History & Politics

Upon the fiftieth anniversary of the first lunar landing, award-winning historian Douglas Brinkley takes a fresh look at the space program, President John F. Kennedy’s inspiring challenge, and America’s race to the moon. “Brinkley is a national treasure. His writing brings history alive and reminds what can be achieved when our nation mobilizes our optimism, ambition, and ideals to a greater purpose.” —Ryan Coonerty

This companion book to the PBS documentary series (airing in July) tells the stories of the visionaries who helped America complete JFK’s historic moon landing challenge. “Chasing the Moon is so informative and so entertaining that it can easily stand on its own as a popular history of the Space Race. Stone and Andres capture not only the Cold War rivalry and turmoil of the period, but its heady optimism.” —Joseph Kanon

A history and assessment of California’s (misguided) water distribution system and the population growth it has engendered, The Dreamt Land reads like an expansive, expertly crafted novel. Propelled by endless curiosity and the courage to go where his story leads, Arax captures the personalities and voices of farmers, land barons, developers, laborers, environmentalists, politicians, and consumers who depend on (and fight over) access to our state’s most precious natural resource, and details the shady dealings and political nonsense that determines who gets to profit from it. What Marc Reisner’s Cadillac Desert is to the Western United States, this book is to California—an imperative and timely work that will be around for decades to come. - Rico

When most people think of the bubonic plague, they don’t associate it with America, and there are a handful of people who are responsible for that. Randall chronicles the largely forgotten efforts of the men who gave happiness, health, and in some cases their careers, to stop the spread of plague in San Francisco. Thoroughly researched and at times quite graphic, Randall’s account of this epidemic is a fascinating look at a disease largely forgotten but lurking in the shadows to this day. - Jade

In his latest work, Diamond chose seven countries that have had major crises within the last 150 years and examines how they’ve dealt with those crises. He then extrapolates from how those countries have evolved since to examine the state of the world today and to project how our future might unfold. Diamond has tackled several broad, complex, and sensitive topics here with the same intelligent and accessible writing that has made his earlier book, Guns, Germs, and Steel, an enduring classic. Part history lesson, part editorial, and part science lecture, I found this to be a truly fascinating read that should become required reading. - Jade

This exceptional collection of essays is as political as it is environmental, allowing for and celebrating the places we actually are, not just where we go, and how they inform who we are and how we live. With pieces by Belle Boggs, Camille T. Dungy, Lauret E. Savoy, Terry Tempest Williams, and others, Trespass brings intersectionality to environmental writing, exploring gender, race, and sexuality, reminding us that important place-based writing has always been about more than just the surroundings. - Melinda

Just prior to the Civil War, Frederick Law Olmsted —later the designer of Central Park—went on a tour of the South as a correspondent for the New York Times. Just prior to today’s civil war, Tony Horwitz, author of Confederates in the Attic, retraced Olmsted’s route from West Virginia to Texas and into Mexico. From plantations and a monster truck mudfest to a New Orleans gospel-rocking church, he documents how much has changed and what’s still strikingly the same. - Dave

Told with an adroit, almost poetic style, this work of contemporary history is far from textbook. In The Road to Unfreedom, Yale professor and award-winning author Timothy Snyder analyzes the rise of populism and authoritarianism across the globe, with a focus on Russia, Europe, and the United States. Snyder’s analysis gives the reader a concrete map of events that led us to the present, and is a must-read for anyone concerned with the future of liberal democracy. - Aric

In telling the story of the French Resistance through the perspective of a handful of women (among many) recruited as operatives and spies to work behind enemy lines, Sarah Rose adds a chapter that had been missing from the written history of World War II. Dropped by parachute to lead missions of espionage and sabotage, they let nothing stand in the way of defeating Hitler and freeing France. Pick this one up for an engrossing, true narrative and for inspiration from women who never backed down. - Jocelyn

Journalist Alissa Quart investigates the increasing barriers and burdens forcing families with children out of middle-class security. Kids are a luxury item in an economy where the proverbial golden ticket to security—education—is more often a ticket to overwhelming debt, unpaid overtime, side gigs, and a lack of job security. Quark’s combination of research and diverse personal narratives is fascinating, relatable, and galvanizing. - Clara