Book picks similar to
White Debt by Thomas Harding


history
non-fiction
memoir
nf-history-wishlist

The Color of Compromise: The Truth about the American Church’s Complicity in Racism


Jemar Tisby - 2019
    delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech, calling on all Americans to view others not by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. Yet King included another powerful word, one that is often overlooked. Warning against the "tranquilizing drug of gradualism," King emphasized the fierce urgency of now, the need to resist the status quo and take immediate action.King's call to action, first issued over fifty years ago, is relevant for the church in America today. Churches remain racially segregated and are largely ineffective in addressing complex racial challenges. In The Color of Compromise, Jemar Tisby takes us back to the root of this injustice in the American church, highlighting the cultural and institutional tables we have to flip in order to bring about progress between black and white people.Tisby provides a unique survey of American Christianity's racial past, revealing the concrete and chilling ways people of faith have worked against racial justice. Understanding our racial history sets the stage for solutions, but until we understand the depth of the malady we won't fully embrace the aggressive treatment it requires. Given the centuries of Christian compromise with bigotry, believers today must be prepared to tear down old structures and build up new ones. This book provides an in-depth diagnosis for a racially divided American church and suggests ways to foster a more equitable and inclusive environment among God's people.

A Very English Scandal: Sex, Lies, and a Murder Plot at the Heart of the Establishment


John Preston - 2016
    It's the late 1960s and homosexuality has only just been legalised, and Jeremy Thorpe, the leader of the Liberal party, has a secret he's desperate to hide. As long as Norman Scott, his beautiful, unstable lover is around, Thorpe's brilliant career is at risk. With the help of his fellow politicians, Thorpe schemes, deceives, embezzles - until he can see only one way to silence Scott for good.The trial of Jeremy Thorpe changed our society forever: it was the moment the British public discovered the truth about its political class. Illuminating the darkest secrets of the Establishment, the Thorpe affair revealed such breath-taking deceit and corruption in an entire section of British society that, at the time, hardly anyone dared believe it could be true.

Dead Man in Paradise: Unraveling a Murder from a Time of Revolution


J.B. MacKinnon - 2006
    military occupation, a soldier emerged from the outskirts of a small town to report that he had just shot and killed two policemen and an outspoken Catholic priest. It’s the opening scene in a mystery that, forty years later, compels writer J.B. MacKinnon—the priest’s nephew, born five years after the incident—to visit the island nation for himself. Beginning with scant official information, he embarks on a chilling investigation of what many believe was a carefully plotted assassination—and on a search for the uncle he never knew.Winner of Canada’s highest award for literary nonfiction, Dead Man in Paradise takes MacKinnon to corners of the country far from the Caribbean paradise seen by millions of tourists; he meets with former revolutionaries and shadowy generals from the era of dictatorship, family members of the slain policemen, and struggling Dominicans for whom the dead priest is a martyr, perhaps even a saint. Along the way, he uncovers a story inseparable from the brutal history of the New World, from the fallout of American invasion, and from the pure longing for social justice that once touched a generation. Part memoir, part travelogue, part mystery thriller, Dead Man in Paradise is “a testament to the enduring virtues of literary journalism” (The Georgia Straight).

Killing Zone


Harry McCallion - 1996
     Born ‘a ragged-arsed kid from the backstreets of Glasgow’, the son of a violent gangster, McCallion joined the Paras to escape a miserable home life and find the family he longed for. After six tense tours in Ulster, McCallion gave up everything to move to South Africa in the hope of qualifying for the highly elite, highly dangerous South African Special Forces. Having succeeded in joining the Recces, McCallion was involved in plots to assassinate Robert Mugabe and Joshua Nkomo. Back in Britain, McCallion once again put his body and mind through unimaginable pressure during SAS Selection and ended up back in Ulster for two tours with the SAS anti-terrorist team. But must McCallion must continue his personal feud with the IRA as a policeman in Belfast, before a serious car accident led to him retraining as a lawyer. ‘Killing Zone’ is a story of exceptional endurance, told with grim humour and great psychological insight into the minds of those whose lives depend on killing others. “A stun grenade of a book” - Sunday Express “A story of daring and adventure ... few men have lived more perilously than Harry McCallion” - Daily Mail “KILLING ZONE exposes some of the SAS’s most closely guarded secrets” - Sunday Express “McCallion is the hardest man you could encounter” - The Independent “An extraordinary insight into the psychology of a man who has survived despite choosing to live as dangerously as possible” - The Times “A remarkable tale of life on the edge” - Glasgow Herald Harry McCallion served in the British Army in both the Parachute Regiment and in the SAS, as well as spending two years in the South African Special Forces. After six years with the Royal Ulster Constabulary, he retrained as a lawyer and is now a barrister. Harry McCallion is also the author of two novels: ‘Hunter Killer’ and ‘Double Kill. Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent digital publisher. For more information on our titles please sign up to our newsletter atwww.endeavourpress.com. Each week you will receive updates on free and discounted ebooks. Follow us on Twitter: @EndeavourPress and on Facebook viahttp://on.fb.me/1HweQV7. We are always interested in hearing from our readers. Endeavour Press believes that the future is now.

Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism's Looming Catastrophe


Voddie T. Baucham Jr. - 2021
    As riots rocked American cities, Christians affirmed from the pulpit and in social media that “black lives matter” and that racial justice “is a gospel issue.” But what if there is more to the social justice movement than those Christians understand? Even worse: What if they’ve been duped into preaching ideas that actually oppose the Kingdom of God? In this powerful book, Voddie Baucham, a preacher, professor, and cultural apologist, explains the sinister worldview behind the social justice movement and Critical Race Theory—revealing how it already has infiltrated some seminaries, leading to internal denominational conflict, canceled careers, and lost livelihoods. Like a fault line, it threatens American culture in general—and the evangelical church in particular. Whether you’re a layperson who has woken up in a strange new world and wonders how to engage sensitively and effectively in the conversation on race or a pastor who is grappling with a polarized congregation, this book offers the clarity and understanding to either hold your ground or reclaim it.

We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy


Ta-Nehisi Coates - 2017
    Now Ta-Nehisi Coates explores the tragic echoes of that history in our own time: the unprecedented election of a black president followed by a vicious backlash that fueled the election of the man Coates argues is America's "first white president."But the story of these present-day eight years is not just about presidential politics. This book also examines the new voices, ideas, and movements for justice that emerged over this period--and the effects of the persistent, haunting shadow of our nation's old and unreconciled history. Coates powerfully examines the events of the Obama era from his intimate and revealing perspective--the point of view of a young writer who begins the journey in an unemployment office in Harlem and ends it in the Oval Office, interviewing a president.We Were Eight Years in Power features Coates's iconic essays first published in The Atlantic, including Fear of a Black President, The Case for Reparations and The Black Family in the Age of Mass Incarceration, along with eight fresh essays that revisit each year of the Obama administration through Coates's own experiences, observations, and intellectual development, capped by a bracingly original assessment of the election that fully illuminated the tragedy of the Obama era. We Were Eight Years in Power is a vital account of modern America, from one of the definitive voices of this historic moment.

Young and Damned and Fair: The Life of Catherine Howard, Fifth Wife of King Henry VIII


Gareth Russell - 2017
    Sixteen months later, the king’s fifth wife would follow her cousin Anne Boleyn to the scaffold, having been convicted of adultery and high treason. The broad outlines of Catherine’s career might be familiar, but her story up until now has been incomplete. Unlike previous accounts of her life, which portray her as a naïve victim of an ambitious family, this compelling and authoritative biography will shed new light on Catherine Howard’s rise and downfall by reexamining her motives and showing her in her context, a milieu that goes beyond her family and the influential men of the court to include the aristocrats and, most critically, the servants who surrounded her and who, in the end, conspired against her. By illuminating Catherine's entwined upstairs/downstairs worlds as well as societal tensions beyond the palace walls, the author offers a fascinating portrayal of court life in the sixteenth century and a fresh analysis of the forces beyond Catherine’s control that led to her execution—from diplomatic pressure and international politics to the long-festering resentments against the queen’s household at court. Including a forgotten text of Catherine’s confession in her own words, color illustrations, family tree, map, and extensive notes, Young and Damned and Fair changes our understanding of one of history’s most famous women while telling the compelling and very human story of complex individuals attempting to survive in a dangerous age.

The Brothers York: An English Tragedy


Thomas Penn - 2019
    It was a time when old certainties had been shredded: by popular insurgency, economic crisis, feuding and a corrupt, bankrupt government presided over by the imbecilic, Lancastrian King Henry VI. The country was in need of a new hero. Magnetic, narcissistic, Edward found himself on the throne, and alongside him his two younger brothers: the unstable, petulant George, Duke of Clarence, and the boy who would emerge from his shadow, Richard, Duke of Gloucester.Charismatic, able and ambitious, the brothers would become the figureheads of a spectacular ruling dynasty, one that laid the foundations for a renewal of English royal power. Yet a web of grudges and resentments grew between them, generating a destructive sequence of conspiracy, rebellion, deposition, fratricide, usurpation and regicide. The house of York's brutal end came on 22August 1485 at Bosworth Field, with the death of the youngest brother, now Richard III, at the hands of a new usurper, Henry Tudor.Brothers York is the story of three remarkable brothers, two of whom were crowned kings of England and the other an heir presumptive, whose antagonism was fuelled by the mistrust and vendettas of the age that brought their family to power. The house of York should have been the dynasty that the Tudors became. Its tragedy was that it devoured itself.

The Underground Railroad: Authentic Narratives and First-Hand Accounts


William Still - 1872
    He also meticulously collected the letters, biographical sketches, arrival memos, and ransom notes of the escapees. The Underground Railroad Records is an archive of primary documents that trace the narrative arc of the greatest, most successful campaign of civil disobedience in American history.This edition highlights the remarkable creativity, resilience, and determination demonstrated by those trying to subvert bondage. It is a timeless testament to the power we all have to challenge systems that oppress us.

The Liberator: One World War II Soldier's 500-Day Odyssey from the Beaches of Sicily to the Gates of Dachau


Alex Kershaw - 2012
    Army officer and his infantry unit as they fought from the invasion of Italy to the liberation of Dachau at war's end.From July 10, 1943, the date of the Allied landing in Sicily, to May 8, 1945, when victory in Europe was declared-roughly 500 days-no regiment saw more action, and no single platoon, company, or battalion endured worse, than the one commanded by Felix Sparks, a greenhorn second lieutenant when The Liberator begins. Historian Alex Kershaw vividly portrays the immense courage and stamina of Sparks and his men as they fought terrifying engagements against Hitler's finest troops in Sicily and Salerno and as they endured attack after attack on the beaches of Anzio (with Sparks miraculously emerging as his 200-man company's sole survivor). In the bloody battle for southern France, Sparks led his reconstituted unit into action against superbly equipped and trained die-hard SS troops and demonstrated how the difference between defeat and victory would be a matter of character, not tactics or hardware. Finally, he and his men were ordered to liberate Dachau, the Nazis' first concentration camp. It would be their greatest challenge, a soul-searing test of their humanity.

Londoners: The Days and Nights of London Now - As Told by Those Who Love It, Hate It, Live It, Left It, and Long for It


Craig Taylor - 2011
    In the style of Studs Terkel (Working, Hard Times, The Good War) and Dave Isay (Listening Is an Act of Love), Londoners offers up  the stories, the gripes, the memories, and the dreams of those in the great and vibrant British metropolis who “love it, hate it, live it, left it, and long for it,” from a West End rickshaw driver to a Soldier of the Guard at Buckingham Palace to a recovering heroin addict seeing Big Ben for the very first time. Published just in time for the 2012 London Olympic Games, Londoners is a glorious literary celebration of one of the world’s truly great cities.

Hillary the Other Woman: A Political Memoir


Dolly Kyle - 2016
    After all, they have been in the public eye—from Arkansas to the White House and beyond—for over forty years. Dolly Kyle met former president Clinton (Billy as she calls him) on a Hot Springs golf course when she was eleven and he was almost thirteen. It was colpo de fulmine (the thunderbolt) at first sight. Their friendship grew throughout high school and college. It became a decades-long affair that lasted despite marriages and politics all the way to the threshold of the White House—when she became a political liability, and he threatened to destroy her, as Hillary had done to so many of his other women over the years. What you know about the Clintons is probably limited to the pleasantries that the mainstream media have chosen to share with you. Hillary the Other Woman pulls no punches in describing the way “media magic” makes Clinton stories disappear. Have you heard about • The RICO (Racketeering Influenced and Corrupt Organizations) federal lawsuit that Kyle filed against Clinton and cronies while he and co-president Hillary were in the White House? • The racial discrimination lawsuits filed by African-Americans against Clinton as governor of Arkansas? • Cinton’s orders for the Arkansas State Police to “stop and search” vehicles driven by Hispanics? • Thousands of young African-American men given long prison sentences under the “three strikes” laws pushed by co-presidents Bill and Hillary? • The co-president Clintons pandering to minorities with a subtle form of race baiting with their welfare agenda? • The racist names they call Jesse Jackson behind his back? Hillary the Other Woman is not only about the politics of the Arkansas gubernatorial years and the famous “two for the price of one” presidency. It also provides a perspective on Arkansas life that formed the backdrop and training ground for the Clintons in their later crimes, their gangster-like threats and intimidation of political enemies, and their arrogant belief that they are above the law. You will see the connection between Hillary’s current email scandal and her shredding of documents when they left the Arkansas governor’s mansion. You will realize that the Clinton Foundation is the new international version of the money laundering and bribes that you glossed over as “Cattlegate.” You will read clear, concise, entertaining accounts that put the multitude of Clinton scandals into everyday perspective. Finally, you will be privy to the Clinton “truth suppression” techniques that allowed them to get away with all of it. Until now…

Flashing Saber: Three Years in Vietnam


Matthew Brennan - 1985
    The Blues, as they were called, were perpetually understrength and considered to be acceptable losses in hopeless situations—but their amazingly successful record proved otherwise.A firsthand account of mortal combat with the Ninth Cavalry, Flashing Saber is the remarkable story of the brave men who served in the First Air Cavalry Division's reconnaissance squadron. Included is an account of an air-ground raid that overran a regimental command post and killed more high-ranking enemy officers than any similar engagement of the war. The story begins when a teenager, an Eagle Scout and West Point Prep School student, goes to Vietnam in 1965. Motivated by patriotism and the desire to see combat firsthand, Brennan volunteers for front line duty and spends years as an artillery forward observer and infantryman. Promoted to sergeant and then to lieutenant, Brennan participates in hundreds of assault landings.An expansion and careful reworking of his previous work, Brennan's War, published in 1985, and in the vein of classic memoirs by Johnnie Clark and Frederick Downs, Flashing Saberis a harrowing firsthand account of life and death in war, one filled with breathtaking details about a renowned unit.

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot


Robert Macfarlane - 2012
    Robert Macfarlane travels Britain's ancient paths and discovers the secrets of our beautiful, underappreciated landscape.Following the tracks, holloways, drove-roads and sea paths that form part of a vast ancient network of routes criss-crossing the British Isles and beyond, Robert Macfarlane discovers a lost world - a landscape of the feet and the mind, of pilgrimage and ritual, of stories and ghosts; above all of the places and journeys which inspire and inhabit our imaginations.

You Never Forget Your First: A Biography of George Washington


Alexis Coe - 2020
    Washington became the kind of man who named his dog Sweetlips and hated to leave home. He took up arms against the British only when there was no other way, though he lost more battles than he won. Coe focuses on his activities off the battlefield—like espionage and propaganda.After an unlikely victory in the Revolutionary War, Washington once again shocked the world by giving up power, only to learn his compatriots wouldn't allow it. The founders pressured him into the presidency—twice. He established enduring norms but left office heartbroken over the partisan nightmare his backstabbing cabinet had created.Back on his plantation, the man who fought for liberty finally confronted his greatest hypocrisy—what to do with the hundreds of men, women, and children he owned—before succumbing to a brutal death.Alexis Coe combines rigorous research and unsentimental storytelling, finally separating the man from the legend.