Books – Detail

Click on a genre link to see the matching books; click again to return to the full Athenaeum Bookshelf.

book
195 pp. Paperback
History
(re)FOCUS then and now : Philadelphia focuses on women in the visual arts, 1974-2024
Judith K. Brodsky & Diane Burko (Editors)

Published on the occasion of the exhibition (re)FOCUS Then and Now: Philadelphia Focuses on Women in the Visual Arts, The Galleries at Moore, January 27-March 16, 2024.  This exhibition was curated by Judith K. Brodsky and Diane Burko. (re)FOCUS celebrates the 50th anniversary of Philadelphia Focuses on Women in the Visual Arts/1974, a citywide festival recognizing women artists.

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book
259 pp. Hardcover
History
A Map of Future Ruins: On Borders and Belonging
Lauren Markham

A mesmerizing, trailblazing synthesis of reporting, history, memoir, and essay, A Map of Future Ruins helps us see that the stories we tell about migration don’t just explain what happened. They are oracles: they predict the future.

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book
475 pp. Hardcover
History
Beyond the Wall: A History of East Germany
Katja Hoyer

From the ashes of the Second World War to the fall of the Berlin Wall, the definitive history of East Germany.

An International Bestseller 

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book
208 pp. Paperback
History
Black History in the Philadelphia Landscape: Deep Roots, Continuing Legacy
Amy Jane Cohen

Black Philadelphians have shaped Philadelphia history since colonial times. In this book, Amy Cohen recounts notable aspects of the Black experience in Philadelphia from the late 1600s to the 1960s and how this history is marked in the contemporary city.

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book
128 pp. Hardcover
History
Lost Chester County, Pennsylvania
Mark Dewitt Lanyon

Chester County has a deep and enriching history, from sites of the Underground Railroad to great moments of Women's Suffrage and incredible remnants of Native American culture. Author Mark DeWitt Lanyon charts Chester County's lost history and the places that defined it.

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book
334 pp. Hardcover
History
Making It in America: The Almost Impossible Quest to Manufacture in the U.S.A. (And How It Got That Way)
Rachel Slade

A moving and eye-opening look at the story of manufacturing in America, whether it can ever successfully return to our shores, and why our nation depends on it, told through the experience of one young couple in Maine as they attempt to rebuild a lost industry, ethically. • From the best-selling author of Into the Raging Sea

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book
398 pp. Hardcover
History
Smoke and Ashes: Opium's Hidden Histories
Amitav Ghosh

Ghosh unravels the impact of the opium trade on global history and in his own family―the climax of a yearslong project.

Named a Most Anticipated Book of 2024 by Foreign PolicyLiterary Hub, and The Millions

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book
344 pp. Hardcover
History
The Accident of Color: A Story of Race in Reconstruction
Daniel Brook

A technicolor history of the first civil rights movement and its collapse into black and white.

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book
262 pp. Hardcover
History
The Black Box: Writing the Race
Henry Louis Gates Jr.

A magnificent, foundational reckoning with how Black Americans have used the written word to define and redefine themselves, in resistance to the lies of racism and often in heated disagreement with each other, over the course of the country’s history.

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book
403 pp. Paperback
History
The Boys in the Boat: Nine Americans and Their Epic Quest for Gold at the 1936 Berlin Olympics
Daniel James Brown

The #1 New York Times–bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany—from the author of Facing the Mountain.

Now a Major Motion Picture directed by George Clooney

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book
256 pp. Hardcover
History
The Cancer Factory: Industrial Chemicals, Corporate Deception, and the Hidden Deaths of American Workers
Jim Morris

The story of a group of Goodyear Tire and Rubber workers fatally exposed to toxic chemicals, the lawyer who sought justice on their behalf, and the shameful lack of protection our society affords all workers. A gripping narrative in the tradition of A Civil Action and Toms River.

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book
352 pp. Hardcover
History
The Harlem Renaissance and Transatlantic Modernism
Denise Murrell

A groundbreaking volume resituating the Harlem Renaissance as integral to the development of twentieth century modernism. This reframing of a celebrated cultural phenomenon shows how the flow of ideas through Black artistic communities on both sides of the Atlantic contributed to international conversations around art, race, and identity while helping to define our notion of modernism.

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book
368 pp. Hardcover
History
The Stolen Wealth of Slavery: A Case for Reparations
David montero

This groundbreaking book tracks the massive wealth amassed from slavery from pre-Civil War to today, showing how our modern economy was built on the backs of enslaved Black people—and lays out a clear argument for reparations that shows exactly what was stolen, who stole it, and to whom it is owed.

Amazon's Best History Book of the Month for February 2024

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book
775 pp. Hardcover
History
Venice: The Remarkable History of the Lagoon City
Dennis Romano
A sweeping and comprehensive history of Venice--from its formation in the early Middle Ages to the present day--that traces its evolution as a city, city-state, regional power, and overseas empire.
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