The last samurai: the life and battles of Saigo Takamori

By Ravina, Mark

Publishing Date: 2004

Classification: 900

Call Number: 952.03 RAV

On September 24, 1877, Saigo Takamori, one of Japan's most loyal and honored samurai, died in the bloodiest conflict Japan had seen in over two hundred years -- a battle led by Saigo and his band of loyal students. Now, more than 125 years after his death, Saigo still remains a legendary yet enigmatic figure in Japan. Why would Japan's greatest warrior, whose sole purpose was to serve his country, set in motion a civil war and lead a group of rebel soldiers to overthrow the government that he had personally helped to restore? The Last Samurai sets forth to demystify Saigo's life, his machinations, and the dramatic historical events that shaped the life and death of Japan's favorite samurai. Exiled for misconduct, Saigo was pardoned in 1864 and called back to the mainland to train a group of Satsuma warriors. Their mission was to seize control of the imperial palace and restore the imperial house to its former glory. Saigo's coup was successful, and in 1867 he led the drive to destroy the shogunate and to create a powerful new state. But with Saigo's victory came a crushing defeat: in his drive to modernize Japan, the Meiji emperor, whom Saigo had helped bring to power, abolished all samurai privileges, including their ancient right to carry swords. Now an acting member of a modernizing Meiji government, Saigo was given command of the newly formed Imperial Guard, Japan's first national army in nearly a millennium. Saigo supported many of the government's Western-style reforms, but he was torn by the sense that he was betraying his most stalwart supporters. Deeply ambivalent about the government he had helped create, Saigo sought to end his career with a final dramatic gesture: he sought to go as imperial envoy to Korea, where he would insist that the Korean king recognize the Meiji emperor. When his plan was denounced as reckless, Saigo resigned from government, returned to his native Satsuma, and opened a military academy for former samurai warriors. His group of disgruntled students resented the rapid modernization of Japan even more than did Saigo. They set forth to slow the hand of change with their swords, making Saigo the reluctant leader of their uprising. Old Japan and New Japan met in battle and old Japan lost. Saigo died in battle from a bullet wound, but legend still has it instead that he died by his own sword, upholding samurai honor to the end.

Ghosts of the tsunami

By Lloyd Parry, Richard

Publishing Date: 2017

Classification: 900

Call Number: 952.0512 LLO

On 11 March 2011, a massive earthquake sent a 120-foot-high tsunami smashing into the coast of north-east Japan. By the time the sea retreated, more than 18,500 people had been crushed, burned to death, or drowned. It was Japan's greatest single loss of life since the atomic bombing of Nagasaki. It set off a national crisis, and the meltdown of a nuclear power plant. And even after the immediate emergency had abated, the trauma of the disaster continued to express itself in bizarre and mysterious ways. Richard Lloyd Parry, an award-winning foreign correspondent, lived through the earthquake in Tokyo, and spent six years reporting from the disaster zone. There he encountered stories of ghosts and hauntings. He met a priest who performed exorcisms on people possessed by the spirits of the dead. And he found himself drawn back again and again to a village which had suffered the greatest loss of all, a community tormented by unbearable mysteries of its own. What really happened to the local children as they waited in the school playground in the moments before the tsunami? Why did their teachers not evacuate them to safety? And why was the unbearable truth being so stubbornly covered up?Ghosts of the Tsunami is a classic of literary non-fiction, a heart-breaking and intimate account of an epic tragedy, told through the personal accounts of those who lived through it. It tells the story of how a nation faced a catastrophe, and the bleak struggle to find consolation in the ruins.

The anarchy: the relentless rise of the East India Company

By Dalrymple, William

Publishing Date: 2019

Classification: 900

Call Number: 954.031 DAL

"In August 1756 the East India Company defeated the young Mughal emperor and forced him to establish in his richest provinces a new administration run by English merchants who collected taxes through means of a ruthless private army--what we would now call an act of involuntary privatization. The East India Company's founding charter authorized it to 'wage war' and it had always used violence to gain its ends. But the creation of this new government marked the moment that the East India Company ceased to be a conventional international trading corporation dealing in silks and spices and became something much more unusual: an aggressive colonial power in the guise of a multinational business. In less than four decades it had trained up a security force of around 200,000 men--twice the size of the British army--and had subdued an entire subcontinent, conquering first Bengal and finally, in 1803, the Mughal capital of Delhi itself. The Company's reach stretched until almost all of India south of the Himalayas was effectively ruled from a boardroom in London. The Anarchy tells the remarkable story of how one of the world's most magnificent empires disintegrated and came to be replaced by a dangerously unregulated private company, based thousands of miles overseas in one small office, five windows wide, and answerable only to its distant shareholders. In his most ambitious and riveting book to date, William Dalrymple tells the story of the East India Company as it has never been told before, unfolding a timely cautionary tale of the first global corporate power."--

The Middle East and South Asia 2023-2024

By Pappe, Ilan

Publishing Date: 2023

Classification: 900

Call Number: 956 PAP

Sylvia, queen of the headhunters: an outrageous Englishwoman and her lost kingdom

By Eade, Philip

Publishing Date: 2008

Classification: 900

Call Number: 959.5403 EAD

Sylvia Brooke (1885-1971), better known as the Ranee of Sarawak, was the wife, consort, andby customslave of Sir Vyner Brooke, the last White Rajah of the jungle kingdom of Sarawak on the island of Borneo. The nation had its own flag, revenue, postage stamps, and money, and for three generations the White Rajahs had held the power of life and death over their subjects. But by the 1930s there was a sharp decline in their power and prestige, and at the center of it all stood Ranee Sylvia. Author of eleven books, an extravagantly-dressed socialite and incorrigible self-dramatist, the Ranee was described by the press as that most charming of despots” and by her own brother as a female Iago.” With a supporting cast including her father, a celebrated courtier in love with his own son, and her whimsical and sexually incontinent husband, this is the fascinating account of the extraordinary and often malevolent life of Ranne Sylvia. - (Independent Publishing Group)

The wretched of the earth

By Fanon, Frantz

Publishing Date: 2021

Classification: 900

Call Number: 960 FAN

"First published in 1961, and reissued in this sixtieth anniversary edition with a powerful new introduction by Cornel West, Frantz Fanon's The Wretched of the Earth is a masterful and timeless interrogation of race, colonialism, psychological trauma, and revolutionary struggle, and a continuing influence on movements from Black Lives Matter to decolonization. A landmark text for revolutionaries and activists, The Wretched of the Earth is an eternal touchstone for civil rights, anti-colonialism, psychiatric studies, and Black consciousness movements around the world. Alongside Cornel West's introduction, the book features critical essays by Jean-Paul Sartre and Homi K. Bhabha. This sixtieth anniversary edition of Fanon's most famous text stands proudly alongside such pillars of anti-colonialism and anti-racism as Edward Said's Orientalism and The Autobiography of Malcolm X"--

Africa 2023-2024

By Wiafe-Amoako, Francis

Publishing Date: [2023]

Classification: 900

Call Number: 960 WIA

Each country is examined through the following sections: Basic Facts; Land and People; The Past: Political and Economic History; The Present: Contemporary Issues; and The Future. In addition to country chapters, the book features extended essays on Africa's Historical Background and the Colonial Period. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail along with its informed projections make this an outstanding resource for researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, potential investors and students. The content is thorough yet perfect for a one-semester introductory course or general library reference. Available in both print and e-book formats and priced low to fit student and library budgets.

Travels into the interior of Africa

By Park, Mungo

Publishing Date: 2003

Classification: 900

Call Number: 966.022 PAR

A combination of two journeys, Scotsman Mungo Park's story of his first trip in 1795 as a 24-year old, and again in 1805, provided Europeans with their first reliable description of the interior of the continent. The first trip was full of an endearing vulnerability and the heroic generosity of a fit young man, while the second was one of Conradian tragedy, murder, and mayhem. Despite starvation, imprisonment, and frequent illness, he managed to keep a record. Though he failed in the object of his mission - to chart the course of the Niger River - he did succeed in exploring West Africa and opening in trade routes. His first-hand experiences of tribal justice, gold mining, and the slave trade are recorded, as well as his own understated heroism, a story of courage, open-hearted friendship, and betrayal. His vivid record of his travels brought a new image of Africa to the European public, though the continent claimed him for itself in death. Travels is still considered the most readable of all the classics of African exploration"--Publisher's description.

Spies in the Congo: America's atomic mission in World War II

By Williams, A. Susan

Publishing Date: [2016]

Classification: 900

Call Number: 967.51 WIL

"In the 1940s, the brightest minds of the United States and Nazi Germany raced to West Africa with a single mission: to secure the essential ingredient of the atomic bomb--and to make sure nobody saw them doing it. Albert Einstein told President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1939 that the world's only supply of uniquely high-quality uranium ore--the key ingredient for the atomic bomb--could be found in the Katanga province of the Belgian Congo at the Shinkolobwe Mine. Once the US Manhattan Project was committed to developing atomic weapons for the war against Germany and Japan, the rush to procure this uranium became a top priority--one deemed 'vital to the welfare of the United States.' But covertly exporting it from Africa posed a major risk: the ore had to travel via a spy-infested Angolan port or 1,500 miles by rail through the Congo, and then be shipped by boats or Pan Am Clippers to safety in the United States. It could be poached or smuggled at any point on the orders of Nazi Germany. To combat that threat, the US Office of Strategic Services sent in a team of intrepid spies, led by Wilbur Owings 'Dock' Hogue, to be America's eyes and ears and to protect its most precious and destructive cargo. Packed with newly discovered details from American and British archives, this is the gripping, true story of the unsung heroism of a handful of good men--and one woman--in colonial Africa who risked their lives in the fight against fascism and helped deny Hitler his atomic bomb"--Publisher description.

Canada 2023-2024

By Babie, Paul

Publishing Date: 2023

Classification: 900

Call Number: 971 BAB

"The World Today Series: Canada is an annually updated presentation of Canada. It provides the reader an in-depth look at the country's culture, geography, people, economy, politics and future. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail along with its informed projections make this an outstanding resource for researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, potential investors and students."--

The day the world came to town: 9/11 in Gander, Newfoundland

By DeFede, Jim

Publishing Date: 2021

Classification: 900

Call Number: 971.8 DEF

"When 38 jetliners bound for the United States were forced to land at Gander International Airport in Canada by the closing of U.S. airspace on September 11, the population of this small town on Newfoundland Island swelled from 10,300 to nearly 17,000. The citizens of Gander met the stranded passengers with an overwhelming display of friendship and goodwill. As the passengers stepped from the airplanes, exhausted, hungry and distraught after being held on board for nearly 24 hours while security checked all of the baggage, they were greeted with a feast prepared by the townspeople. Local bus drivers who had been on strike came off the picket lines to transport the passengers to the various shelters set up in local schools and churches. Linens and toiletries were bought and donated. A middle school provided showers, as well as access to computers, email, and televisions, allowing the passengers to stay in touch with family and follow the news. Over the course of those four days, many of the passengers developed friendships with Gander residents that they expect to last a lifetime. As a show of thanks, scholarship funds for the children of Gander have been formed and donations have been made to provide new computers for the schools. This book recounts the inspiring story of the residents of Gander, Canada, whose acts of kindness have touched the lives of thousands of people and been an example of humanity and goodwill." --from Goodreads.com.

Gambling with Armageddon: nuclear roulette from Hiroshima to the Cuban Missile Crisis, 1945-1962

By Sherwin, Martin J

Publishing Date: 2020

Classification: 900

Call Number: 972.9106 SHE

"From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer comes the first effort to set the Cuban Missile Crisis, with its potential for nuclear holocaust, in a wider historical narrative of the Cold War--how such a crisis arose, and why at the very last possible moment it didn't happen. In this groundbreaking look at the Cuban Missile Crisis, Martin Sherwin not only gives us a riveting sometimes hour-by-hour explanation of the crisis itself, but also explores the origins, scope, and consequences of the evolving place of nuclear weapons in the post WWII world. Mining new sources and materials, and going far beyond the scope of earlier works on this critical face-off between the United States and the Soviet Union--triggered when Khrushchev began installing missiles in Cuba at Castro's behest--Sherwin shows how this volatile event was an integral part of the wider Cold War and was a consequence of nuclear arms. Gambling with Armageddon looks in particular at the original debate in the Truman Administration about using the Atomic Bomb; the way in which President Eisenhower relied on the threat of massive retaliation to project U.S. power in the early Cold War era; and how President Kennedy, though unprepared to deal with the Bay of Pigs debacle, came of age during the Cuban Missile Crisis. Here too is a clarifying picture of what was going on in Khrushchev's Soviet Union. Martin Sherwin has spent his career in the study of nuclear weapons and how they have shaped our world--Gambling with Armageddon is an outstanding capstone to his work thus far"--

The USA and the world 2023-2024

By Keithly, David M

Publishing Date: [2023]

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973 KEI

"The World Today Series: USA and The World describes not only what happened, but puts events in the context of the past and criticizes policy actions as appropriate. The result goes deeper than most of what appears in current publications. Updated annually and part of the renowned "World Today Series," USA and the World presents an unusually penetrating look into America and its relationship to the rest of the world. The combination of factual accuracy and up-to-date detail along with its informed projections make this an outstanding resource for researchers, practitioners in international development, media professionals, government officials, potential investors and students. Now in its 17th edition, the content is thorough yet perfect for a one-semester introductory course or general library reference." -- page [4] of cover.

The Butterfield overland mail

By Ormsby, Waterman Lilly

Publishing Date: 1954, 1942

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.02 076 1954 49ER

Reprint of a series of eight articles, published in six numbers of the New York herald at intervals from September 26 to November 19, 1858. cf. Introd.

Iroquois diplomacy on the early American frontier

By Shannon, Timothy J

Publishing Date: 2008

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.04 SHA

A portrait of the Iroquois nation during America's colonial period offers insight into their influence over regional politics, their active participation in period trade, and their neutral stance throughout the Anglo-French imperial wars.

Assata: an autobiography

By Shakur, Assata

Publishing Date: [2001]

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.0496 SHA

"On May 2, 1973, Black Panther Assata Shakur, aka JoAnne Chesimard, lay in a hospital, close to death, handcuffed to her bed, while local, state, and federal police attempted to question her about the shootout on the New Jersey Turnpike that claimed the life of a white state trooper. Long a target of J. Edgar Hoover's campaign to defame, infiltrate, and criminalize Black nationalist organizations and their leaders, Shakur was incarcerated for four years prior to her conviction on flimsy evidence in 1977 as an accomplice to murder. ... Two years after her conviction, Assata Shakur escaped from prison. She was given political asylum by Cuba, where she now resides." From the book jacket.

King Hancock: the radical influence of a moderate founding father

By Barbier, Brooke

Publishing Date: 2023

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.3092 BAR

"Today John Hancock is known for his signature, but during the Revolutionary Era, he was famed for his statesmanship. Brooke Barbier explores Hancock's position as a committed revolutionary who nonetheless understood the value of compromise. By shunning political extremes, Hancock became hugely influential in the infant United States"--

Revolution against empire: taxes, politics, and the origins of American independence

By Du Rivage, Justin

Publishing Date: [2017]

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.311 DUR

"Revolution Against Empire sets the story of American independence within a long and fierce clash over the political and economic future of the British Empire. Justin du Rivage traces this decades-long debate, which pitted neighbors and countrymen against one another, from the War of Austrian Succession to the end of the American Revolution. As people from Boston to Bengal grappled with the growing burdens of imperial rivalry and fantastically expensive warfare, some argued that austerity and new colonial revenue were urgently needed to rescue Britain from unsustainable taxes and debts. Others insisted that Britain ought to treat its colonies as relative equals and promote their prosperity. Drawing from archival research in the United States, Britain, and France, this book shows how disputes over taxation, public debt, and inequality sparked the American Revolution -- and reshaped the British Empire."--Provided by publisher.

American republics: a continental history of the United States, 1783-1850

By Taylor, Alan

Publishing Date: [2021]

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.318 TAY

"From a Pulitzer Prize-winning historian, the powerful story of a fragile nation as it expands across a contested continent. In this beautifully written history of America's formative period, a preeminent historian upends the traditional story of a young nation confidently marching to its continent-spanning destiny. The newly constituted United States actually emerged as a fragile, internally divided union of states contending still with European empires and other independent republics on the North American continent. Native peoples sought to defend their homelands from the flood of American settlers through strategic alliances with the other continental powers. The system of American slavery grew increasingly powerful and expansive, its vigorous internal trade in Black Americans separating parents and children, husbands and wives. Bitter party divisions pitted elites favoring strong government against those, like Andrew Jackson, espousing a democratic populism for white men. Violence was both routine and organized: the United States invaded Canada, Florida, Texas, and much of Mexico, and forcibly removed most of the Native peoples living east of the Mississippi. At the end of the period the United States, its conquered territory reaching the Pacific, remained internally divided, with sectional animosities over slavery growing more intense. Taylor's elegant history of this tumultuous period offers indelible miniatures of key characters from Frederick Douglass and Sojourner Truth to Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Margaret Fuller. It captures the high-stakes political drama as Jackson and Adams, Clay, Calhoun, and Webster contend over slavery, the economy, Indian removal, and national expansion. A ground-level account of American industrialization conveys the everyday lives of factory workers and immigrant families. And the immersive narrative puts us on the streets of Port-au-Prince, Mexico City, Quebec, and the Cherokee capital, New Echota. Absorbing and chilling, American Republics illuminates the continuities between our own social and political divisions and the events of this formative period"--

The fate of liberty: Abraham Lincoln and civil liberties

By Neely, Mark E

Publishing Date: 1991

Classification: 900

Call Number: 973.7 NEE

"In the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Fate of Liberty, Mark Neely -- one of America's leading authorities on Lincoln -- explores the whole range of Lincoln's constitutional policies, examining his controversial restriction of civil liberties and the abuses of power that arose under martial law." "Neely depicts Lincoln's suspension of habeas corpus as a well-intentioned attempt to deal with a floodtide of unforeseen events -- from the disintegrating public order in the border states to the outcry against the first draft in U.S. history. Drawing on letters from prisoners, records of military courts and federal prisons, memoirs, and federal archives, he paints a vivid picture of how Lincoln responded to these problems, how his policies were actually executed, and the virulent political debates that followed. Lincoln emerges from this account with his legendary statesmanship intact -- mindful of political realities and prone to temper the sentences of military courts, concerned not with persecuting his opponents but with prosecuting the war efficiently." "Written with keen insight and an intimate grasp of the original sources, The Fate of Liberty brings to life the crises and chaos of a nation at war with itself, changing our understanding of Lincoln and his most controversial policies. Book jacket."--Jacket.