My Promised Land: The Triumph and Tragedy of Israel

Ari Shavit (Get this book)
Israel has betrayed its best, truest self, argues Haaretz journalist and peace activist Shavit in this wrenching dissection of the nation's past and present. Born in 1957, the author is the descendant of intellectuals and idealists who brought Zionism to the shores of Palestine at the turn of the 20th century. Step by step, the author follows the Zionist dream as it played out in Israel. Kibbutz socialism initially had great success as the pioneer generation rebelled against the "daunting Jewish past of persecution and wandering." His effective mix of autobiographical reflections and interviews with key participants peters out toward the end into journalistic snippets, but that hardly muffles the overall impact of his anguished cri de coeur. Thoughtful, sobering reflections on a seemingly intractable conflict.--Kirkus

George Washington's Secret Six: The Spy Ring That Saved the American Revolution

Brian Kilmeade (Get this book)
A history of the Culper Spy Ring, without which, the authors argue, the Americans would not have won the Revolutionary War. Nathan Hale was America's first spy, and his execution forced Gen. George Washington to find a man who could develop a spy ring to help him drive the British from New York. Maj. Benjamin Tallmadge was Washington's choice to develop his spy network, and the six spies he recruited had an immense effect on the outcome of the war. While Kilmeade and Yaeger don't provide deep analysis, the narrative should please enthusiastic fans of the upheaval surrounding the founding of the United States. In a slim, quick-moving book, the authors bring attention to a group that exerted an enormous influence over events during the Revolutionary War.--Kirkus

Where Were You?: America Remembers the JFK Assassination

Gus Russo (Get this book)
The companion volume to a forthcoming NBC documentary on the Kennedy assassination. Investigative TV reporter Russo and prime-time producer Moses collaborated on canvassing a wide range of personalities, including politicians, news correspondents, actors, best-selling authors, photojournalists and widowed spouses. Participants were surveyed with key questions on how the Kennedy shooting impacted life personally and nationally with the resulting essays condensed from hourlong personal interviews, then divided into sections on the event's location (Dallas), its politics, culture, and the ensuing controversy and speculation. The themes of remembrance and appreciation remain constant throughout these pieces--all relevant and compiled with care. An engrossing, politically charged accompaniment to a TV event commemorating the 50th anniversary of the assassination.--Kirkus

A Short History of the Twentieth Century

John Lukacs (Get this book)
Compressed history as sharp and provocative as it is short. Though the matter-of-fact title might suggest a primer or student guide, renowned historian Lukacs demonstrates the argumentative power of the simple declarative sentence. "The twentieth century was--An? The?--American century," he writes. It "meant the end of the European age" and was "a short century, seventy-five years, from 1914-1989." True to that last declaration, Lukacs begins with the start of World War I and closes with the belated end of the Cold War, consistently contending that the Soviet Union was overrated as a threat to the United States and American primacy. A masterpiece of concision and a marvel of clear, controlled prose, a quality lacking in much academic writing.--Kirkus

Appomattox: Victory, Defeat, and Freedom at the End of the Civil War

Elizabeth R. Varon (Get this book)
What exactly was the meaning of the surrender at Appomattox? Robert E. Lee's surrender of his starving army to Ulysses S. Grant effectively brought the Civil War to an end; remaining military resistance collapsed shortly thereafter. But once the killing ceased and the Confederate troops had returned home under magnanimous surrender terms, what had truly been resolved? Slavery and secession were ended by force of arms; the South accepted that, however grudgingly. Yet many social and political questions remained to be settled by leaders from both sides of the conflict. A careful, scholarly consideration of how the ambiguities surrounding the defeat of the South resolved into the bitter eras of Reconstruction and Jim Crow.--Kirkus

Jefferson and Hamilton: The Rivalry That Forged a Nation

John Ferling (Get this book)
Two antithetical but complementary Founding Fathers, duly and exhaustively compared and contrasted. Despite the enormous research already done in fleshing out the lives of the multitalented, ambitious Jefferson and Hamilton, Ferling leaves no stone unturned in sifting through the biographies, walking readers through their respective childhoods, and flushing out influences that shaped their livelihoods and helped form their fundamental ideologies regarding the new nation. From hammering out constitutional liberties and building the nation's banking system to jockeying in early elections, Ferling draws crisp, sharp delineations between his two subjects.--Kirkus

Small Wars, Faraway Places: Global Insurrection and the Making of the Modern World, 1945-1965

Michael Burleigh (Get this book)
Acclaimed historian Burleigh returns with a feisty review of two decades of decolonialization. This was "a crucial transitional era in which power tangibly passed from European capitals to the 'World Capital on the Potomac.'"Entertaining, informative and refreshingly devoid of partisan advocacy, Burleigh offers a persuasive explanation of how America assumed the mantle of policeman of the developing world.--Kirkus

A Concise History of the Arabs

John McHugo (Get this book)
A sympathetic, methodical distillation of Arab history that tries to get at the roots of the current East-West dysfunction. British Arabist, lawyer and researcher McHugo refutes Bernard Lewis' claim of a "clash of civilizations," bemoaning the notion as emerging from prejudice and misunderstanding of the original meanings of the terms jihad and crusade. The author includes maps and a glossary of Arabic terms. Purposeful, insightful and tremendously useful, complete with an excellent bibliographic essay.--Kirkus

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

Gettysburg: The Last Invasion

Allen C. Guelzo (Get this book)
A stirring account of the "greatest and most violent collision the North American continent [has] ever seen," just in time for the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg. The author ably, even vividly, captures the hell of the battlefield while constantly keeping the larger scope of Gettysburg in the reader's mind: It was, he argues, the one central struggle over one plank of the Civil War, namely the preservation of the Union, that nearly wholly excluded the other one, the abolition of slavery. Robust, memorable reading that will appeal to Civil War buffs, professional historians and general readers alike.--Kirkus

The Plantagenets: The Warrior Kings and Queens Who Made England

Dan Jones. A novelistic historical account of the bloodline that "stamped their mark forever on the English imagination." With a bit of background on the civil war between Stephen and Matilda that first gained the throne for Henry, Jones splits his tale in two at the usurpation of Richard II in 1399 by his first cousin Henry IV. This structure will whet readers' appetites for the second volume, which will cover the War of the Roses, the princes in the Tower and Richard III. Historians may question a few dates and events, but for enjoyable historical narratives, this book is a real winner.--Kirkus

Get this book

The War Below: The Story of Three Submarines That Battled Japan

James Scott. Using voluminous official records plus interviews and an amazing number of unpublished diaries and letters, Scott delivers a gripping, almost day-by-day account of the actions of three submarines, Silversides, Tang and Drum, from Pearl Harbor to VE Day. Nazi U-boats get the publicity, but America's submarines were more effective, sinking so many Japanese vessels that by the end of World War II, civilians were starving and factories barely functioning. Military buffs will lap it up, but general readers may find it difficult to resist the tension, drama and fireworks of this underappreciated but dazzlingly destructive American weapon of WWII.

Get this book

Above the Din of War: Afghans Speak about Their Lives, Their Country, and Their Future-And Why America Should Listen

Peter Eichstaedt. Veteran journalist Eichstaedt delivers from Afghanistan a dismal report on that country's continued disintegration and decline and the failure of U.S. efforts to prevent it. When U.S. and coalition forces entered Afghanistan in 2001 and defeated the brutal Taliban regime, hopes ran high for peace and prosperity. Neither, reports the author, has occurred. Rather, Afghanistan remains a country "crumbling at the edges and collapsing at its core." Heartbreaking and spellbinding dispatches from a country descending into madness.--Kirkus

Get this book

The Civil War in 50 Objects

Harold Holzer. This excellent collection of 50 Civil War artifacts is accompanied by beautifully written and incisive essays by acclaimed historian Holzer. Timed for publication to coincide with the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, the book's 50 artifacts have been well selected in an effort to emphasize the personal, human aspects of the conflict. For both Civil War buffs and general readers, this collection should be a treasure.--Booklist

Get this book

Bunker Hill: A City, a Siege, a Revolution

Nathaniel Philbrick. Philbrick will be a candidate for another award with this ingenious, bottom-up look at Boston from the time of the December 1773 Tea Party to the iconic June 1775 battle. Bunker Hill was the first and bloodiest engagement of the eight years of fighting that followed. A rewarding approach to a well-worn subject, rich in anecdotes, opinion, bloodshed and Byzantine political maneuvering.-- Kirkus

Get this book

The Enlightenment: And Why It Still Matters

Anthony Pagden. Pagden demonstrates the breadth and depth of his knowledge and his impeccable research of the period we refer to as the Enlightenment. Seeking to define men and their relationships with nature, and especially with each other, led to this scientific revolution; it was an intellectual process, a philosophical project and a social movement. Pagden impressively illustrates the significant discussions that took place as the scientists, historians and other intellectuals of the period tried to fathom man's nature and subject dogma to reason. A book that should be on every thinking person's shelf--the perfect primer for anyone interested in the development of Western civilization.--Kirkus

Get this book

The Real North Korea: Life and Politics in the Failed Stalinist Utopia

Andrei Lankov. Examination of North Korea's misery-producing dictatorship, why it cannot last and how to replace it. A Russian historian who spent time in North Korea as an exchange student and lived through his own country's break with Soviet authoritarianism, Lankov (History/Koomkin Univ., Seoul; North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea, 2007, etc.) offers an astute look into the lethal absurdities of the North Korean regime, from the time of Great Leader Kim Il-sung to grandson Kim Jong-un. A well-reasoned survey by a scholar who excels at long-term thinking. --Kirkus

Get this book

Above the Din of War: Afghans Speak about Their Lives, Their Country, and Their Future-And Why America Should Listen

Peter Eichstaedt. Veteran journalist Eichstaedt delivers from Afghanistan a dismal report on that country's continued disintegration and decline and the failure of U.S. efforts to prevent it. Eichstaedt interviewed Afghans from all walks of life: government officials, Taliban leaders, shopkeepers, mullahs, would-be suicide bombers, victims of self-immolation and others. Heartbreaking and spellbinding dispatches from a country descending into madness.--Kirkus

Get this Book

Those Angry Days: Roosevelt, Lindbergh, and America's Fight Over World War II, 1939-1941

Lynne Olson. A fully fleshed-out portrait of the battle between the interventionists and isolationists in the 18 months leading up to Pearl Harbor. Former Baltimore Sun White House correspondent Olson looks closely at both sides of the U.S. debate about whether to support Britain against the onslaught of Nazi Germany or remain aloof from the European conflict, epitomized by the two prominent personalities of the respective camps, President Franklin Roosevelt and Charles Lindbergh.Throughout, Olson adroitly sifts through the many conflicting currents. A vivid, colorful evocation of a charged era.--Kirkus

Get this Book

American Story: A Lifetime Search for Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

Bob Dotson. The longtime Today Show correspondent offers a collection of heartwarming stories about ordinary citizens, "people who live the values our country cherishes." The author mixes in a little autobiographical information, but he focuses on a succession of quiet achievers, people whose imagination, grit and goodness might otherwise have escaped the news, had he not gone in search of their stories. Many of the characters require more than the three or four pages Dotson allots them to make any lasting impression, but the sheer multitude of tales underscores his argument about an America chock-full of unassuming people whose lives enrich the nation.--Kirkus

Get this Book

Brokers of Deceit: How the U.S. Has Undermined Peace in the Middle East

Rashid Khalidi. Extracting three episodes from a complex 35-year history, a distinguished Middle East scholar exposes America's unfitness to mediate between Israel and Palestine. Khalidi maintains that the U.S. and Isreal, "by far the most powerful actors in the Middle East," through successive administrations and a variety of key officials (Condoleezza Rice and Dennis Ross take a particular beating here), have conspired to deny Palestinians any semblance of self-determination. A stinging indictment of one-sided policymaking destined, if undisturbed, to result in even greater violence.--Kirkus

Get this book

Fear Itself: The New Deal and the Origins of Our Time

Ira Katznelson. Emphasizing the long New Deal, putting it in its global context, and shifting the focus from the White House to Congress makes this book a major revision of conventional interpretations. But it's the extent of the permeating influence of Southern Democrats on national politics that is the work's revelation Katznelson rues the New Deal's surrender to special interests at the expense of the public good. Overall, a critical and deeply scholarly work that, notwithstanding, is compulsively readable--Publisher's Weekly

Get this Book

The Coup: 1953, the CIA, and the Roots of Modern U.S.-Iranian Relations

Ervand Abrahamian. A relevant, readable study of the foreign-engineered 1953 Iranian coup reminds us of the cause that won't go away: oil. Abrahamian clears away much of the nostalgic Cold War cobwebs surrounding the ouster of the popular Iranian reformer Muhammad Mossadeq, employing new oral history and pertinent memoirs published posthumously by Mossadeq's advisers. The well-rendered, lucid back story explaining the current, ongoing deep distrust and suspicion between the U.S. and Iran.--Kirkus

 Get this book

The Birth of the West: Rome, Germany, France, and the Creation of Europe in the Tenth Century

Paul Collins. A lively, full-to-bursting history of the turbulent 10th century in Europe, when inner dissention and external marauding began to give way to cohesion and centrality. Collins manages to enthrall readers in the vicissitudes of an early medieval era marked by random violence and unpronounceable Nordic names via his thorough knowledge of the epoch and ability to spin an engaging tale. Who knew the 10th century could be so compelling?--Kirkus

Get this book

The Pharaoh: Life at Court and on Campaign

Garry Shaw. In this delightful and lavishly illustrated guide, Egyptologist Shaw (Royal Authority in Egypt's Eighteenth Dynasty) introduces the fascinating lives and times of the pharaohs in elaborate detail, recreating in stories what it was like to be one. The author helpfully provides brief biographies of most of the pharaohs, such as Hatshepsut, a strong female pharaoh who established important trading relations with one of Egypt's neighbors, and Amenhotep IV, who briefly established monotheistic worship. Shaw's captivating study is the perfect introduction to these fabled rulers.--Publisher's Weekly

Get this book

Freedom National: The Destruction of Slavery in the United States, 1861-1865

James Oakes. A finely argued book about how the destruction of slavery involved much more than Lincoln's Emancipation Proclamation. Oakes returns to the notion that slavery, rather than states' rights or "an outbreak of hysteria, irrationality and paranoia," was truly the origin of the Civil War. A useful contribution to the literature about slavery and the Civil War.--Kirkus

Get this book

The Guns at Last Light: The War in Western Europe, 1944-1945

Rick Atkinson. Atkinson concludes his series on the war in Europe and North Africa with this superb work. Though lacking an overall theme, the book is distinguished by its astonishing range of coverage peopling the pages are German, British, French, Canadian, and (primarily) American generals and common soldiers. Excerpts from the letters of dead soldiers on both sides, as well as from the diaries of captain generals, fill out the story. It is hard to imagine a better history of the western front's final phase.--Publishers Weekly

Get this book

The Old Ways: A Journey on Foot

Robert Macfarlane. Macfarlane returns with another masterful, poetic travel narrative. The author's latest, focusing broadly on the concept of walking, forms what he calls "a loose trilogy," with his two earlier books, Mountains of the Mind and The Wild Places, "about landscape and the human heart." A breathtaking study of "walking as enabling sight and thought rather than encouraging retreat and escape."--Kirkus

Get this book

The Fourteenth Day: JFK and the Aftermath of the Cuban Missile Crisis: The Secret White House Tapes

David Coleman. Utilizing recently released White House tapes, Coleman shows that a crisis atmosphere still prevailed within the administration after the apparent acquiescence of the Soviets. Kennedy and his advisors struggled with issues of Soviet compliance with the agreement, the difficulty in coping with a still-belligerent and supposedly dangerous Cuba, and especially with the potential flashpoint of Berlin. Coleman has provided an excellent analysis of both short- and long-term results of the crisis.

Get this book

Former People: The Final Days of the Russian Aristocracy

Douglas Smith. Smith examines the much-neglected "fate of the nobility in the decades following the Russian Revolution, " when they were sometimes given the Orwellian title "former people." Smith focuses on three generations of two families: the Sheremetsevs of St. Petersburg and the Golitsyns of Moscow. This is an anecdotally rich, highly informative look at decimated, uprooted former upper-class Russians.--Publisher's Weekly

 

Get this book

Isaac's Army: A Story of Courage and Survival in Nazi-Occupied Poland

Matthew Brzezinski. The history of Polish Jews who fought Nazi brutality, retold in the stories of some truly remarkable young men and women. Journalist Brzezinski (Sputnik and the Hidden Rivalries that Ignited the Space Age, 2007, etc.) presents a meticulous, harrowing account of resistance, humanized with personal tales of individual combatants. A well-told, direct story of endurance and courage in the face of death and destruction on an apocalyptic scale, as moving and powerful as any novel.--Kirkus

Get this book

Tower : an epic history of the Tower of London

Nigel R. Jones. Historian and journalist Jones enlightens and delights in this history of the London Tower. The author begins with tales of William the Conquerer, whose "motte-and-bailey" forts could be erected "within a week." The buildings surrounding the White Tower served not only as royal pomp, but also as the armory, where blacksmiths forged swords, fletchers made arrows and weaponry was stored, including gunpowder. A historian's history that deserves pride of place in every library.--Kirkus

Find this book