Historical genre books (726)


631.

The Unwomanly Face of War by Svetlana Alexievich EN

Rating: 5 (7 votes)
Country: Europe / Ukraine flag Ukraine
Description:
The long-awaited translation of the classic oral history of Soviet women's experiences in the Second World War - from the winner of the Nobel Prize in Literature Bringing together dozens of voices in her distinctive style, The Unwomanly Face of War is Svetlana Alexievich's collection of stories from Soviet women who lived through the Second World War: on the front lines, on the home front, and in occupied territories. As Alexievich gives voice to women who are absent from official narratives - captains, sergeants, nurses, snipers, pilots - she shows us a new version of the war we're so familia... continue

632.

The Valley of Amazement by Amy Tan EN

0 Ratings
Description:
Violet Minturn, a half-Chinese/half-American courtesan who deals in seduction and illusion in Shanghai, struggles to find her place in the world, while her mother, Lucia, tries to make sense of the choices she has made and the men who have shaped her. 750,000 first printing.

633.

The Vietnam Wars, 1945-1990 by Marilyn B. Young EN

0 Ratings
Description:
The first book to give equal weight to the Vietnamese and American sides of the Vietnam war.

634.

The Vikings by Else Roesdahl EN

Rating: 3.7 (3 votes)
Country: Europe / Denmark flag Denmark
Description:
Far from being just 'wild, barbaric, axe-wielding pirates', the Vikings created complex social institutions, oversaw the coming of Christianity to Scandinavia and made a major impact on European history through trade, travel and far-flung consolidation. This encyclopedic study brings together the latest research on Viking art, burial customs, class divisions, jewellery, kingship, poetry and family life. The result is a rich and compelling picture of an extraordinary civilisation.

635.

The Virginia State Colony for Epileptics and Feebleminded by Molly McCully Brown EN

0 Ratings
Description:
A New York Times Critics' Top Book of 2017 Harrowing poems from a dark corner of American history by the winner of the 2016 Lexi Rudnitsky First Book Prize in Poetry. Haunted by the voices of those committed to the notorious Virginia State Colony, epicenter of the American eugenics movement in the first half of the twentieth century, this evocative debut marks the emergence of a poet of exceptional poise and compassion, who grew up in the shadow of the Colony itself.

636.

The War : A Memoir by Marguerite Duras EN

0 Ratings
Country: Europe / France flag France
Description:
The extraordinary pages of The War, written in 1944 but finished in 1985, form a totally new image of the heroine of The Lover and, through her, of Paris during the Nazi occupation and the first months of liberation. Married and living in Paris, part of a resistance network headed by Francois Mitterand, Duras is swept up in the turmoil of the period. She tells of nursing her starving husband back to life on his return from Bergen-Belsen, interrogating a suspected collaborator, and playing a game of cat and mouse with a Gestapo officer who is attracted to her. The result is a book as moving as ... continue


638.

The Weight of Our Sky by Hanna Alkaf EN

Rating: 4 (6 votes)
Country: Asia / Malaysia flag Malaysia
Description:
Amidst the Chinese-Malay conflict in Kuala Lumpur in 1969, sixteen-year-old Melati must overcome prejudice, violence, and her own OCD to find her way back to her mother.

639.

The Whale Rider by Witi Ihimaera EN

Rating: 4 (7 votes)
Description:
Eight-year-old Kahu, a member of the Maori tribe of New Zealand, fights to prove her love, her leadership, and her destiny when hundreds of whales beach themselves and threaten the future of the Maori tribe. Basis for the 2003 feature film.

640.

The White Castle by Orhan Pamuk EN

Rating: 4 (3 votes)
Country: Asia / Turkey flag Turkey
Description:
Winner of the 1990 Independent Award for foreign fiction, this book tells the story of a young Italian scholar who is captured by pirates. Put up for auction at the Istanbul slave market, he is bought by a Turkish servant, eager to learn about scientific and intellectual advances in the West.