Brothers, Rivals, Victors: Eisenhower, Patton, Bradley and the Partnership That Drove the Allied Conquest in Europe

Jonathan Jordan. Independent historian Jordan ("Lone Star Navy", with research based on diaries and personal accounts, puts us in the mindset of the protagonists and their staffs to understand what was boiling under the surface. Another combination of generals might have fared better or worse—we will never know. Patton died in December 1945 after a car accident, while Eisenhower and Bradley moved upward and on. This is very much an emotional military history, compelling and easy to read, yet also well documented. Recommended to both specialists and general readers.--Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Berlin 1961: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and the Most Dangerous Place on Earth

Frederick Kempe. Former longtime Wall Street Journal editor Kempe recounts a curious series of episodes in which the Russians appeared to be bearing olive branches, the Americans arrows. The climax of the difficult year 1961, as Kempe demonstrates, was the building of the Berlin Wall following one misreading of Soviet cues after another on the part of the Kennedy administration. In the end, Kennedy had to swallow his pride and accept the fact of the wall, which "had risen as he passively stood by."--Kirkus Reviews. (Check Catalog) 

The Churchills: In Love and War

Mary Lovell. Although the central character here may be Winston Churchill, British biographer Lovell ("A Rage To Live: A Biography of Richard and Isabel Burton" essentially offers a popular biography of several members of the 19th- and 20th-century Churchill family, with less coverage beforehand on the earlier Churchills, such as the original Duke and Duchess of Marlborough. Lovell tends to be drawn to strong female characters, and her new book is no exception; she devotes significant attention to American heiresses Jennie Jerome (Winston Churchill's mother) and Consuelo Vanderbilt (his cousin by marriage). --Library Journal (Check Catalog)

A Glorious Army: Robert E. Lee's Triumph, 1862-1863

Jeffrey D. Wert. Wert eschews the tick-tock of battle in favor of analysis of the big-picture, how the army was led and how the rank and file responded. Nimbly sifting the oftentimes conflicting judgments of a wide array of historians and making vivid use of primary source documents, the author demonstrates how everything—the good and the bad—began with Lee.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Cambodia's Curse: The Modern History of a Troubled Land

Joel Brinkley. Pulitzer Prizewinning journalist Brinkley takes on the pricey pitfalls of nation building and the labyrinth of centuries-old political corruption in this riveting piece of literary reportage. At once a tale of human tragedy and a primer on the future of Western engagement with developingand autocraticcountries, the book offers a rare look inside a country beleaguered by poverty and imprisoned by patronage and venal leadership since the 13th century; traumatized by colonialism, Pol Pot's brutal Khmer Rouge, and the genocide he unleashed.--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)