American Spring: Lexington, Concord, and the Road to Revolution

Walter R. Borneman (Get this book)
An extremely detailed, opinionated account of events in 1775 Massachusetts ending two months after the famous skirmishes in the June Battle of Bunker Hill. By that spring, American colonists had spent the previous 10 years fending off Britain's attempts to recover the ruinous costs of the French and Indian War, writes popular historian Borneman. The author accepts their time-honored protest against taxation without representation but admits that Americans paid less in taxes than Britons and had benefited greatly from the recent victory. Ironically, 150 years of Britain's benign neglect had resulted in 13 largely self-governing colonies that were disinclined to change. Although Kevin Phillips (1775) and Nathaniel Philbrick (Bunker Hill) have recently trod the same ground, Borneman adds a first-rate contribution.--Kirkus

John Quincy Adams: American Visionary

Fred Kaplan (Get this book)
In this elegant study, Kaplan portrays our sixth president as a deeply literary man, devout husband, orator, diplomat and teacher who had grand plans for the country's future, including the building of national infrastructure and the abolition of slavery. Indeed, John Quincy Adams was concerned about America's loss of innocence in its rapid expansion and growing distance from its foundational ideals. A prodigious, gifted writer, he worried about "the internal health of the nation," with the squabbling between the Republicans and Federalists during the contested presidential elections, the addition of slave states to the union and the War of 1812, which had revealed the country's evolution into "a parcel of petty tribes at perpetual war with one another." Like his father, Quincy Adams was Harvard-educated, a lawyer and inculcated to answering the call of his country, despite his own wishes. Kaplan ably navigates his subject's life, showing us "a president about whom most Americans know very little." A lofty work that may propel readers back to Quincy Adams' own ardent writings.--Kirkus

Reagan at Reykjavik: Forty-Eight Hours That Ended the Cold War

Ken Adelman (Get this book)
Adelman pulls back the curtain on the dramatic weekend in October 1986 when Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in Reykjavik, Iceland, to discuss matters at a sort of presummit meeting. In this firsthand account, Adelman draws on the extensive public record of the event to deliver a comprehensive look at the larger-than-life figures, divisive issues, monumental breakthroughs, and frustrating stalemates, which in his opinion led this to be "the weekend that ended the Cold War." Adelman's style is quick, accessible, and occasionally humorous, giving this tale an almost whimsical feel despite its world-changing subject. Whether or not his thesis is true, this is certainly a uniquely close-range look at a Cold War turning point.--Publisher's Weekly

The Burning Shore: How Hitler's U-Boats Brought World War II to America

Ed Offley (Get this book)
An authoritative work on the awful, early effectiveness of German U-boats in disrupting shipping traffic off the east coast of the United States. Having written previously on the Battle of the Atlantic, military reporter Offley focuses on a short, early period of World War II--in particular, one lethally effective U-boat that caused massive devastation along the rich hunting ground of the North Carolina coast. Offley brings up the other factors that came into play for the U.S. Navy, such as the breaking of the Enigma code, interservice rivalry, taking advice from the more seasoned British, and garnering the necessary higher-level support for a convoy escort system and more effective patrol bombers. A knowledgeable overview and exciting re-creation of the final U-701 attack and defeat.--Kirkus

Bending Adversity: Japan and the Art of Survival

David Pilling (Get this book)
A sweeping view of contemporary Japan portrays its complexities and potential for change. In his first book, Financial Times Asia editor Pilling draws on scores of interviews to investigate Japan's culture, politics, economics and social life as it tries to recover from a severe economic downturn that began in 1990. The author celebrates Japan's "social cohesion, a sense of tradition and politeness, a dedication to excellence and relative equality," but he acknowledges a counter view--that Japan is "an unredeemably xenophobic, misogynist society, hierarchical, shut off from new ideas, and unable to square up to its own history." The author's articulate and diverse interviewees--scholars and teenagers, housewives and politicians--vividly and passionately testify to Japan's cultural contradictions, ambitions and strategies for survival.--Kirkus

The Gods of Olympus: A History

Barbara Graziosi (Get this book)
In The Gods of Olympus, Barbara Graziosi directs her expertise to a more general audience, following the 12 gods and goddesses of the classical Greek pantheon from their first appearances in antiquity through our continuing modern awareness of them. Her writing is accessible and entertaining, her passion for her subject obvious; The Gods of Olympus will equally thrill longtime lovers of the classics, and appeal to readers seeking a friendly, engaging introduction.--Shelf Awareness

How Paris Became Paris: The Invention of the Modern City

Joan DeJean (Get this book)
Illuminating portrait of the first modern city, 17th-century Paris, which could "hold a visitor's attention with quite different splendors." DeJean focuses on two kings, Henry IV and his grandson, Louis XIV, who lived 250 years before Baron Haussmann, the great public works leader who massively renovated Paris during the mid-1800s. "Paris caused urban planners to invent what a city should be," writes the author, "and it caused visitors to dream of what a city might be." Dejean obviously knows and loves Paris, and she provides coherent history that effectively explains the evolution of a city built by a few prescient men.--Kirkus

Blood Royal: A True Tale of Crime and Detection in Medieval Paris

Eric Jager (Get this book)
Few works of fiction will grab readers' attention as well as Jager's riveting story of a 1407 murder mystery that split the royal family of France. When Louis of Orleans, brother and frequent regent of King Charles VI, was brutally murdered in a Paris street, the provost of Paris, Guillaume de Tignonville was under pressure to solve the crime quickly. He had just overseen the execution of two murderers, whose claim to the right of "clergy" would eventually come back to haunt him. Jager shares his extensive knowledge of medieval Paris, employing entertainingly meticulous descriptions throughout the book. An impressive combination of mystery, crime story, and social and political history.--Kirkus

Operation Paperclip: The Secret Intelligence Program That Brought Nazi Scientists to America

Annie Jacobsen (Get this book)
The story of how perpetrators of World War II were treated as spoils of war, brought to light with new information in this diligent report. Generations after Germany was defeated, disturbing revelations about the recruitment of Nazi scientists expands previous material with the use of documents recently released under the Freedom of Information Act, as well as personal interviews, memoirs, trial evidence and obscure dossiers. It's not a pleasant story. She provides snapshots of the scores of villains and the few heroes involved in collusion of the Nazis and U.S. military and intelligence agencies. Throughout, the author delivers harrowing passages of immorality, duplicity and deception, as well as some decency and lots of high drama.--Kirkus