The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson

Robert Caro. *Starred Review* Wedged between LBJ's triumphant Senate career and his presidency, this fourth volume in Caro's acclaimed Years of Lyndon Johnson series addresses the failed presidential campaign of 1960, the three frustrating years as vice president, and the transition between the Kennedy and Johnson administrations. Though seemingly focused on less compelling material than Master of the Senate (2002), the book is riveting reading from beginning to end, perhaps because Caro's real subject is political power, both its waxing and waning. Unquestionably, one of the truly big books of the year.--Booklist.

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The making of a patriot : Benjamin Franklin at the Cockpit

Sheila L. Skemp. The second in Oxford's new Critical Historical Encounters series, covering formative events in American History--this time with a focus on a Benjamin Franklin many readers may not have encountered before. A worthy addition to the literature on both Franklin and the Revolutionary War.--Kirkus.

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Shiloh, 1862

Winston Groom (Get a copy).

Groom presents Shiloh, fought on April 6-7 in western Tennessee, as a turning point in the war. After setting the stage, Groom takes the reader to Pittsburg Landing, the nearest town to the battle, a few days beforehand. Groom follows individual soldiers and small units as well as the larger shape of the battle. The emphasis on the human element gives the book a power that sets it apart from most military histories. Essential reading for Civil War buffs and a great overview of a key battle for neophytes.--Kirkus

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Blackhorse Riders: A Desperate Last Stand, an Extraordinary Rescue Mission, and the Vietnam Battle America Forgot

Philip Keith. A fine, precisely detailed record of an obscure but nasty battle in Vietnam in which heroism was forgotten even more quickly than the war itself. Keeping the traditional patriotic overlay to a minimum and with only a modest amount of invented dialogue, Keith provides engrossing, almost minute-by-minute account of the preliminaries and the battle itself. Military buffs will take it in stride, but Americans accustomed to 30 years of campaigns in which a single soldier's death is news and more than one makes the front page will squirm to read that in the typical war, men die en masse.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Tutankhamen: The Search for an Egyptian King

Joyce Tyldesley. A catch-all study by a British Egyptologist of the most famous boy king of the 18th Dynasty.  Fluent in her subject, Tyldesley gives her own spin to the story in order to get beyond the sensational nonsense. She looks at Howard Carter's remarkable pinpointing of the tomb named KV 62 in the Valley of the Kings, and the facts and deceptions about the artifacts and ensuing autopsies.Tyldesley does an admirable detective job of reconstructing the boy king's narrative. Proves that there is no end to the fascination, and speculation, around this subject.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Hitlerland: American Eyewitnesses to the Nazi Rise to Power

Andrew Nagorski. A contextually rich look at the buildup of Nazi power, revealing the feebleness of Americans' assessment of the future danger. In these seemingly casual impressions recorded in newspapers, letters, magazines, diaries and diplomatic reports, many Americans rooted in interwar Germany failed to see the menace in the increasingly inflammatory Nazi rhetoric, as Nagorski depicts in this well-marshaled study. An engrossing study of the times made more fascinating and incredible in retrospect.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

Emancipating Lincoln: The Proclamation in Text, Context, and Memory

Harold Holzer. As we near its sesquicentennial, a distinguished Lincoln scholar examines the problematic history of the Emancipation Proclamation.  Holzer's tripartite narrative deals first with the historical context of the Proclamation. The author then moves to a discussion of the Proclamation's rhetorical deficiencies. Finally, Holzer turns to the iconography surrounding Lincoln and emancipation. A fine introduction to what promises in 2013 to become a nationwide discussion.--Kirkus (Check Catalog)

FDR and Chief Justice Hughes: The President, the Supreme Court, and the Epic Battle Over the New Deal

James Simon. This dramatic history illuminates the uniquely American conflict between constitutional reverence and popular politics. New York Law School prof Simon spotlights the struggle between a conservative Court under Chief Justice Charles Evans Hughes and a frustrated President Franklin Roosevelt on key New Deal measures in the 1930s. With the present-day Court poised to rule on health care reform amid controversies over the governments power to address economic turmoil, Simons account of a very similar era is both trenchant and timely.--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)

The Story of Ireland: A History of the Irish People

Neil Hegarty. Irish fiction writer Hegarty emphasizes the external political and cultural forces shaping the destiny of the Emerald Isle and chips away at the usual myths by presenting a sweeping panorama that includes the first Christian communities, Columbanuss powerful sermons, the Viking settlements, the early great documents of the new land, and the long reach of the Roman Catholic Church into Irish affairs. Without succumbing to a dry academic tone, Hegarty offers a finely researched and timely celebration of Ireland's turbulent history and conservative people.--Publisher's Weekly (Check Catalog)