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September 11, 2001
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Books for Understanding is a free, easy-to-use resource to help you find books on current events. New bibliographies are compiled when a major news story breaks or public debate heats up. For more information, click here.
The 99% and Economic Rights
On May Day, the Occupy movement plans a resurgence of protests against increasing economic disparity. The works of economists, historians, sociologists, journalists, and other scholars illuminate the roots of this movement.
Go to: • Book List • Press Release
 Capital Punishment
This September, the debate over the use of the death penalty in the United States was reawakened. After 20 years on death row, several appeals, and numerous protests from Amnesty International, NAACP, Jimmy Carter, and others, Troy Davis was executed in the state of Georgia. The works included in this new scholarly guide consider the controversial history and current debate behind American capital punishment.
Go to: • Book List • Press Release
 September 11, 2001
The original Books for Understanding resource has been fully updated and revised to mark the 10th anniversary of the terror attacks of 9/11. Including titles now on the foreign and domestic policy effects of the attacks, cultural responses, and studies of the experiences of those who were there, this guide to scholarship continues to provide understanding of the background and aftermath of a day that seemed almost unimaginable in the living of it.
Go to: • Book List • Announcement
• "September 12, 2001"
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New Updates:
China updated 5/2/12
Kashmir updated 5/2/12
Tibet updated 5/2/12
President Obama's Statement on Same-Sex Marriage
After Vice-President Biden made his personal support for gay-marriage rights clear, Barack Obama also declared that same-sex couples should have the right to marry. This is in line with a gradual shift in federal policy, including the repeal of Don't Ask Don't Tell and the DoJ's decision to not defend the Defense of Marriage Act in the courts.
Go to: • Transcript of Obama Interview
• Book List
Violence Continues in Syria
The violent crackdown on political opposition by Assad's regime continues in the face of international condemnation.
Go to: • Syria Book List
Kim Jong-il Dead
North Korean dictator, leader of a starving nation and an impenetrable personality cult, has died. Power is expected to transfer to his son, Kim Jong-un.
Go to: North Korea Book List
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 Basque Studies
University of Nevada Press
On October 20, 2011, the militant Basque nationalist group ETA laid down arms, citing "an historical opportunity to reach a just and democratic resolution" to their long fight. The University of Nevada Press has a long and distinguished series of scholarly work in Basque Studies—from the language and culture of teh region, to studies of the often violent political struggles with Spanish governments, such as Andre Lecours 2006 Basque Nationalism and the Spanish State.
View the Nevada catalog of Basque Studies
Public Workers: Government Employee Unions, the Law, and the State, 1900–1962 
Joseph E. Slater
Cornell University Press, 2004
Essential background history on the fight in Wisconsin over public workers' rights. Slater reviews the long struggle for organization and labor protections in the public sector, including AFSCME's original 1959 victory in the Badger state.
Learn More
Shop Locally or Buy at Amazon.com
Egypt on the Brink: From Nasser to Mubarak 
Tarek Osman
Yale University Press, 2011
Osman explores what has happened to the biggest Arab nation since President Nasser took control of the country in 1954. Once known for its religious pluralism and extraordinary cultural heritage, Egypt is now seen as an increasingly divided land, headed by the aging Mubarak's repressive regime. This timely work takes readers through the roots of today's political unrest.
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