In Defense of Betrayal

Joshua Rubenstein's biography of Ilya Ehrenburg, who survived Stalin's regime, tries to make the Jewish journalist-propagandist come off as a saint.

The Madness of Kings George, Wilhelm and Nicholas

In her biography of three men who reigned over the Continent during the Great War, Miranda Carter diverges from the account given by Hollywood.

Reforms - Not Red Flags

Britain's participation in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars turned Tony Blair from fabulously popular to hated at home. In his memoir, he insists that he never lied and that he did the right thing

Where Racism and Naturalism Meet

Douglas Brinkley's new biography of Theodore Roosevelt tries to reconcile the controversial U.S. president's interest in nature conservation with his condescending social Darwinism

An 'End-of-civilization' Ambience

Historian Richard Overy's new book presumes to deal only with the mood in Britain between the two world wars, but one can also draw conclusions from it about the way democracies behave in times of crisis.

Garden-variety Coward

David Faber rejects the portraits of Neville Chamberlain as a tragic statesman, in a history of the Munich accords that is full of juicy anecdotes: "Munich: The 1938 Appeasement Crisis" by David Faber, Simon & Schuster, 350 pages, $19.80

A Galaxy Is Born

The phenomenon of documentary TV series and book tie-in has given rise to a new line of stars, the latest, most successful example of which is Simon Schama. His latest production, about contemporary America, is irresistible.

Shedding Light on a Great Liberator

He adored Shakespeare, liked to write limericks and managed to convince former rivals to serve his own purposes. Three biographers offer new perspectives on Abraham Lincoln.

World History / A War of Choice?

Nicholson Baker presents pacifists as the heroes of World War II, a war he says could have been avoided, and for which the Allies bear responsibility no less than Hitler.

Mr. Stanley, I Presume?

Biographer Tim Jeal tries to salvage the reputation of Henry Morton Stanley, but there's only so much one can do to save this colorful 19th-century adventurer from himself.

American Idol

In publishing a book on U.S. president Andrew Jackson, was Newsweek editor Jon Meacham trying to present a role model for America's new commander in chief, or showing the outgoing one that history may yet deem him a great leader?

Executive Prevarication

Author Ron Suskind's newest scoop involves evidence showing that U.S. policymakers knew Iraq had no weapons of mass destruction. But aside from uncovering the lies of the Bush administration, he also has an optimistic message.

Atomic Chaos?

As opposed to the official version of events, the Cuban Missile Crisis was not a matter of ?good? Americans vs. ?bad? Russians. And its after-effects can still be felt today?

Atomic Chaos

Marshalling a New Europe

In 1947, the U.S. launched one of the most comprehensive financial endeavors of the past century, to prevent post-war Europe from turning communist. Greg Behrman traces the ideas behind, and impact of, the Marshall Plan.

A Load of Junk

Susan Jacoby's book traces the decline in rationality in the U.S. to the 1960s student revolts, which eliminated the distinction between high and low culture. Welcome to a world where McCartney is on a par with Bach

A Voice to the Victims

In collected testimonies from victims of Stalin's Soviet regime, historian Orlando Figes was fully aware that people tend to 'borrow' stories from each other, which lends their stories a certain similarity .

Pablo, Pagan God

While staunchly insisting that Picasso was the 20th century's greatest artist, Richardson refuses to be seduced by his subject's narrative in this latest, spellbinding biographical volume

Pablo, Pagan God

While staunchly insisting that Picasso was the 20th century's greatest artist, Richardson refuses to be seduced by his subject's narrative in this latest, spellbinding biographical volume.

A Tragedy Foretold

In Brendon's original narrative, there are very few saints and he has no qualms about ripping the veil off those who have long been stars in the firmament of British history.

Tapping Hidden Undercurrents

Ackroyd's new book 'sets the Thames on fire,' by providing a detailed account of the historical highs and lows of the river that embodies the might and essence of England.

Rescued From Oblivion

Many biographers and researchers of Virginia Woolf's life downplay the role of her husband, Leonard. This new book tries to set the record straight.

Young Stalin, Up Close and Personal

In following up on an earlier book about Stalin's adult life, this new biography on the early years of the 'Red Czar' reverses the temporal rules of biographies, but it doesn't offer anything new.

Odd Couple

A strange partnership between two power-hungry and ruthless men resulted in quite a number of striking foreign policy successes.

History / What Churchill Had to Hide

Blaming the Victim

Non-Germans find it hard to hear that Hitler's countrymen didn't deserve the beating they endured from the Allies. But among two new books on the fire-bombings of World War II is one from a German historian who argues just that.

Debunking the Myth of Dunkirk

Sebag-Montefiore's account transforms the campaign that ended in northern France from a heroic tale of evacuation into an important military accomplishment.

'Now I Am Become Death'

A long, and long in coming, biography of the man considered the father of the atom bomb focuses on the devastation wreaked not by nuclear explosions but by the lies and deceit perpetrated by democracies in the name of security.

Eyewitness to Hell

A Soviet military correspondent reveals the unique human stories in his reporting of World War II.