From the queen of The Netherlands to the Earl of Suffolk, Paratroopers to civilians turned underground rebels, traitors to double agents, the victories and defeats, triumphs and tragedies of the resistance during WW2.
John
Sea People is a fascinating historical and anthropological detective story about the peoples that settled the wide expanse of Pacific islands we today call Polynesia. It’s a book as much about how we’ve learned their story as well as the epic itself of how these lands were populated.
Dale
A moving portrait of an extraordinary man, one who could have found his place in the pages of Plutarch. Amidst his “nation of inconsistencies, completely made up of inconsistencies,” Douglass' story endures through the work of a historian writing at the height of his powers.
James
A stunning, intimate examination of lives led by black women during the early 20th century who dared to strive for more than white society allowed them to be. Between the stark history, beauty of the prose, and determination of the subjects, this book left me speechless.
Stacey
Demonized by some and lauded by others, 'feminism' has been a challenging topic since it came on the scene. But what is it really? What does it address? Who has been involved? And very importantly, what does 'intersectional' actually mean? Though this book is aimed at teens, it's a great crash-course in feminist history. It touches on a wide range of topics, but doesn't shy away from bringing up some of the legitimate criticisms of the movement.
Stacey
You might recognize him as the subject of the new Oscar-winning Best Documentary, FREE SOLO, a film about his death-defying ropeless journey up 3,000 feet of vertical cliff face in Yosemite. But Alex Honnold is also an engaging writer, and this peek into his thought processes is fascinating (and accessible to people who have never touched a climbing wall in their lives). A dizzying read that will fuel your sense of adventure.
Kate
With regards to the coming catastrophic effects of climate change the first sentence of this powerful polemic says it all: “It is worse, much worse, than you think.”
Dale
This left me both frightened of all the problems to come, but at the same time optimistic of all the problems that'll finally be be solved.
John
John Keats’ favorite book – with admirers ranging from Samuel Johnson to Philip Pullman, Laurence Sterne to Samuel Beckett, Washington Irving to Jorge Luis Borges, George Custer to Nick Cave – infinite in its jest, encyclopedic in its scholarship, delightful in its relish for human contradiction and wholehearted in its compassion for our folly, here lies a book for your desert island. Sample a page from the “Mind Rectified by Mirth” (II.119). If you are not convinced, I will say no more. Lætitiae cœlum vos creavit. So live merrily, O my friends.
James
A deep dive into the unsolved murders of the Irish Troubles, with detailed portraits of both the killers and their victims. It was the oral history archive at Boston College that provided much of the evidence to bring all the threads of the story together.
Sarah
