Summer Reading Suggestions 2015: History & Geography

Explores why modern Americans are willing to surrender to the politics of fear and upend two centuries of fighting against political, social and economic privilege, once viewed as obnoxious threats to democracy.

Evan Osnos, a Beijing correspondent for The New Yorker, documents the political, economic, and cultural changes occurring in today's China. He examines the transition from Communist to personal power while addressing key questions about national freedom, generational identity, and the influence of the West. Winner of the 2014 National Book Award.

This book organizes discusses the "who, where, when, why, and how" of each food and its impact on civilization in cultural, social, commercial, political, or military spheres. The stories span human history, from our hunter-gatherer ancestors to the transatlantic slave trade, and from the introduction of frozen foods, to the powdered milk scandal in China. An example is golden rice; the first genetically modified food developed for the good of humanity rather than solely for profit.

The authors uncover the mysteries of the steamship Lusitania and its final voyage across the Atlantic Ocean in 1915, including why it may have been targeted, the secret lives of its aristocratic passengers, and the legacy of indiscriminate warfare it left behind.

Stavans and Alcaraz, a cultural critic and an award-winning cartoonist, subvert the conventional story of American history and focus on the vibrant and tireless workers, immigrants, homemakers, and slaves who helped create and mold America as much as any celebrated white man.

This volume presents the first full-scale treatment of the only instance in history where African blacks, seized by slave dealers, won their freedom and returned home. Jones describes how, in 1839, Joseph Cinqué led a revolt on the Spanish slave ship, the Amistad, in the Caribbean. The seizure of the ship by an American naval vessel, the arrest of the Africans in Connecticut, and the Spanish protest against the violation of their property rights created an international controversy.