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"2.6 billion people inhabit former British colonies. The empire's influence upon the quarter-planet it occupied, and its gravitational influence upon the world outside it, has been profound from the spread of Christianity by missionaries, to the shaping of international law. Even today, one in three drive on the left-hand side of the road, an artifact of the British empire. Yet Britain's idea of its imperial history and the world's experience of the...
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"John, an impoverished Scottish minister, has accepted a job evicting the lone remaining occupant of an island north of Scotland--Ivar, who has been living alone for decades, with only the animals and the sea for company. Though his wife, Mary, has serious misgivings about the errand, he decides to go anyway, setting in motion a chain of events that neither he nor Mary could have predicted. Shortly after John reaches the island, he falls down a cliff...
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"By turns hilarious, candid, and heartbreaking, this powerful book takes the straitjacket off Black history. A refreshing, witty take on African American history, Crazy as Hell explores the site of America's greatest contradictions. The notables of this book are the Runaways and the Rebels, the Badass and Funky, the Activists and the Inmates--from Harriet Tubman, Nina Simone, and Muhammad Ali to B'rer Rabbit, Single Mamas, and Wakandans--but are they...
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In House of Lilies, historian Justine Firnhaber-Baker tells the epic story of the Capetian dynasty of medieval France, showing how their ideas about power, religion, and identity continue to shape European society and politics today. Reigning from 987 to 1328, the Capetians became the most powerful monarchy of the Middle Ages. Consolidating a fragmented realm that eventually stretched from the Rhône to the Pyrenees, they were the first royal house...
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"An unusually warm winter day resulted in 2.3 million gallons of molasses flooding the North End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The disaster killed 21 people and injured 150 others. Rescue missions were launched to save people from the sticky and deadly mess, led by the Red Cross, the army, the navy, and the Massachusetts Nautical School. With the help of hundreds of volunteers over the course of several weeks, the streets were cleaned up....
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On November 6, 1860, Abraham Lincoln became the fluky victor in a tight race for president. The country was bitterly at odds; Southern extremists were moving ever closer to destroying the Union, with one state after another seceding and Lincoln powerless to stop them. Slavery fueled the conflict, but somehow the passions of North and South came to focus on a lonely federal fortress in Charleston Harbor: Fort Sumter. Master storyteller Erik Larson...
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A New York Times-bestselling historian charts how and why societies from ancient Greece to the modern era chose to utterly destroy their foes, and warns that similar wars of obliteration are possible in our time. War can settle disputes, topple tyrants, and bend the trajectory of civilization--sometimes to the breaking point. From Troy to Hiroshima, moments when war has ended in utter annihilation have reverberated through the centuries, signaling...
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""Everyone who claims to be 'Christian' or else claims to be upset by 'Christianity' needs to read this book, especially politicians using people's supposed faith for their own ends."--Margaret E. Atwood. A major new work by the New York Times bestselling author, arguing that the answer to bad religion is true faith that will help re-found democracy It is time says Jim Wallis, to call out genuine faith--specifically the "Christian" in White Christian...
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"From golf legend and nine-time major champion Gary Player, a riveting history of golf’s pinnacle events, packed with dramatic moments and insider stories. In the game of golf, four tournaments stand alone: The Masters. The U.S. Open. The British Open. The PGA Championship. They boast histories that stretch back a century or more. Winning a major is the capstone of a golfer’s career, a guarantee that they will be remembered by history. Gary Player...
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"America has broken its contract with its laboring class. So, how do we get back to the American Dream? How do we once again become the land of opportunity, the promised land where hard work and commitment to family are enough to protect you from poverty? It's not that hard actually. All it would take, as this book illustrates, is for those in power to once again respect the dignity of work-and the American worker"--
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In this landmark work of natural history, a journalist tells the epic story of the Mississippi River and the centuries of efforts to control it, which have damaged its once-vibrant ecosystems, carrying readers along the river's last remaining backchannels and exploring how scientists hope to restore what has been lost.
15) Kill her twice
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In in 1930s Los Angeles Chinatown, the Chow sisters, May, Gemma, and Peony, suspect foul play in the death of Chinatown star Lulu Wong and take it upon themselves to solve the murder, revealing a conspiracy that threatens their Chinatown neighborhood.
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"A bestselling music historian follows Jelly Roll Morton on a journey through the hidden worlds and forbidden songs of early blues and jazz. In Jelly Roll Blues: Censored Songs and Hidden Histories, Elijah Wald takes readers on a journey into the hidden and censored world of early blues and jazz, guided by the legendary New Orleans pianist Jelly Roll Morton. Morton became nationally famous as a composer and bandleader in the 1920s, but got his start...
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"In 1486, Orsola Rosso is the eldest daughter in a family of glassblowers in Murano, Italy. As a woman, she is not meant to blow glass--but when her father dies, she teaches herself to make beads in secret, and her work becomes the cornerstone of the Rosso family fortunes. Skipping like a stone through the centuries, we follow Orsola and her family as they live through creative triumph and heartbreaking loss, from a plague rearing its head over Venice...