Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




History Book Reviews Coming Soon (page 6)


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Cover art for FIRST CLASS
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 1, 2013

"A well-reported, passionate study of the triggers for failure and success within American urban education."
Broadcast journalist Stewart examines the legendary reputation for excellence of a historic, all-black Washington, D.C., high school, then documents the decline of that excellence in more recent decades. Read full book review >
Cover art for ALEXANDRIA
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 1, 2013

"Don't try to categorize this book; just read it and let it flow over you."
A thoroughly enjoyable combination of history, autobiography, travel and general musings about Alexandria. Read full book review >
Cover art for A DECISIVE DECADE
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 1, 2013

"Invaluable for scholars of the era, though many readers will yearn for more of the author's warm, human voice."
A veteran academic recalls his involvement in the meetings, demonstrations and civil unrest at the dawn of his career at the University of Chicago. Read full book review >
Cover art for HOTHOUSE
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 6, 2013

"A smart, savvy portrait of arguably the country's most important publisher."
A thorough study of the gold standard in American literary publishing, complete with sex, sour editors and the occasional stumble into financial success. Read full book review >
Cover art for LAWRENCE IN ARABIA
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 6, 2013

"A lively, contrasting study of hubris and humility."
A well-fleshed portrait of T.E. Lawrence (1888–1935) brought in burnished relief against other scoundrels in the Arabian narrative. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE DISTANCERS
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 13, 2013

"A bit of general Americana and the ghosts of one family that settled comfortably for a while in a place between Chicago and the Mississippi provide an amalgam that now and again buttresses important matters known to all of us."
A Midwestern journalist shakes his family tree and discovers a crop of distinctly American characters. Read full book review >
Cover art for ANOTHER AMERICA
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 13, 2013

"A scholarly yet accessible examination of Liberia's tumultuous history that gleans new insight into America's own struggles with democracy."
The 19th-century story of the pursuit by free African-Americans to found and govern the Republic of Liberia. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE GREAT DISSENT
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 20, 2013

"An exceptional account of the development of the Constitution's most basic right and an illuminating story of remarkable friendships, scholarly communication and the conservative justice who actually changed his mind."
The writings of Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes are the basis of today's interpretation of freedom of speech, but it took many great minds to convince him of its value. Seton Hall Law School professor Healy tells the engrossing tale of how it happened. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF JACK THE RIPPER
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 3, 2013

"Fiction or not, a decent book, easily read and worth it for the ending. "
James Willoughby Carnac admits in his autobiography that he is Jack the Ripper; but it is the curator of the Montacute TV, Radio, and Toy Museum in Somerset, Alan Hicken, who has brought the book to light. Read full book review >
Cover art for HITLER'S FURIES
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2013

"A virtuosic feat of scholarship, signaling a need for even more research."
A grim, original study of the nurses, teachers, secretaries and wives who made up a good half of Hitler's murderers. Read full book review >
Cover art for A SHORT HISTORY OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2013

"A masterpiece of concision and a marvel of clear, controlled prose, a quality lacking in much academic writing."
Compressed history as sharp and provocative as it is short. Read full book review >
Cover art for JEFFERSON AND HAMILTON
NONFICTION
Released: Oct. 1, 2013

"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."
Two antithetical but complementary Founding Fathers, duly and exhaustively compared and contrasted. Read full book review >