, Julian Jackson examines French experiences of occupation during the 'Dark Years' of 1940-1944. Pulling together previously separate histories of occupation, resistance, and collaboration, he presents a definitive history of the period. The book ranges from the politics of Marshal Petain's regime to the experiences of the ordinary French people, from surrender in 1940 to the purges of liberation. The author restores the organized Resistance to a more central role than has been customary in recent years and presents a social history of the resistance which takes in the roles of foreigners, women, Jews, and peasants. He uncovers the long term roots of the Vichy regime in political and social conflict and cultural crisis stretching back to the Great War and concludes by tracing the lasting legacy and memory of occupation since 1945"--Jacket.

Horse soldiers: the extraordinary story of a band of U.S. soldiers who rode to victory in Afghanistan

By Stanton, Doug

Publishing Date: c2009

Classification: 900

Call Number: 958.1047 STA

Documents the post-September 11 mission during which a small band of Special Forces soldiers captured the strategic Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif as part of an effort to defeat the Taliban, in a dramatic account that includes testimonies by Afghanistan citizens whose lives were changed by the war.

NEW RELEASE

The soul of America: the battle for our better angels

By Meacham, Jon

Publishing Date: 2018

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973 MEA

"Pulitzer Prize-winning author Jon Meacham helps us understand the present moment in American politics and life by looking back at critical times in our history when hope overcame division and fear. Our current climate of partisan fury is not new, and in The Soul of America Meacham shows us how what Abraham Lincoln called the "better angels of our nature" have repeatedly won the day. Painting surprising portraits of presidents including, besides Lincoln, Ulysses S. Grant, Theodore Roosevelt, Woodrow Wilson, Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry S. Truman, Dwight Eisenhower, and Lyndon B. Johnson, and illuminating the courage of such influential citizen activists as Martin Luther King, Jr., early suffragettes Alice Paul and Carrie Chapman Catt, civil rights pioneers Rosa Parks and John Lewis, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, and Army-McCarthy hearings lawyer Joseph N. Welch, Meacham brings vividly to life turning points in American history. He writes about the Civil War, Reconstruction, and the birth of the Lost Cause; the backlash against immigrants in the First World War and the resurgence of the Ku Klux Klan in the 1920s; the fight for women's rights; the demagoguery of Huey Long and Father Coughlin and the isolationist work of America First in the years before World War II; the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator Joseph McCarthy; and Lyndon Johnson's crusade to finish the fight against Jim Crow. In each of these dramatic, crucial turning points, the battle to lead the country to look forward rather than back, to assert hope over fear, was joined, even as it is today. While the American story has not always been heroic, and the outcome of our battles never certain, in this inspiring book Meacham reassures us,"the good news is that we have come through darkness before"--as, time and again, Lincoln's better angels have found a way to prevail. Advance praise for The Soul of America "This is a brilliant, fascinating, timely, and above all profoundly important book. Jon Meacham explores the extremism and racism that have infected our politics, and he draws enlightening lessons from the knowledge that we've faced such trials before."--Walter Isaacson "Jon Meacham has done it again, this time with a historically rich and gracefully written account of America's long struggle with division in our immigrant nation and the heroic efforts to heal the wounds. It should be in every home and on every student's desk."--Tom Brokaw"--

John Tyler

By May, Gary

Publishing Date: 2008

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.5 MAY

When William Henry Harrison died in April 1841, just one month after his inauguration, Vice President John Tyler assumed the presidency. It was a controversial move by this Southern gentleman, who had been placed on the fractious Whig ticket with the hero of Tippecanoe in order to sweep Andrew Jacksońs Democrats, and their imperial tendencies, out of the White House. Soon Tyler was beset by the Whigś competing factions. He vetoed the charter for a new Bank of the United States, which he deemed unconstitutional, and was expelled from his own party. In foreign policy, as well, Tyler marched to his own drummer. He engaged secret agents to help resolve a border dispute with Britain and negotiated the annexation of Texas without the Senatés approval. The resulting sectional divisions roiled the country. Gary May, a historian known for his dramatic accounts of secret government, sheds new light on Tyleŕs controversial presidency, which saw him set aside his dedication to the Constitution to gain his two great ambitions: Texas and a place in history.

James Monroe

By Hart, Gary

Publishing Date: 2005

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.54 HAR

The former senator and presidential candidate offers a provocative new assessment of the first "national security president". James Monroe is remembered today primarily for two things: for being the last of the "Virginia Dynasty", following George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, and for issuing the Monroe Doctrine, his statement of principles in 1823 that the western hemisphere was to be considered closed to European intervention. But Gary Hart sees Monroe as a president ahead of his time, whose priorities and accomplishments in establishing America's "national security" have a great deal in common with chief executives of our own time. Unlike his predecessors Jefferson and Madison, Monroe was at his core a military man. He joined the Continental Army at the age of seventeen and served with distinction in many pivotal battles. He is prominently featured at Washington's side in the iconic painting Washington Crossing the Delaware. And throughout his career as a senator, governor, ambassador, secretary of state, secretary of war, and president, he never lost sight of the fact that without secure borders and friendly relations with neighbors, the American people could never be truly safe in their independence. As president he embarked on an ambitious series of treaties, annexations, and military confrontations that would secure America's homeland against foreign attack for nearly two hundred years. Hart details the accomplishments and priorities of this forward-looking president, whose security concerns clearly echo those we face in our time.

Andrew Jackson

By Wilentz, Sean

Publishing Date: 2005

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.56 WIL

Examines the life and presidency of Andrew Jackson, including his early days in South Carolina, his military exploits, and his contributions to the cause of democracy and Manifest Destiny.

William Henry Harrison

By Collins, Gail

Publishing Date: 2012

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.58 COL

"The president who served the shortest term--just a single month--but whose victorious election campaign rewrote the rules for candidates seeking America's highest office"--Jacket.

James K. Polk

By Seigenthaler, John

Publishing Date: 2004

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.6 SEI

Examines the political career and presidency of James K. Polk, noting his service as Speaker of the House and governor of Tennesee, his role in the disputed Oregon boundary and war on Mexico for the annexation of Texas and California, and the anti-war criticism that took a severe toll on his health. - (Baker & Taylor)

Abraham Lincoln

By McGovern, George S

Publishing Date: 2009

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.7092 MCG

Abraham Lincoln towers above the others who have held the office of president--the pillar of strength whose words bound up the nation's wounds. His presidency is the hinge on which American history pivots, the time when the young republic collapsed of its own contradictions and a new birth of freedom, sanctified by blood, created the United States we know today. His story has been told many times, but never by a man who himself sought the office of president and contemplated its awesome responsibilities. George S. McGovern--Midwesterner, former U.S. senator, presidential candidate, veteran, and historian by training-- shows how Lincoln sometimes went astray, particularly in his restrictions on civil liberties, but also how he adjusted his sights and transformed the Civil War from a political dispute to a moral crusade. McGovern's account reminds us why we hold Lincoln in such esteem and why he remains the standard by which his successors are measured.--From publisher description.

Grover Cleveland

By Graff, Henry F

Publishing Date: 2002

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.8 GRA

When Grover Cleveland took office in 1885, one world was ending and a new one was emerging. The signs were everywhere: transcontinental railroads were still being built, the telephone was still a novelty, and the lightbulb had just been invented. In the political arena, Cleveland bridged the time between the old and the new - from when Congress dominated national affairs to the modern era when they would become more sharply focused around the president. - (Blackwell North Amer)

William McKinley

By Phillips, Kevin

Publishing Date: 2003

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.8 PHI

William McKinley's election in 1896 was a breakthrough. It marked the first time in two decades that the Republican party was able to solidify its majority, putting the GOP in a position to dominate American politics for a generation. Meanwhile, the presidency had been declining in prestige and power, and McKinley's election restored it to prominence. In the century since his death, McKinley's accomplishments have been eclipsed by the charisma and public appeal of his vice president and successor, Theodore Roosevelt. But, as Kevin Phillips explains, McKinley was a major American president, deserving admission to the second tier, the capable performers below the lofty level of Washington, Lincoln, and FDR. He is among the sixteen U.S. presidents elected to two terms, and he avoided the tarnish of major scandal. It was during his administration that the United States made its diplomatic and military debut as a world power, partly through McKinley's shrewd prosecution of the Spanish-American War. McKinley is one of eight presidents who, either in the White House or on the battlefield, led the nation in successful wars; more important, he is among the six or seven whose election led to a major realignment of the U.S. party system. - (Blackwell North Amer)

Rutherford B. Hayes

By Trefousse, Hans L

Publishing Date: 2002

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.8 TRE

Historian Hans L. Trefousse explores Hayes's new relevance and reconsiders what many have seen as the pitfalls of his presidency. While Hayes did officially terminate the Reconstruction, Trefousse points out that this process was already well under way by the start of his term and there was little he could do to stop it. A great intellectual and one of our best-educated presidents, Hayes did much more in the way of healing the nation and elevating the presidency. - (Blackwell North Amer)

Chester Alan Arthur

By Karabell, Zachary

Publishing Date: 2004

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.84 KAR

Chester Alan Arthur never dreamed that one day he would be president of the United States. A successful lawyer, Arthur had been forced out as the head of the Custom House of the Port of New York in 1877 in a power struggle between the two wings of the Republican Party. He became such a celebrity that he was nominated for vice president in 1880-despite his never having run for office before. Elected alongside James A. Garfield, Arthur found his life transformed just four months into his term, when an assassin shot and killed Garfield, catapulting Arthur into the presidency. The assassin was a deranged man who thought he deserved a federal job through the increasingly corrupt "spoils system." To the surprise of many, Arthur, a longtime beneficiary of that system, saw that the time had come for reform. His opportunity came in the winter of 1882-83, when he pushed through the Pendleton Act, which created a professional civil service and set America on a course toward greater reforms in the decades to come. Chester Arthur may be largely forgotten today, but Zachary Karabell eloquently shows how this unexpected president-of whom so little was expected-rose to the occasion when fate placed him in the White House. "By exploring the Gilded Age's parallels with our own divisive political scene, Karabell does an excellent job of cementing the volume's relevance for contemporary readers. " - Publishers Weekly - (Blackwell North Amer)

Laura Bush: an intimate portrait of the first lady

By Kessler, Ronald

Publishing Date: c2006

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.931 KES

The first biography of Laura Bush to be written with White House cooperation offers a look at the private world of this famously reserved woman, as well as the beliefs and attitudes that shape it. Based on interviews with her closest friends and confidantes from childhood to the present, as well as family members and administration heavyweights, Kessler paints a portrait of a woman who, even as she ascended to the heights of political fortune and power, never lost touch with the bedrock American values she absorbed in her youth. Kessler reveals how Laura's opinions have brought budget changes to a range of federal agencies and have affected her husband's policies, appointments, and worldview; what Laura's own political opinions are and what her relationship with twin daughters Jenna and Barbara is really like; what Laura says in private about Hillary Clinton, media attacks on her husband, and his victory in the 2004 election.--From publisher description.