Bound Together 2023: Nonfiction: History
New titles from authors including Andrew Dubbins, Joanna Scutts, and Kelly Lytle Hernández unearth new pockets of West Coast history.
INTO ENEMY WATERS: A WORLD WAR II STORY OF THE DEMOLITION DIVERS WHO BECAME THE NAVY SEALS, By Andrew Dubbins
DIVERSION BOOKS • AUGUST 2022 • 352 PAGES • $28.99 HARDCOVER
When he was only 17, George Morgan joined the U.S. Navy’s then-new Underwater Demolition Teams (the forerunner of the Navy SEALs) during World War II. Award-winning journalist Andrew Dubbins unearths the realities of that experience, which involved everything from clearing Nazi coastal defenses ahead of D-Day to visiting waters teeming with sharks in the Pacific, to produce a gripping account of how Morgan and a group of fellow ordinary men became an elite military unit. Dubbins also chronicled some of their exploits in “The Beach Rats” for Alta Journal.
CORPORATE ROCK SUCKS: THE RISE AND FALL OF SST RECORDS, By Jim Ruland
HACHETTE BOOKS • APRIL 2022 • 432 PAGES • $30 HARDCOVER
Where would punk rock be without bands like Black Flag, Sonic Youth, and Soundgarden? In this comprehensive history, Jim Ruland dives into the label that made all of them big, SST Records. He begins with the stubborn and unrelenting ascent of Black Flag, the group that created the label, and goes on to trace the company’s furious rise to define the alternative scene. But what goes up must come down: the label crashes hard, and Ruland captures its demise.
HOTBED: BOHEMIAN GREENWICH VILLAGE AND THE SECRET CLUB THAT SPARKED MODERN FEMINISM, By Joanna Scutts
SEAL PRESS • JUNE 2022 • 416 PAGES • $30 HARDCOVER
Joanna Scutts brings to life the story of a secret Greenwich Village social club that helped catapult once-radical feminist ideas into the mainstream. Heterodoxy held its first meeting in 1912 New York City; the group of women present discussed everything from marital equality to current affairs. Following that auspicious start, women from various professional backgrounds would have a seat at the club’s table—literally—and encourage one another to pursue their collective aspirations.
RIGHTING THE AMERICAN DREAM: HOW THE MEDIA MAINSTREAMED REAGAN’S EVANGELICAL VISION, By Diane Winston
UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO PRESS • JULY 2023 • 256 PAGES • $35 HARDCOVER
Journalist Diane Winston examines the marriage of religious fervor and politics in the United States, tracing the mainstream version of this phenomenon back to President Ronald Reagan. When the then-struggling president began framing the country’s woes through a spiritual lens in 1983, he quickly garnered passionate support from white evangelicals. Winston offers a withering critique of the media and explains how journalists advanced Reagan’s black-and-white views on religion, economics, and society—perspectives that remain popular today.
BAD MEXICANS: RACE, EMPIRE, AND REVOLUTION IN THE BORDERLANDS, By Kelly Lytle Hernández
W.W. NORTON • MAY 2023 • 384 PAGES • $30 HARDCOVER
When the Mexican Revolution began in 1910, most of those joining the uprising from the United States were a group of migrant workers, writers, and others called the magonistas. The group organized thousands of people in the States, launched raids across the border, and evaded U.S. forces while fighting against Mexico’s dictator and foreign interests. In this fascinating history—a 2023 Alta Journal California Book Club pick—Kelly Lytle Hernández reveals the crucial role of the magonistas.
SAN FRANCISCO’S FORGOTTEN CEMETERIES: A BURIED HISTORY, By Beth Winegarner
HISTORY PRESS • AUGUST 2023 • 192 PAGES • $25 PAPERBACK
As San Francisco grew in the early 1900s, more than 150,000 graves were moved out of the city to create room for new buildings and new people. Almost half that many graves were covered up and built on by developers. Beth Winegarner charts these hidden eternal resting places so that while the dead may be gone, they are not also forgotten.
