Global Issues Book Group
The Global Issues Book Group, reads and discusses books on the vital Political, Economic, Environmental and Social issues that challenge humankind in the 21st Century.
September 2018
The Color of Law
Heralded as a "masterful" (Washington Post) and "essential" (Slate) history of the modern American metropolis. The Color of Law is as groundbreaking investigation into how U.S. governments in the Twentieth century deliberately imposed racial segregation on metropolitan areas nationwide. With painstaking research, The Color of Law forces us to face the obligation to remedy our unconstitutional past.
Tuesday, September 11th at 6:30 PM
October 2018
The Strange Death of Europe
The Strange Death of Europe is a highly personal account of a continent and culture caught in the act of suicide. Declining birth-rates, mass immigration and cultivated self-distrust and self-hatred have come together to make Europeans unable to argue for themselves and incapable of resisting their own comprehensive change as a society. This book is not only an analysis of demographic and political realities, but also an eyewitness account of a continent in self-destruct mode. It includes reporting from across the entire continent, from the places where migrants land to the places they end up, from the people who appear to welcome them in to the places which cannot accept them.
Told from this first-hand perspective, and backed with impressive research and evidence, the book addresses the disappointing failure of multiculturalism, Angela Merkel's U-turn on migration, the lack of repatriation and the Western fixation on guilt. Murray travels to Berlin, Paris, Scandinavia, Lampedusa and Greece to uncover the malaise at the very heart of the European culture, and to hear the stories of those who have arrived in Europe from far away. In each chapter he also takes a step back to look at the bigger issues which lie behind a continent's death-wish, answering the question of why anyone, let alone an entire civilisation, would do this to themselves? He ends with two visions of Europe – one hopeful, one pessimistic – which paint a picture of Europe in crisis and offer a choice as to what, if anything, we can do next.Tuesday, October 9th at 6:30 PM
November 2018
Another Day in the Death of America
Winner of the J. Anthony Lukas Prize.
"Gary Younge's Another Day in the Death of America is a harrowing account of children's lives cut short by the ubiquity of violence in the United States. Drawn from suburbs and cities of every demographic, these sensitively researched portraits of virtually unknown victims and their grieving families expose the structural ties of race, class, and lack of gun control. Younge's book completes the picture of what violence looks like in contemporary America, and should be required reading for anyone naming themselves American." -Claudia Rankine
Tuesday, November 13th at 6:30 PM
January 2019
Turkey: The Insane and the Melancholy
Starting with the question "what is this place?", Ece Temelkuran guides us through her beloved country. In challenging the authoritarian AKP government, Temelkuran draws strength and wisdom from people, places and artistic expression. The result is a beautifully rendered account of the struggles, hopes and tragedies that make Turkey what it is today.
"Ece Temelkuran, with this book, has become one with those who have stood up throughout history to despotic and criminal leaders."-Seymour Hersh
Tuesday, January 8th at 6:30 PM
