The Bride and the Dowry: Israel, Jordan, and the Palestinians in the Aftermath of the June 1967 War

Avi. Raz. A scouring academic investigation of the fallout from the Six-Day War. Raz delivers a compelling study of Israeli intransigence and deception after the huge territory gains it made in June 1967 by seizing the West Bank and Arab Jerusalem, the Golan Heights, the Sinai Peninsula and the Gaza Strip. Raz shows an Israeli government riven by indecision and plurality of opinion, Palestinians in shock and despair, King Hussein hanging on to the survival of his reign and grasping at some kind of honorable settlement, and the Palestinian guerrilla resistance gathering force in the wings. A scrupulously researched work likely to open deep old wounds.--Kirkus

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Shooting Victoria: Madness, Mayhem, and the Rebirth of the British Monarchy

Murphy, Paul Thomas. Though the book is focused on the attempted assassinations of Victoria, Murphy also shows how those misguided men strengthened both the queen and the empire. It's great fun to see the trail of the author's research as he includes the politics, crises and sensational crimes that went along with each incident. The pages slip by in this well-written new take on Victoria and her times. Murphy's detailed rendering sheds entirely new light on the queen's strengths and her many weaknesses.--Kirkus

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Final Victory: FDR's Extraordinary World War II Presidential Campaign

Stanley Weintraub. With news accounts and political cartoons, Weintraub paints a vivid portrait of the public mood and of FDR literally willing himself to victory with a relatively unknown running mate, Harry Truman. Roosevelt juggled both the sputtering national economy and the wartime effort with equal parts savvy and grit, only to succumb to longstanding medical ailments soon after his inauguration. Historically satisfying, bringing the events to life with telling anecdotes (like Trumanas terrifying, prescient anightmare that Roosevelt had died and he, Harry S. Truman, was now presidenta), Weintraub's book portrays a political icon determined to make his mark on America and the world in the twilight of his life.--Publisher'sWeekly

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The Mansion of Happiness: A History of Life and Death

Jill Lepore. A sharp, illuminating history of ideas showing how America has wrestled with birth, childhood, work, marriage, old age and death. Brilliantly written and engaging throughout, the latest from New Yorker staff writer Lepore is about how American society reacts to change. A superb examination of the never-ending effort to enhance life, as well as the commensurate refusal to ever let it go.--Kirkus

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