A History of Ancient Egypt: From the First Farmers to the Great Pyramid

John Romer (Get this book)
The first volume of a necessarily lengthy history of ancient Egypt from a well-known archaeologist. Romer's explanation of the earliest years of Egyptian civilization is impressive in the amount of information gleaned from a minimum of evidence. Fascinating reading with abundant illustrations. Romer's long experience and practical, fresh outlook bring this civilization to life.--Kirkus

Ecstatic Nation: Confidence, Crisis, and Compromise, 1848-1877

Brenda Wineapple (Get this book)
A sweeping look at the Civil War in the context of its social, cultural and intellectual climate. Wineapple begins with a bang: the death of John Quincy Adams on the House floor, after decades of fighting to end slavery. From there, she takes up the narrative of some 50 years of turbulent American history, full of grand schemes, bitter conflicts, brilliant characters and unforgettable stories. The author effectively draws in all the currents of the time, from popular culture and polemical journalism to the grand literary monuments. Best of all, she brings it together in a compelling narrative that will enlighten readers new to the material and thoroughly entertain those familiar with it. History on the grand scale, orchestrated by a virtuoso.--Kirkus

Alexandria: The Last Nights of Cleopatra

Peter Stothard (Get this book)
A thoroughly enjoyable combination of history, autobiography, travel and general musings about Alexandria. Cleopatra was the last of her line; her oft-told story of intrigue, lust and no small amount of genius now has deeper background. There is no way to trace the steps of Caesar or Marc Antony as they wooed her. The great library burned down, and the lighthouse is at the bottom of the sea, as are most of the buildings of old Alexandria. Stothard's journey through prep school, public school, Oxford and Fleet Street is the curious history of his attempts at fully grasping Cleopatra's story. It is a joy to watch the classically trained mind assemble the story. Don't try to categorize this book; just read it and let it flow over you.--Kirkus

JFK's Last Hundred Days: The Transformation of a Man and the Emergence of a Great President

Thurston Clarke (Get this book)
Do President Kennedy's final 100 days offer hints about what sort of leader (and man) he might have become? Author-historian Clarke thinks they do. Clarke vividly portrays the welter of issues a U.S. president juggles. In foreign policy, the test-ban treaty, Vietnam, and Cuba were central, but Kennedy also aimed to reframe long-term relationships with the USSR, China, Europe, and Latin America. On the home front, civil rights was clearly dominant, but, during these days, Kennedy was pressing Congress to pass the stimulus tax cut and immigration reform as well as the civil rights bill and working with advisors and cabinet members on what would become Medicare and the War on Poverty. A fascinating analysis of what was . . . and what might have been.--Booklist

Brothers at War: The Unending Conflict in Korea

Sheila Miyoshi Jager (Get this book)
Jager provides a well-grounded understanding of the evolution of the paranoid, isolated North Korean state as it emerged from Soviet protection and attempted to enforce its legitimacy across the entire peninsula by waging war on the South. The lessons of the Korean War were acute, if not always heeded, resulting in the lack of a clear victory, the militarization of American society in the forms of a large standing army and huge defense expenditures, and the newfound confidence of China, which spooked both the U.S. and the Soviet Union. An authoritative record of the divided Korean peninsula to go alongside Victor Cha's The Impossible State.--Kirkus

America 1933: The Great Depression, Lorena Hickok, Eleanor Roosevelt, and the Shaping of the New Deal

Michael Golay (Get this book)
Historian Golay has mined the thousands of letters between Associated Press reporter Lorena Hickock (1893-1968) and Eleanor Roosevelt (1884-1962), as well as Hickok's reports, to present an unexpectedly horrific picture of America during a terrible time. Even at the time, many counseled patience and denounced government aid as socialistic, but few readers of this gripping, painful account of third-world-level poverty and despair will agree that it is the natural order.--Kirkus

The Norman Conquest: The Battle of Hastings and the Fall of Anglo-Saxon England

Marc Morris (Get this book)
The story of William the Conqueror's invasion of England is hardly new, but the situations that prompted it on both sides of the English Channel have never been told in so much depth. A historian who specializes in the Middle Ages, especially that period's monarchies and aristocracy, Morris takes thoroughness to new heights as he compares all the available sources in this valuable text. The author includes useful maps, an expansive genealogical tree and extensive notes. A thoroughly enjoyable book from a historian's historian who can write for the masses.--Kirkus

Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence

Joseph J. Ellis (Get this book)
Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Ellis writes book after book on the American Revolutionary period. Practice makes perfect. The author's latest alternates between 1776 colonial politics during which the Continental Congress, dominated by John Adams, finally put aside efforts at compromise and opted for independence and the fighting where George Washington's army marched from triumph in the siege of Boston to catastrophe in New York. Ellis delivers few surprises and no cheerleading but much astute commentary. A traditionalist, Ellis sticks to 1776 and writes an insightful history of its critical, if often painful, events.--Kirkus

Edmund Burke: The First Conservative

Jesse Norman (Get this book)
Member of Parliament Norman comprehensively explains the history and the writings of the man whose thoughts have been quarried by politicians for hundreds of years. The author smartly divides his biography into sections on Edmund Burke's (1729-1797) life and his thought. The Dubliner arrived in London at age 20, and while he rarely returned, he strove throughout his 30-year parliamentary career for his countrymen and especially the Catholics in that land. A top-notch introduction to Burke and his paternity of political systems throughout the Western Hemisphere. Even better, the author points out where ignoring Burke's thoughts have caused unnecessary difficulties.--Kirkus