The Idea of America: Reflections on the Birth of the United States

Gordan Wood. Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Wood challenges the popular view that the war for American independence was fought for practical and economic reasons, like unfair taxation. In this exceptional collection of essays, he argues brilliantly to the contrary, that the Revolution was indeed fought over principles, such as liberty, republicanism, and equality. This is a remarkable study of the key chapter of American history and its ongoing influence on American character.--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)

Red Heat: Conspiracy, Murder, and the Cold War in the Caribbean

Alex von Tunzelmann. Three dictators, circa 1960Castro in Cuba, Franois Duvalier in Haiti, and Rafael Trujillo in the Dominican Republicare, are the principals in von Tunzelmanns political history. Recounting alarms that trio set off in Washington, she ponders how well the Eisenhower and Kennedy administrations understood situations on the islands of Cuba and Hispaniola. Von Tunzelmanns diligent work will widen the eyes of cold war buffs.--Booklist (Check Catalog)

Dawn of the Belle Epoque: The Paris of Monet, Zola, Bernhardt, Eiffel, Debussy, Clemenceau, and Their Friends

Mary McAuliffe. The Belle Epoque is an age from roughly the end of the Franco-Prussian War in 1871 to the onset of WWI in 1914. McAuliffe examines the earliest phase of the period, up to the turn of the century. In literature, giants like Zola and Hugo were active. The list of painters and sculptors who emerged seems endless, including Toulouse-Lautrec, Manet, Monet, and Rodin. McAuliffe tracks, on a year-by-year basis, this explosion of artistic expression. This is an excellent and honest portrayal of an exciting and vital era in European history.--Booklist. (Check Catalog)

This great struggle : America's Civil War

Steven Woodworth. Woodworth displays his vast knowledge of Civil War military history in this sprightly march through the run-up to the war, the fighting, and the war's immediate aftermath. He provides an unabashedly guns-and-battle account, emphasizing strategy and individual actions but not the politics or economic, social, and cultural factors affecting and being affected by the war. His descriptions of the generals and their tactics are sure-handed, and his command of action complete and compelling. --Booklist (Check Catalog)

Steven Woodworth

Cairo: Histories of a City

Nezar Al Sayyad.

AlSayyad, professor of architecture, planning, and urban history at the University of California, Berkeley, has provided a timely and often surprising series of vignettes serving to trace the physical and cultural evolution of the city from the pharaonic period to the present. Each of the dozen vignettes covers a specific historical period, and AlSayyad includes many fascinating details about historical figures and their impact on the city as it grewfrom a tiny settlement to a great metropolis.--Booklist (Check Catalog)

The Brilliant Disaster: JFK, Castro, and America's Doomed Invasion of Cuba's Bay of Pigs

Jim Rasenberger.

This focused account of the invasion and America's involvement draws new insights from material recently released by the CIA. Bound to be of interest, given the anniversary and current events in Cuba.--Library Journal (Check Catalog)

Rawhide down : the near assassination of Ronald Reagan

Del Quentin Wilber.

Wilber's gripping minute-by-minute account of the day that president Reagan (codename Rawhide) was shot reveals the major players in the drama, including the president's doctors, his would-be assassin, Secret Service agents, White House staffers, Vice President George H.W. Bush, and Nancy Reagan. The first time author, a reporter for The Washington Post, writes with particular empathy for the stunned, shaken doctors and nurses who made a massive effort to overcome the challenges of locating the bullet, repairing the lung, and fighting debilitating blood loss as the 70-year-old president's life hung in the balance--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)

Then Everything Changed: Stunning Alternate Histories of American Politics: JFK, Rfk, Carter, Ford, Reagan

Jeff Greenfield. Greenfield offers three what-if political tales with a familiar cast of Presidents and politicos operating in alternate but plausible historical circumstances. This is a particularly good contribution to the alternate history genre because it relies on nonfiction works, memoirs, and the author's experience as a political pundit. Greenfield's spirited writing reaches its high point when he describes how the Cuban Missile Crisis resulted in a limited nuclear war in 1962 during Lyndon Johnson's presidency (Johnson became President in January 1961, one month after president-elect Kennedy was killed in a bomb explosion). The second story explores Robert F. Kennedy's election and turbulent presidency, following the failed assassination attempt by Sirhan Sirhan after the 1968 California primary. The final scenario weaves a complex web of Gerald Ford defeating Jimmy Carter in 1976, followed by Ford's failed presidency, and the 1980 election of Gary Hart, who defeated Ronald Reagan in a close race.--Library Journal (Check Catalog)

The rise and fall of ancient Egypt

Toby Wilkinson.

Wilkinson, an award-winning Egyptologist who teaches at Oxford, provides a fine single-volume history of ancient Egypt that covers more than 3,000 years, from prehistory to the Roman conquest. He uses a conventional chronological approach that inevitably uses archaeological sources to provide examples. Like his colleagues, Wilkinson expresses admiration for the continuity, stability, and relative harmony of pharaonic Egypt. Yet he is strikingly at odds with other Egyptologists in his efforts to present the darker side of Egyptian life. This superbly written survey is ideal for general readers and likely to engender controversy among specialists.--Booklist (Check Catalog)