All Book Reviews
'Lafayette in the Somewhat United States' brings the French founding father to lifeSarah Vowell trains her irreverent historical imagination on the revolutionary ally who made the American Revolution a global struggle.
'The Big Green Tent' wraps history and literature into a very Russian storyWith both intimacy and cosmic scope, Russian novelist Ludmila Ulitskaya weaves an engaging tale of a group of cold war-era Soviet friends.
'The Spectacle of Skill' reminds us how dazzling critic Robert Hughes could beHughes wrote many kinds of things in a career that spanned four decades 鈥� history, commentary, criticism, journalism 鈥� but his primary goal was always the same: to entertain, especially while he was educating.
'Young Elizabeth' grasps at the life of Elizabeth II before she was queenWhen it comes to writing a biography of Queen Elizabeth II 鈥� a monarch who has never in her life granted a personal interview 鈥� guesswork and gossip must play a role.
'Golden Age' brings an end to Jane Smiley's 'Last Hundred Years' trilogySmiley's century-spanning American trilogy reveals itself to be an audacious work of storytelling 鈥� and a warning.
'Letters to Vera' showcases the literary love story of the NabokovsAgain and again, Vladimir Nabokov celebrated his ardor for his wife in terms far more inventive than most couples鈥� sweet nothings.
'The White Road' is a gorgeous odyssey into the history of porcelainAt once meditation, memoir, and travelogue as well as history, 'The White Road' is one of those unclassifiable books that simply astounds with the author鈥檚 infectious love of 聽his subject.
'The Sandman: Overture' is a fan鈥檚 dream come trueNeil Gaiman鈥檚 triumphant return to his famous Sandman character is collected in a deluxe hardcover edition by DC Comics.
'This Gulf of Fire' tells of the quake that rocked a most rational EuropeHow the 18th-century Enlightenment struggled for meaning after a shocking sequence of disasters hit Portugal.
'The Lake House' cleverly unites two missing-person cases, decades apart'The Lake House' is a bookworm鈥檚 delight 鈥� a carefully thought out mystery full of skillfully drawn characters.
'The Art of the Publisher' is a graceful, intelligent tribute to the world of book publishingThe reflections of Roberto Calasso, head of Milan publishing house Adelphi Edizioni, show deep erudition and critical acuity.
'The Only Street in Paris' captures something essentially FrenchRue des Martyrs is more than just a street. It is, as Sciolino describes, 'a half-mile celebration of [Paris] in all its diversity.'
'Ardennes 1944' offers fresh insight into the Battle of the BulgeReaders who want to understand how the attack unfolded and why it failed will not find a more valuable addition to the literature on World War II.
'South Toward Home' asks: Why does the South inspire so many writers?Margaret Eby perceptively shows how place and prose interact in the land which birthed some of America's greatest writing.
Shirley Jackson, master of Halloween fright, was also the owner of an unusual houseAmong the selections in 'Let Me Tell You' is 'Good Old House,' an essay in which Jackson recalls the odd happenings at the home she shared in New England with her English professor husband and their young children.
'Did You Ever Have a Family' gracefully, movingly, deconstructs a tragedyA small-town tragedy sends ripples through the lives of many in a debut novel from memoirist Bill Clegg.
'Showdown' tells how Strom Thurmond tried to keep Thurgood Marshall off the Supreme CourtMarshall was black and liberal, two too many questionable traits for many US senators as the senate confirmation hearings began in what would become known as 1967鈥檚 'Summer of Love.'
'The Witches': What really happened in Salem in 1692?Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer Stacy Schiff offers a comprehensive illumination of an unsettling period of American history that continues to captivate our cultural imagination.
'Custer's Trials' portrays a man at odds with himself and his timesCuster was a sword-wielding cavalryman when warfare had already moved into the age of mechanical slaughter.
'The Givenness of Things' mounts a passionate, intelligent defense of America and 海角大神ityOver the course of 17 provocative essays, Robinson, a 'self-declared Calvinist from northern Idaho,' brings both her formidable intellect and powers of plain speaking to deliver a clarion call against the culture of fear that she believes is eating away at American society.
