Books

Review of Ron Chernow’s "Grant"

by John Reeves

Chernow has now provided us with a compelling explanation of why Grant was indeed the first soldier of the Civil War, though there’s always the matter of the sacrifice of all those lives lost in battle.

Review of “Trump Revealed: The Definitive Biography of the 45th President” by Michael Kranish and Marc Fisher

by Walter G. Moss

The sad truth is that some nine months after the publication of the latest edition of "Trump Revealed," the presidency of Donald Trump seems as disastrous as the biography suggested it would be.

The Fascinating Story of the Russians Who Spied for the West on Moscow

by Jefferson Flanders

A review of Eva Dillon’s “Spies in the Family: An American Spymaster, His Russian Crown Jewel, and the Friendship That Helped End the Cold War.”

Review of Richard White’s “The Republic for Which It Stands: The United States During Reconstruction and the Gilded Age, 1865-1896”

by James Thornton Harris

A solid history that unfortunately has one very serious flaw: an absence of black voices.

Review of Mark Bowden’s “Hue 1968: A Turning Point of the American War in Vietnam”

by Ron Briley

The approaching fiftieth anniversary of the Tet Offensive makes journalist Mark Bowden’s detailed account of the battle for Hue, the old imperial capital of Vietnam, a timely volume on an event that many perceive as a turning point in American support for the Vietnam War.

Review of Hillary Clinton’s “What Happened”

by Kathryn Smith

She’s not going to shut up. And she shouldn’t.

Review of “The Soviet-Israeli War 1967-1973: The USSR’s Military Intervention in the Egyptian-Israeli Conflict” by Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez

by Ron Briley

With their latest volume focusing upon the period between the 1967 Six-Day War and 1973 Yom Kippur War, the authors again insist that the Soviets pursued a more aggressive military posture in the Middle East than has been acknowledged by historians of the Arab-Israeli conflict.

Review of Noam Maggor’s “Brahmin Capitalism: Frontiers of Wealth and Populism in America’s First Gilded Age”

by Daniel Lazare

Inside Noam Maggor’s somewhat over-stated examination of nineteenth-century capitalism is a modest little study struggling to get out.

Review of Eric Foner’s “Battles for Freedom: The Use and Abuse of American History”

by Ron Briley

In reading this collection of essays from Foner one is struck by the continuing relevance of his writings.

Review of "The Eighth Wonder of the World: The Life of Houston’s Iconic Astrodome" By Robert C. Trumpbour and Kenneth Womack

by Ron Briley

An interesting academic book about the social issues raised by the construction of a major baseball stadium.

Review of Leigh Montville's "Sting Like a Bee: Muhammad Ali vs. the United States of America, 1966-1971"

by Luther Spoehr

The latest on "The Greatest."

Review of Nancy MacLean’s “Democracy in Chains: The Deep History of the Radical Right’s Stealth Plan for America”

by Ron Briley

The story of MacLean’s discovery of the alliance between an obscure economist and the Koch Brothers.

We Should Keep a Close Eye on Business, too

by Nate Holdren

A review of Elizabeth Anderson’s “Private Government: How Employers Rule Our Lives (and Why We Don’t Talk about It)” and Chad Pearson’s “Reform or Repression: Organizing America's Anti-Union Movement.”

What Are We to Make of Charles Lindbergh?

by Robert Huddleston

A review of Dan Hampton’s “The Flight” and Lynn Olson’s “Those Angry Days.”

Review of Nancy Weiss Malkiel's " 'Keep the Damned Women Out': The Struggle for Coeducation"

by Luther Spoehr

Coeducation:  how an idea whose time had come finally arrived.

Review of Hugh Kennedy’s “Caliphate: The History of an Idea”

by Daniel Lazare

Somebody slapped the wrong title on Hugh Kennedy’s political history of Islam from Muhammad to the Ottomans.

What Kind of Feminism Is This?

by Jeremy C. Young

A review of Laura Kipnis’s "Unwanted Advances: Sexual Paranoia Comes to Campus."

Review of Jeffrey Moran's "The Scopes Trial: A Brief History with Documents"

by Bernard von Bothmer

Has America really changed that much since the 1925 Scopes "Monkey" Trial?

Review of David McCullough’s “The American Spirit: Who We Are and What We Stand For”

by Kathryn Smith

David McCullough is an American treasure.

Review of Alexandra Zapruder’s “Twenty-Six Seconds: A Personal History of the Zapruder Film”

by John McAdams

The story of the Zapruder family’s saga.