Swarns, Rachel L. *Starred Review* New York Times reporter Swarns traces the threads, some not previously known to Michelle Obama herself, to ties to black, white, Native American, and multiracial family members. Drawing on two years of research, including interviews with two elderly womenone black, the other white, Swarns presents the complicated story of race in the U.S. through the prism of one family's history. A completely fascinating look at the complex ancestry of one amily, African Americans, and all Americans.--(Booklist)

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George Washington's Military Genius

Dave R. Palmer. Palmer, historian and former superintendent of West Point, makes a convincing case that America is free, united, and governed by civilians because of Washingtonas strategic foresight and tactical brilliance. Reviewing his generalship, Palmer maintains that Washington was aggressive and imaginative, willing to take risks but always aware of his ultimate goal. This is a relentlessly admiring portrait, but Palmer has a critical historianas eye for 18th-century war and politics, avoids uncritical worship of our founding fathers, and enjoys the advantage of a subject who was genuinely admirable.--Publisher's Weekly

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The Impossible State: North Korea, Past and Future

Cha, Victor. An eye-opening view of the closed, repressive dictatorship of North Korea. Cha aims to get at some of the pressing questions since Kim Jong-il's death and the succession of the utterly unknown younger son, Kim Jong-un--e.g., what happened to this once-vigorous dictatorship, and why does the populace do nothing about it? The author looks closely at the Kim family, the terrible economic decisions that plunged the country into poverty, the shocking gulag system, its paranoid nuclear proliferation program and the tenuous relations with South Korea. A useful, pertinent work for understanding the human story behind the headlines.--Kirkus

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Into Dust and Fire: Five Young Americans Who Went First to Fight the Nazi Army

Rachel Cox. A multifaceted, moving story of five American Ivy League students who committed themselves to fight alongside the British in the spring of 1941. Journalist Cox, the relative of one of the recruits, pieces together this extraordinary story of five patriotic young students at Dartmouth and Harvard who bucked the official U.S. decision to remain out of the war while the Nazis were conquering Europe and offered themselves as volunteers for the King's Royal Rifle Corps. A unique take on the war, from the point of view of the young, idealistic and foolhardy. --Kirkus

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Freedom's Forge: How American Business Produced Victory in World War II

Arthur Herman. It's not often that a historian comes up with a fresh approach to an absolutely critical element of the Allied victory in World War II, but Pulitzer finalist Herman (Gandhi & Churchill: The Epic Rivalry that Destroyed an Empire and Forged Our Age, 2009, etc.) has done just that. The author argues powerfully against the conventional wisdom that America's rearmament took place under the guidance of a competent federal government that brought business and labor together for the country's defense. A magnificent, controversial re-examination of the role of American business in winning WWII.--Kirkus

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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)