Kirkus Star
THE KIRKUS STAR
Awarded to Books of Exceptional Merit

BROWSE BOOK REVIEWS




New & Notable Nonfiction: February 2012


Showing

Cover art for SWORD OF THE SPIRIT, SHIELD OF FAITH
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 28, 2012

"A frank, exhaustive, marvelously readable study."
A sharp, clear, deeply researched examination of the consistent application of the founding religious principles to American foreign policy, from the colonists' sense of a Protestant exceptionalism to President Barack Obama's "Good Niebuhr Policy." Read full book review >
Cover art for THE AMERICAN WAY OF EATING
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 21, 2012

"Attentive foodies may already know much of the information, but on the whole, McMillan provides an eye-opening account of the route much of American food takes from the field to the restaurant table."
An exposé on the production and consumption of food in America. Read full book review >
Cover art for RED PLENTY
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 14, 2012

"A highly creative, illuminating, genre-resisting history."
The strange, sad, hilarious story of the Soviet Union's blind pursuit of a Communist paradise, told through a mix of history and fiction, using both to get to the truth. Read full book review >
Cover art for THIS WILL MAKE YOU SMARTER
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 14, 2012
edited by John Brockman

"A winning combination of good writers, good science and serious broader concerns."
Edge.org founder and publisher Brockman (Culture: Leading Scientists Explore Civilizations, Art, Networks, Reputation, and the Online Revolution, 2011, etc.) asks a group of eminent scientists and writers their views on the question, "What Scientific Concept Would Improve Everybody's Cognitive Toolkit?" Read full book review >
Cover art for GYPSY BOY
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 14, 2012

"A poignant memoir that bears comparison to the bestselling Running With Scissors--but better written and far darker."
Grim, well-told memoir of a boyhood among the much-maligned Romany Gypsy "travelers" of Britain. Read full book review >
Cover art for ENEMIES
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 14, 2012

"A sober, monumental and unflinchingly critical account of a problematic institution."
Drawing on thousands of pages of recently declassified documents and oral histories, Pulitzer Prize and National Book Award winner Weiner (Legacy of Ashes: The History of the CIA, 2008, etc.) delivers an authoritative and often frightening history of what has been, in effect, America's secret police. Read full book review >
Cover art for BRAVE DRAGONS
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 14, 2012

"An expert journalist compresses the culture class of nations into one palatable sports season."
A unique, engaging way to view the Americanization of China: through the introduction of an NBA coach to a professional Chinese basketball team. Read full book review >
Cover art for ON AN IRISH ISLAND
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 13, 2012

"A mesmerizing interplay of lives and socio-historical contexts."
A richly detailed biographical study of a group of early-20th-century intellectuals whose shared love for a dying insular culture helped save it from extinction. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE SCIENCE OF YOGA
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 7, 2012

"A fascinating, persuasive case for demythologizing yoga and recognizing its true value to mind and body."
A fair, well-reasoned assessment of the many extraordinary claims made for yoga. Read full book review >
Cover art for BEHIND THE BEAUTIFUL FOREVERS
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 7, 2012

"The best book yet written on India in the throes of a brutal transition."
In her debut, Pulitzer Prize–winning New Yorker staff writer Boo creates an intimate, unforgettable portrait of India's urban poor. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE NEW HATE
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 7, 2012

"A provocative, intellectually rigorous book written clearly and with an admirable lack of hatred."
A well-reported study of disaffected groups who hate other groups whose members look or think differently than the haters. Read full book review >
Cover art for THE HAPPINESS OF PURSUIT
NONFICTION
Released: Feb. 1, 2012

"An elegant tour de force that combines neuropsychology with liberal references to Shakespeare and Homer."
Edelman (Psychology/Cornell Univ.; Computing the Mind: How the Mind Really Works, 2008, etc.) asks readers to discard the "familiar ‘computer metaphor' that halfheartedly likens the brain to a computer," and accept his argument that "the mind is computational in the literal sense." Read full book review >