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2011 Best of Nonfiction: History (page 2)

Cover art for THE SWERVE
NONFICTION
Released: Sept. 19, 2011
Kirkus Star THE SWERVE: HOW THE WORLD BECAME MODERN
by Stephen Greenblatt
"More wonderfully illuminating Renaissance history from a master scholar and historian."
Greenblatt (Humanities/Harvard Univ.; Shakespeare's Freedom, 2010, etc.) makes another intellectually fetching foray into the Renaissance—with digressions into antiquity and the recent past—in search of a root of modernity. Read full book review >
Cover art for 1493
NONFICTION
Released: Aug. 9, 2011
Kirkus Star 1493: UNCOVERING THE NEW WORLD COLUMBUS CREATED
by Charles C. Mann
"Focusing on ecology and economics, Mann provides a spellbinding account of how an unplanned collision of unfamiliar animals, vegetables, minerals and diseases produced unforeseen wealth, misery, social upheaval and the modern world."
A fascinating chronicle of the "Columbian Exchange," which mixed old and new world elements to form today's integrated global culture, the "homogenocene." Read full book review >
Cover art for THE GREATER JOURNEY
NONFICTION
Released: May 24, 2011
Kirkus Star THE GREATER JOURNEY: AMERICANS IN PARIS
by David McCullough
"A gorgeously rich, sparkling patchwork, eliciting stories from diaries and memoirs to create the human drama McCullough depicts so well."
An ambitious, wide-ranging study of how being in Paris helped spark generations of American genius. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE STORM OF WAR
NONFICTION
Released: May 17, 2011
Kirkus Star THE STORM OF WAR: A NEW HISTORY OF THE SECOND WORLD WAR
by Andrew Roberts
"European history."
A comprehensive, insightful one-volume study of World War II that relentlessly pursues the question: Why didn't the Axis win? Read full book review >
Cover art for IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS
NONFICTION
Released: May 10, 2011
Kirkus Star IN THE GARDEN OF BEASTS: LOVE, TERROR, AND AN AMERICAN FAMILY IN HITLER'S BERLIN
by Erik Larson
"An excellent study, taking a tiny instant of modern history and giving it specific weight, depth and meaning."
A sometimes improbable but nevertheless true tale of diplomacy and intrigue by bestselling author Larson (Thunderstruck, 2006, etc.). Read full book review >
Cover art for LOST IN SHANGRI-LA
NONFICTION
Released: May 1, 2011
Kirkus Star LOST IN SHANGRI-LA: THE EPIC TRUE STORY OF A PLANE CRASH INTO THE STONE AGE
by Mitchell Zuckoff
"Polished, fast-paced and immensely readable--ready for the big screen."
Former Boston Globe reporter Zuckoff (Journalism/Boston Univ.; Robert Altman: The Oral Biography, 2009, etc.) delivers a remarkable survival story. Read full book review >