All Book Reviews
'It's What I Do' tracks the life of a photographer working in the world's most dangerous spotsPhotojournalist Lynsey Addario's action-packed memoir raises questions of ethics, motivation, and intention.
'Sapiens' is a provocative, illuminating account of 70,000 years of human historyIsraeli historian Yuval Noah Harari argues that 'progress' has not necessarily increased the happiness of the species of homo sapiens.
'The Monopolists' tells the surprising story behind America's favorite board gameHow a vessel for liberal ideas became a board game craze.
'Lincoln's Greatest Case' showcases the impressive legal skills of America's 16th presidentOne lawyer who worked with Lincoln warned that anyone who underestimated him would 'very soon wake [up] with his back in a ditch.'
'Madison's Gift' vividly recounts the many accomplishments of America's fourth presidentJames Madison's career is considered through the lens of his relationship with five historic figures: Washington, Jefferson, Hamilton, Monroe, and – of course – Dolly Madison.
'Mr. and Mrs. Disraeli' chronicles an unusual 19th-century love story'Young Romantics' author and scholar Daisy Hay offers an intriguing portrait of the 33-year union of Mary Anne Lewis (née Evans) and the Victorian prime minister and novelist Benjamin Disraeli.
'The Book of Love' is Roger Rosenblatt's mediation on affection in all its formsDespite the presence of the occasional gem, most of 'The Book of Love' reads like an unfinished manuscript.
'Street of Thieves' threads Mideast, European history, into edgy, forceful fictionThe misadventures of a Moroccan man intersect with the Arab Spring and European financial crisis.
'The Upstairs Wife' interweaves Pakistani history with a tale of plural marriageJournalist and activist Rafia Zakaria explores the pain Muslim women may feel when their husbands take another wife.
'Red Notice' reads like a Russian thriller – but finishes as a real life tragedyThe capitalistic grandson of a noted US communist meets turmoil in today’s Russia.
'George W. Bush: The American Presidents' assesses the life and work of America's 43rd presidentLatest in the 'American Presidents' biographic series, James Mann's recounting of the presidency of George W. Bush is crisp and straightforward.
'The Hundred-Year Marathon' outlines a long-term Chinese strategy to replace the US as world leaderLong considered one of the top China experts in the US government, Pillsbury says he no longer believes that China is pursuing a 'win-win' policy with the US.
'Paper Love' tracks a journalist's search for the girl her grandfather lost to the HolocaustA cache of letters reveals that a family’s escape from Nazi genocide was incomplete.
'Happy Are the Happy' spins a lively cluster of stories around a Parisian couple and their social networkInfidelity, children, and pasta are the stuff of life in 21 interlinked stories about a sparring Parisian couple and their connections.
'Chasing the Scream' poses provocative questions about America's 'war on drugs'One hundred years after the Harrison Act outlawed heroin and cocaine in the United States, a journalist challenges America's approach to illegal drugs.
'Sympathy for the Devil' presents an often unlovely portrait of Gore VidalA confidant recalls his complex rapport with one of the 20th century’s great contrarians.
'Why Homer Matters' calls the ancient poet 'a guide to life'To read Homer, says Adam Nicolson, is to feel 'a form of reassurance that in the end there is some kind of understanding in the world.'
'The Secret Wisdom of the Earth' lives up to its hype and then someIn this astonishingly confident debut novel, a teenager and his mother move to rural Kentucky seeking healing from a tragedy – only to discover a new form of trouble.
'Vanessa and her Sister' gives a voice to Virginia Woolf's caring siblingPriya Parmar's splendid novel imagines the thankless task of catering to the self-absorbed geniuses of the Bloomsbury group.
'The Match Girl and the Heiress' profiles an unlikely duo in search of a better worldHow a factory worker and an heiress united to fight for their ideals.
