Politics & Government

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Go, Went, Gone, is a 2015 fiction novel by German writer Jenny Erpenbeck. It tells the story of a recently retired professor of German philology named Richard and his relationship to a group of African refugees as he attempts to help them find residences in Berlin. Most of the men arrive in Europe via boat before making their way to Berlin, where Richard first encounters them as they occupy a town square called Alexanderplatz. When... Read Go, Went, Gone Summary

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Historian and anthropologist Jared Diamond’s Guns, Germs, and Steel (1997) is a multidisciplinary study that uses anthropological, biological, evolutionary, and socio-economic analysis to chart the fates of different peoples throughout human history. Subtitled first as A Short History of Everybody for the Last 13,000 Years, and later as The Fates of Human Societies, the book seeks to understand why some groups of people have prospered while others have failed to advance to the same extent... Read Guns, Germs, and Steel Summary

Habits of the Heart: Individualism and Commitment in American Life by Robert N. Bellah, Richard Madsen, William M. Sullivan, Ann Swidler, and Steven M. Tipton, is a sociological study published in 1985 that explores the balance between individualism and community within American society. The authors, who bring a collective background in sociology and theology to their analysis, investigate how Americans navigate the tensions between personal autonomy and social belonging. The book addresses topics such as... Read Habits of the Heart Summary

In their 2009 nonfiction book Half the Sky: Turning Oppression Into Opportunity for Women Worldwide, husband-and-wife journalist team Nicholas D. Kristof and Sheryl WuDunn document what they consider the paramount moral challenge of the 21st century: the oppression of women and girls. The book was an international bestseller, inspired a four-part PBS documentary of the same name, and launched the Half the Sky movement.Like many journalists, when Kristof and WuDunn first began their careers, they... Read Half the Sky Summary

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Harvest of Empire: A History of Latinos in America (first published in 2000 and revised in 2011) is a work of historical nonfiction authored by Juan Gonzalez. It provides a comprehensive account of the intersection of Latin American history with US history in the context of ongoing US debates surrounding immigration, which have involved propaganda, mythologizing, and stereotyping, resulting in much fear, anxiety, and anger. Gonzalez seeks to reveal the hidden story behind these stereotypes... Read Harvest Of Empire Summary

Heartland (2018) is both a memoir of Sarah Smarsh’s upbringing in rural Kansas as the daughter of working-class people and an exploration of the class system in America today. The book is subtitled: A Memoir of Working Hard and Being Broke in the Richest Country on Earth; this hits the core of the book, as Smarsh seeks to use her family’s anecdotes and memories to get to the truth of why mostly honest, hardworking people... Read Heartland Summary

Hind Swaraj, or Indian Home Rule, by Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi, was published in 1909 and inspires people in India to work for independence from British colonial control. The book outlines Gandhi’s critique of Britain’s domination of India; it urges the Indian people to reject English customs, laws, and industry in favor of traditional Indian ways. Gandhi also encourages India to reject armed conflict and instead adopt a policy of nonviolent, passive resistance.Hind Swaraj is... Read Hind Swaraj Summary

Historian Joseph J. Ellis was fascinated by George Washington ever since Ellis’ boyhood in Alexandria, Virginia, where Washington’s estate, Mount Vernon, is located and his historical presence was strongly felt. By the time Ellis wrote His Excellency: George Washington in 2004, he had already produced several popular books about early American history. His Excellency is a more intimate biography of Washington than many previously written, focusing as much on the subject’s character as on his... Read His Excellency: George Washington Summary

The History of the Peloponnesian War, also known as Histories, recounts the war between the Athenian alliance (called the Delian League by modern historians) and Sparta and its allies (called the Peloponnesian League by modern historians), which took place from 431-404 BC. Composed in the 5th century BC by Thucydides (c. 460-400), it is the first attempt to apply empirical research and analysis to understanding contemporaneous human events. For this reason, the text is inextricably... Read History of the Peloponnesian War Summary

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Homo Deus: A Brief History of Tomorrow (2015) is a work of popular science by Israeli writer, professor, and futurist Yuval Noah Harari. Published in multiple languages, it is a continuation of the work of Harari’s previous book, Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind. While Sapiens contextualized the advents of modernity within humans’ evolutionary legacy, Homo Deus speculates about what lies in wait for humanity in the distant future. Harari grounds his discussion in an... Read Homo Deus Summary

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