Lady Bird and Lyndon: The Hidden Story of a Marriage That Made a President

Caroli, Betty Boyd (Get this book)
A touching, sympathetic portrait of a successful marriage despite the agony and the stress, emphasizing Lady Bird Johnson's spectacular inner grit. As an accomplished biographer of several works on presidential wives, Caroli does an impressive job refuting the "doormat" reputation of a humiliated wife to a coarse, philandering Texan by underscoring the symbiotic relationship that mutually sustained the couple through their whole lives. Well done. An engaging dual biography of a most intriguing power couple.--Kirkus

The New Tsar: The Rise and Reign of Vladimir Putin

Myers, Steven Lee (Get this book)
The reptilian, poker-faced former KGB agent, now Russian president seemingly for life, earns a fair, engaging treatment in the hands of New York Times journalist Myers. The author was based in Russia for some years during Vladimir Putin's rise to power, and he clearly knows his material and primary subject, which is very important in the tracking of this slippery conniver, who was in a good place to take power at President Boris Yeltsin's decline in 1999. The author ends with the haunting lyrics from a Great Patriotic War of 1953 song that was conveniently used for the appropriation of the Crimea. A highly effective portrait of a frighteningly powerful autocrat.--Kirkus

The End of Tsarist Russia: The March to World War I and Revolution

Lieven, Dominic (Get this book)
Fresh research at the Foreign Ministry in Moscow (since closed) yields an insightful new look at Russia's pivotal role in the making of World War I. In this massive yet palatable work of research, scholar Lieven, a fellow at Trinity College, Cambridge, and the British Academy, concentrates on Russian foreign policy as it maneuvered through shifting currents of "modern empire" and nationalism in the years leading up to Russia's entry in the war. The author emphasizes how the notion of imperialism was as pertinent within Europe as outside of it, namely in Austria's regard of Serbia as existing within its own orbit. The Russian empire's internal makeup was enormously complicated, and Lieven painstakingly walks readers through the important precursors—e.g., the revolution of 1905 and the Anglo-Russian entente of 1907—while introducing the key decision-makers. A Russian scholar opens up new, even startling historical connections.--Kirkus

Spain: The Center of the World 1519-1682

Goodwin, Robert (Get this book)
A bright, wide-ranging chronicle of the golden age of the Spanish empire. Though Goodwin denies that he has written a magisterial work filled with scholarly detail but rather a book for the "idle reader," it is a well-researched, intelligent, and easily understood history of the first global empire on Earth. The author divides the work into two sections: "Gold" deals with the historical, economic, and political history, and "Glitter" explores literary and artistic works. Any student of the Renaissance should read this excellent work showing Spain's enormous impact o n the arts and, with her vast American empire, the world.--Kirkus

North Korea Undercover: Inside the World's Most Secret State

Sweeney, John (Get this book)
In 2013, BBC reporter Sweeney traveled to North Korea, posing as a university professor on an eight-day tour with a group from the London School of Economics. Drawing on surreptitiously captured footage, the official tour video, firsthand experiences, and interviews, he constructed a documentary for BBC Panorama. In this enlightening, often irreverent companion volume, he goes into further detail about his time in the isolated country and how it evolved into its current state. One of Sweeney’s primary contentions is that “Kim Jong Un’s talk of nuclear war is a confidence trick... blinding us to a human rights tragedy on an immense scale.” This account is shocking and unsettling, but also darkly entertaining.--Publisher's Weekly

The 51 Day War: Ruin and Resistance in Gaza

Blumenthal, Max (Get this book)
An alarming report on Israel's devastating 2014 attack on Gaza. In a narrative based on interviews with citizens, physicians, and others, the Blumenthal writes that the Israeli military "unleashed massive force against the civilian population," killing 2,200 people (mostly Palestinian civilians), wounding over 10,000, and destroying about 18,000 homes. Based on his observations and accounts from survivors, the author charges that the Israeli onslaught targeted Palestinian civilians rather than Hamas fighters. He claims that Israeli soldiers engaged in execution-style killings, deliberately destroyed Gaza City high-rise buildings housing dozens of local media organizations, used Palestinians as human shields, and attacked cemeteries as well as U.N. schools that served as refugee shelters. The war elevated the status of "fundamentalist warriors" in Israel and left a wake of "rage and spreading radicalism" that is c e rtain to bring more military conflict. Explosive, pull-no-punches reporting that is certain to stir controversy. --Kirkus

1920: The Year That Made the Decade Roar

Burns, Eric (Get this book)
In a fascinating work about a remarkable year, former NBC News correspondent Burns shows us what put the roar in the Roaring '20s.The end of World War I brought reactions in the form of anarchy, the birth of jazz, the first Ponzi scheme, Prohibition, women's suffrage and the birth of "mass media." Burns follows it all with verve. In this delightfully readable book, the author expertly shows how those affected by the Great War linked together, nourished each other and really did change the world.--Kirkus

American Warlords: How Roosevelt's High Command Led America to Victory in World War II

Jordan, Jonathan W. (Get this book)
Attorney Jordan delivers another page-turning chronicle of World War II. Small details and little-mentioned facts make this a highly informative look at four men in charge in Washington, D.C., during that time. Throughout, the author provides astute and clever portrayals of the leaders, including Churchill's pretense to his ancestor's abilities, Stalin's displays of compassion, and FDR's meddling in naval projects. Jordan's wonderful new insight into the leaders shows how lucky we were regarding Stimson's prescient warnings about nuclear war, Marshall's long-suffering, self-effacing loyalty, and King's rough-and-ready fighting abilities. In addition to World War II buffs, other readers will enjoy the intrigue, back-stabbing, action, and diplomacy in this well-written book.--Kirkus

The China Mirage: The Hidden History of American Disaster in Asia

Bradley, James (Get this book)
Best-selling author Bradley uncovers the 19th-century plan to create a "New China" and "Americanize Asia."The author clearly feels duped by American foreign policy since the debacle in Vietnam shamed his World War II father and destroyed his soldier brother. In this relentless critique of wrongheaded thinking by government officials who did not speak the Asian languages and had little hands-on experience, Bradley focuses especially on the foreign policy of the two Roosevelts. Bradley delivers a strenuous exposé about the initial building of the "rickety bridge of fellowship crossing the Pacific." --Kirkus