Inyo County Free Library - New Acquisitions
July 2019 - October 2019
These are books and media new to the library and cataloged by the Inyo County Free Library.
Additional information about each title can be found in the catalog (click on the title). For older acquisition lists choose from Select another list. To request any of these titles please contact your local library branch.
Oglala Women: Myth, Ritual, and Reality By Powers, Marla N. Publishing Date: Nov. 1988 Classification: 300 Call Number: 305.897 POW Annotation |
NEW RELEASE Sea people: the puzzle of Polynesia By Thompson, Christina Publishing Date: [2019] Classification: 300 Call Number: 305.8994 THO "For more than a millennium, Polynesians occupied the remotest islands in the Pacific Ocean, an enormous triangle stretching from Hawaii to New Zealand to Easter Island. Sailing in large, double-hulled canoes, without the benefit of maps, writing, or metal tools, these ancient mariners were the first and, until the era of European discovery, the only people ever to have reached this part of the globe. Today, they are widely acknowledged as the world's greatest navigators. But how did the earliest Polynesians reach these far-flung islands? How did they conquer the largest ocean on the planet? Diving deep into the history of the Pacific, Christina Thompson explores this epic migration, following the trail of the many sailors, linguists, archaeologists, and geographers who have puzzled over this story, in a quest to discover who these ancient voyagers were, where they came from, and how they managed to colonize every habitable island in the vast region of remote Oceania. [This book] combines the wonder of pursuit and the drama of a gripping historical puzzle in a vivid tour of one of the most captivating regions in the world."--Jacket. |
NEW RELEASE 50 things they don't want you to know By Hudson, Jerome Publishing Date: [2019] Classification: 300 Call Number: 306.0973 HUD "Jerome Hudson pulls back the curtain to show you the facts, statistics, and analysis that the Liberal elite have worked so hard to hide"-- |
NEW RELEASE The death of politics: how to heal our frayed republic after Trump By Wehner, Peter Publishing Date: 2019 Classification: 300 Call Number: 306.2097 WEH "The New York Times opinion writer, media commentator, outspoken Republican and Christian critic of the Trump presidency offers a spirited defense of politics and its virtuous and critical role in maintaining our democracy and what we must do to save it before it is too late. "Any nation that elects Donald Trump to be its president has a remarkably low view of politics." Frustrated and feeling betrayed, Americans have come to loathe politics with disastrous results, argues Peter Wehner. In this timely manifesto, the veteran of three Republican administrations and man of faith offers a reasoned and persuasive argument for restoring "politics" as a worthy calling to a cynical and disillusioned generation of Americans. Wehner has long been one of the leading conservative critics of Donald Trump and his effect on the Republican Party. In this impassioned book, he makes clear that unless we overcome the despair that has caused citizens to abandon hope in the primary means for improving our world--the political process--we will not only fall victim to despots but hasten the decline of what has truly made America great. Drawing on history and experience, he reminds us of the hard lessons we have learned about how we rule ourselves--why we have checks and balances, why no one is above the law, why we defend the rights of even those we disagree with. Wehner believes we can turn the country around, but only if we abandon our hatred and learn to appreciate and honor the unique and noble American tradition of doing "politics." If we want the great American experiment to continue and to once again prosper, we must once more take up the responsibility each and every one of us as citizens share"-- |
NEW RELEASE The age of surveillance capitalism: the fight for a human future at the new frontier of power By Zuboff, Shoshana Publishing Date: 2019 Classification: 300 Call Number: 306.3 ZUB "Shoshana Zuboff, named "the true prophet of the information age" by the Financial Times, has always been ahead of her time. Her seminal book In the Age of the Smart Machine foresaw the consequences of a then-unfolding era of computer technology. Now, three decades later she asks why the once-celebrated miracle of digital is turning into a nightmare. Zuboff tackles the social, political, business, personal, and technological meaning of "surveillance capitalism" as an unprecedented new market form. It is not simply about tracking us and selling ads, it is the business model for an ominous new marketplace that aims at nothing less than predicting and modifying our everyday behavior--where we go, what we do, what we say, how we feel, who we're with. The consequences of surveillance capitalism for us as individuals and as a society vividly come to life in The Age of Surveillance Capitalism's pathbreaking analysis of power. The threat has shifted from a totalitarian "big brother" state to a universal global architecture of automatic sensors and smart capabilities: A "big other" that imposes a fundamentally new form of power and unprecedented concentrations of knowledge in private companies--free from democratic oversight and control"-- |
NEW RELEASE By Will, George F. Publishing Date: 2019 Classification: 300 Call Number: 320.5209 WIL "A reflection on American conservatism, examining how the Founders' belief in natural rights created a great American political tradition--one that now finds itself under threat, both from progressives and elements inside the Republican Party"-- |
NEW RELEASE Publishing Date: 2019 Classification: 300 Call Number: 320.973 1. Democracy defined : -- What is American democracy? 20 common forms of government--study starters / David A. Tomar -- What exactly is neoliberalism? / Kean Birch -- Democracy's midlife crisis : an interview with David Runciman / David Runciman, Danielle Charette, Jacob Hamburger -- History and democracy / Sean Wilentz -- Is the United States of America a republic or a democracy? / Eugene Volokh -- Are we witnessing the death of liberal democracy / Ian McKay -- 2. Democracy in context : -- Democratic identity and economy : the rise of authoritarian capitalism / Kevin Rudd -- Big fail : the internet hasn't helped democracy / Robert Diab -- American democracy is ailing : thinking like an economist can help / Gary Saul Morson, Morton Schapiro -- Economic freedom is essential to democracy / William Dunkelberg -- E pluribus unum? The fight over identity politics / Stacey Y. Abrams, John Sides, Michael Tesler, Lynn Vavreck, Jennifer A. Richeson, Francis Fukuyama -- 3. Democracy or dictatorship? -- Democratic authoritarianism : American democracy is in crisis, and not just because of Trump / Simon Tisdall -- American democracy has gone through dark times before / Robert Dallek -- Lessons in the decline of democracy from the ruined Roman republic / Jason Daley -- A major democracy watchdog just published a scathing report on Trump / Zack Beauchamp -- Why is American democracy in danger? / Eric Schoon, Corey Pech -- 4. How fragile is democracy? -- The global view : the growing signs of the fragility and resilience of liberal democracy / Heidi Koolmeister -- Yes, we need to do better : world leaders talk democracy / The New York Times -- Despite global concerns about democracy, more than half of countries are democratic / Drew DeSilver -- Democracy is more fragile than many of us realized, but don't believe that it is doomed / Andrew Rawnsley -- Poland's nationalism threatens Europe's values and cohesion / Steven Erlanger, Marc Santora -- 5. What do we think of democracy? -- Attitudes and approaches : the public, the political system and American democracy / Pew Research Center -- 20 of America's top political scientists gathered to discuss our democracy : they're scared / Sean Illing -- What the world can learn about equality from the Nordic model / Geoffrey M. Hodgson -- The Nordic Democratic-Socialist myth / Nima Sanandaji -- Are millennials giving up on democracy? / Neil Howe -- On the sidelines of democracy : exploring why so many Americans don't vote / Asma Khalid, Don Gonyea, Leila Fadel. |
Where we go from here: two years in the resistance By Sanders, Bernard Publishing Date: 2018 Classification: 300 Call Number: 324.2732 SAN The Democratic presidential candidate, popular senator, and respected economist traces the first year of the Trump administration and what Sanders and his followers are doing to reinforce the progressive movement. |
Fever swamp: a journey through the strange Neverland of the 2016 presidential race By Patterson, Richard North Publishing Date: 2017 Classification: 300 Call Number: 324.973 PAT During the 2016 presidential election cycle, novelist Richard North Patterson wrote one column per week for The Huffington Post about the presidential race. Those essays are collected here for the first time in a highly personal 'journal' chronically Paterson's observations in real time. |
NEW RELEASE Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill, and the road to war By Bouverie, Tim Publishing Date: [2019] Classification: 300 Call Number: 327.4104 BOU "A new history of the British appeasement of the Third Reich on the eve of World War II"-- |
The jungle grows back: America and our imperiled world By Kagan, Robert Publishing Date: [2018] Classification: 300 Call Number: 327.73 KAG "A brilliant and visionary argument for America's role as an enforcer of peace and order throughout the world--and what is likely to happen if we withdraw and focus our attention inward. Recent years have brought deeply disturbing developments around the globe. American sentiment seems to be leaning increasingly toward withdrawal in the face of such disarray. In this powerful, urgent essay, Robert Kagan elucidates the reasons why American withdrawal would be the worst possible response, based as it is on a fundamental and dangerous misreading of the world. Like a jungle that keeps growing back after being cut down, the world has always been full of dangerous actors who, left unchecked, possess the desire and ability to make things worse. Kagan makes clear how the "realist" impulse to recognize our limitations and focus on our failures misunderstands the essential role America has played for decades in keeping the world's worst instability in check. A true realism, he argues, is based on the understanding that the historical norm has always been toward chaos--that the jungle will grow back, if we let it"-- |
Blaming China: it might feel good but it won't fix America's economy By Shobert, Benjamin Publishing Date: [2018] Classification: 300 Call Number: 330.973 SHO American society is angrier, more fragmented, and more polarized than at any time since the Civil War. We harbor deep insecurities about our economic future, our place in the world, our response to terrorism, and our deeply dysfunctional government. Over the next several years, Benjamin Shobert says, these four insecurities will be perverted and projected onto China in an attempt to shift blame for errors entirely of our own making. These misdirections will be satisfying in the short term but will eventually destabilize the global world that businesses, consumers, and governments have taken for granted for the last forty years and will usher in an age of geopolitical uncertainty characterized by regional conflict and increasing economic dislocation. Shobert, a senior associate at the National Bureau of Asian Research, explores how America’s attitudes toward China have changed and how our economic anxieties and political dysfunction have laid the foundation for turning our collective frustrations away from acknowledging the consequences of our own poor decisions. Shobert argues that unless we address these problems, a disastrous chapter in American life is right around the corner, one in which Americans will decide that conflict with China is the only sensible option. After framing how the American public thinks about China, Shobert offers two alternative paths forward. He proposes steps that businesses, governments, and individuals can take to potentially stop and reverse America’s path to a dystopian future.- (Univ of Nebraska) |
The once and future worker: a vision for the renewal of work in America By Cass, Oren Publishing Date: ©2018 Classification: 300 Call Number: 331.1097 CAS Examines how current economic and social policies in the United States are adversely affecting the American worker and explains why the governing elites need to implement changes that increase wages and provide access to job training and social welfare programs. -- |
NEW RELEASE This land: how cowboys, capitalism, and corruption are ruining the American West By Ketcham, Christopher Publishing Date: [2019] Classification: 300 Call Number: 333.7309 KET "The public lands of the western United States comprise some 450 million acres of grassland, steppe land, canyons, forests, and mountains. It's an American commons, and it is under assault as never before. Journalist Christopher Ketcham has been documenting the confluence of commercial exploitation and governmental misconduct in this region for over a decade. His revelatory book takes the reader on a journey across these last wild places, to see how capitalism is killing our great commons. Ketcham begins in Utah, revealing the environmental destruction caused by unregulated public lands livestock grazing, and exposing rampant malfeasance in the federal land management agencies, who have been compromised by the profit-driven livestock and energy interests they are supposed to regulate. He then turns to the broad effects of those corrupt politics on wildlife. He tracks the Department of Interior's failure to implement and enforce the Endangered Species Act--including its stark betrayal of protections for the grizzly bear and the sage grouse--and investigates the destructive behavior of U.S. Wildlife Services in their shocking mass slaughter of animals that threaten the livestock industry. Along the way, Ketcham talks with ecologists, biologists, botanists, former government employees, whistleblowers, grassroots environmentalists and other citizens who are fighting to protect the public domain for future generations. This Land is a colorful muckraking journey--part Edward Abbey, part Upton Sinclair--exposing the rot in American politics that is rapidly leading to the sell-out of our national heritage"-- |
NEW RELEASE The dreamt land: chasing water and dust across California By Arax, Mark Publishing Date: 2019 Classification: 300 Call Number: 333.91 ARA "A vivid, searching journey into California's complicated relationship to its water, from the Gold Rush to today -- an epic story of the struggle to overcome the constraints of nature Mark Arax is from a family of Central Valley farmers -- a journalist with deep ties to the land, who has watched as the battles over water have intensified even as the state lurches from drought to flood and back again. In The Dreamt Land he travels the state to explore the century-old water distribution system that is straining to keep up with California's relentless growth. This is a heartfelt, beautifully written book about land and the people who work on it, from the gold miners to the ranchers to the small farmers and today's big ag. Since the beginning, Californians have redirected rivers, drilled ever-deeper wells, and pushed the water supplies past their limits. The Dreamt Land brings to life the enterprising figures who have made a fortune off the land, and used that wealth to increase their leverage, as well as the people who have been left behind. It's a story of politics and hubris, but above all it's about the unceasing human ability to make things happen, and to endure in a hostile environment"-- |
The art of loading brush: new agrarian writings By Berry, Wendell Publishing Date: [2017] Classification: 300 Call Number: 338.1 BER Wendell Berry's profound critique of American culture has entered its sixth decade, and in this new gathering he reaches with deep devotion toward a long view of Agrarian philosophy. Mr. Berry believes that American cultural problems are nearly always aligned with their agricultural problems, and recent events have shone a terrible spotlight on the divides between our urban and rural citizens. Our communities are as endangered as our landscapes. There is, as Berry outlines, still much work to do, and our daily lives--in hope and affection -- must triumph over despair. Mr. Berry moves deftly between the real and the imagined. The Art of Loading Brush is an energetic mix of essays and stories, including "The Thought of Limits in a Prodigal Age," which explores Agrarian ideals as they present themselves historically and as they might apply to our work today. "The Presence of Nature in the Natural World" is added here as the bookend of this developing New Agrarianism. Four stories from an as-yet-unfinished novel, better described as "an essay in imagination," extend the Port William story as it follows Andy Catlett throughout his life to this present moment. Andy works alongside his grandson in "The Art of Loading Brush," one of the most moving and tender stories of the entire Port William cycle. Filled with insights and new revelations from a mind thorough in its considerations and careful in its presentations, The Art of Loading Brush is a necessary and timely collection. |
By Ackerman-Leist, Philip Publishing Date: [2017] Classification: 300 Call Number: 338.1094 ACK Mals, Italy, has long been known as the breadbasket of the Tyrol. But recently the tiny town became known for something else entirely. A Precautionary Tale tells us why, introducing readers to an unlikely group of activists and a forward-thinking mayor who came together to ban pesticides in Mals by a referendum vote--making it the first place on Earth to accomplish such a feat, and a model for other towns and regions to follow. For hundreds of years, the people of Mals had cherished their traditional foodways and kept their local agriculture organic. Their town had become a mecca for tourists drawn by the alpine landscape, the rural and historic character of the villages, and the fine breads, wines, cheeses, herbs, vegetables, and the other traditional foods they produced. Yet Mals is located high up in the eastern Alps, and the valley below was being steadily overtaken by big apple producers, heavily dependent on pesticides. As Big Apple crept further and further up the region's mountainsides, their toxic spray drifted with the valley's ever-present winds and began to fall on the farms and fields of Mals--threatening their organic certifications, as well as their health and that of their livestock. The advancing threats gradually motivated a diverse cast of characters to take action--each in their own unique way, and then in concert in an iconic display of direct democracy in action. As Ackerman-Leist recounts their uprising, we meet an organic dairy farmer who decides to speak up when his hay is poisoned by drift; a pediatrician who engaged other medical professionals to protect the soil, water, and air that the health of her patients depends upon; a hairdresser whose salon conversations mobilized the town's women in an extraordinarily conceived campaign; and others who together orchestrated one of the rare revolutionary successes of our time and inspired a movement now snaking its way through Europe and the United States.--AMAZON. |
The curse of bigness: antitrust in the new gilded age By Wu, Tim Publishing Date: [2018] Classification: 300 Call Number: 338.8097 WU "We live in an age of extreme corporate concentration, in which global industries are controlled by just a few giant firms -- big banks, big pharma, and big tech, just to name a few. But concern over what Louis Brandeis called the "curse of bigness" can no longer remain the province of specialist lawyers and economists, for it has spilled over into policy and politics, even threatening democracy itself. History suggests that tolerance of inequality and failing to control excessive corporate power may prompt the rise of populism, nationalism, extremist politicians, and fascist regimes. In short, as Wu warns, we are in grave danger of repeating the signature errors of the twentieth century. In The Curse of Bigness, Columbia professor Tim Wu tells of how figures like Brandeis and Theodore Roosevelt first confronted the democratic threats posed by the great trusts of the Gilded Age--but the lessons of the Progressive Era were forgotten in the last 40 years. He calls for recovering the lost tenets of the trustbusting age as part of a broader revival of American progressive ideas as we confront the fallout of persistent and extreme economic inequality."--Amazon.com. |
The great escape: health, wealth, and the origins of inequality By Deaton, Angus Publishing Date: [2013] Classification: 300 Call Number: 339.2 DEA "The world is a better place than it used to be. People are wealthier and healthier, and live longer lives. Yet the escapes from destitution by so many have left gaping inequalities between people and between nations. In The Great Escape, Angus Deaton--one of the foremost experts on economic development and on poverty--tells the remarkable story of how, starting two hundred and fifty years ago, some parts of the world began to experience sustained progress, opening up gaps and setting the stage for today's hugely unequal world. Deaton takes an in-depth look at the historical and ongoing patterns behind the health and wealth of nations, and he addresses what needs to be done to help those left behind. Deaton describes vast innovations and wrenching setbacks: the successes of antibiotics, pest control, vaccinations, and clean water on the one hand, and disastrous famines and the HIV/AIDS epidemic on the other. He examines the United States, a nation that has prospered but is today experiencing slower growth and increasing inequality. He also considers how economic growth in India and China has improved the lives of more than a billion people. Deaton argues that international aid has been ineffective and even harmful. He suggests alternative efforts--including reforming incentives to drug companies and lifting trade restrictions--that will allow the developing world to bring about its own Great Escape. Demonstrating how changes in health and living standards have transformed our lives, The Great Escape is a powerful guide to addressing the well-being of all nations"--Publisher description. |
Impeachment: a citizen's guide By Sunstein, Cass R. Publishing Date: 2017 Classification: 300 Call Number: 342.73 SUN "Cass Sunstein considers actual and imaginable arguments for a president's removal, explaining why some cases are easy and others hard, why some arguments for impeachment are judicious and others not. In direct and approachable terms, he dispels the fog surrounding impeachment so that all Americans may use their ultimate civic authority wisely"-- |