All Book Reviews
Andrew Jackson: The ‘original anti-establishment president’Andrew Jackson’s popularity as a military hero propelled him to the White House, where he espoused policies that trampled on civil and human rights.
Benjamin Franklin bankrolled 200 years of small business loansFranklin believed that skilled workers were key to America’s success. So he left money in his will to help tradespeople get their start.
- Who invented motion pictures? Hint: Not Edison nor the Lumières.
Thomas Edison is credited with inventing moving pictures. But author Paul Fischer makes the case that a rival got there first – and then disappeared.
Science fiction author draws inspiration from the Sierra“The High Sierra: A Love Story” captures Kim Stanley Robinson’s passion for the wilderness terrain that influenced his greatest works of science fiction.
We can’t know the ‘why’ of Stonehenge. This book reveals the likely ‘how.’Archaeologist Mike Pitts takes an engineering and scientific approach to the Stonehenge’s secrets, which have long confounded visitors and admirers.
The horse that should have come in first: Spectacular Bid’s infamous finishAfter winning the Kentucky Derby and Preakness Stakes, Spectacular Bid should have taken Belmont. “The Fast Ride” tells the story of why he failed.
The Syria-Israeli peace deal that almost was: A diplomat looks backSyrian leader Bashar Assad had almost agreed to a U.S.-brokered peace accord with Israel. Then he cracked down on his own citizens with deadly force.
An octopus, a widow, and a decades-long missing-person caseAn octopus befriends a widow and sets out to solve the mystery of her son’s disappearance in the feel-good novel “Remarkably Bright Creatures.”
A novel envisions what it would be like to study with BachJohann Sebastian Bach’s legendary perfectionism shines in the novel “The Great Passion,” as he takes a (fictional) choir student under his wing.
When Belle Époque Paris absorbed Russian émigrés fleeing revolutionParis in the early 20th century became a refuge for Russians, whose culture enriched the city, writes Helen Rappaport in “After the Romanovs.”
Not meant to soothe: How the truths of fiction can challenge and stirIranian American author Azar Nafisi explores fiction as a means of engaging with the world, rather than retreating from it in “Read Dangerously.”
Explorer, deserter, spy: The man who discovered the lost city of AlexandriaThe lost city of Alexander the Great was found by a man whose story went untold. Now Edmund Richardson explores his life in “The King’s Shadow.”
Consolation in solitude: Retracing the steps of Henry David ThoreauIn a time of grief, Ben Shattuck follows in the footsteps of Henry David Thoreau, and shares his journey with humor and insight in “Six Walks.”
Mill workers, suffragists, and ‘Rosie the Riveter’ helped change the definition of ‘woman’In “Woman: The American History of an Idea,” Lillian Faderman argues that as American women emerged from the home, forces conspired to push them back.
‘Decent’ Harry Truman, thrust into the presidency, kept US afloat in wartimeIn “The Trials of Harry Truman,” Jeffrey Frank details the making of a president, whose decisions included dropping atomic bombs on Japan.
Whispers, lies, and coercion fail to vanquish truthTwo novels, “Our American Friend” and “I Must Betray You,” focus on the effects of distortions and lies on people trapped in authoritarian regimes.
Through a ‘sacred lens’: Essays on looking deeply and moving forwardChristian writers across the spectrum reflect on challenges and epiphanies in “Breaking Ground: Charting Our Future in a Pandemic Year.”
What ties families together – and pulls them apartIn the deftly crafted family portrait “French Braid,” Anne Tyler examines a long marriage and its effects on the couple and their children.
An Afghan refugee risks everything: A tale of danger, hope, courageIn “The Naked Don’t Fear the Water: An Underground Journey with Afghan Refugees,” Matthieu Aikins documents a perilous escape from Afghanistan.
Unearthing the last slave ship: A tale of suffering – and reckoningIn “The Last Slave Ship,” Ben Raines reconstructs a harrowing journey across the Atlantic, then chronicles the resilience of the survivors.
