by Allen C. Guelzo ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 28, 2021
A fine biography of a flawed American icon.
The award-winning Civil War historian offers a fresh assessment of Robert E. Lee (1807-1870).
Idolized during his lifetime, Lee remains a deeply admired figure to many Americans. Although worshipful biographies ruled until well into the 20th century, Princeton scholar Guelzo, a three-time winner of the Lincoln Prize, pays close attention to modern evaluations. The author portrays a “clear thinker” whose ideas “oscillated within the poles he had set up for himself of perfection, independence, and security.” Lee was the son of Harry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee, a Revolutionary War hero and irresponsible spendthrift who abandoned his family when Robert was 6. Historians tend to agree that reacting against a feckless father explains why he remained obsessed with money and may explain why he entered West Point. Graduating in 1829, Lee spent 30 years as an engineering officer except for service in the Mexican War, during which his energy as a staff officer impressed Gen. Winfield Scott. By 1861, middle-aged and widely respected, Lee declined Scott’s offer of command of Union armies and returned to Virginia to take charge of the state’s military forces. For a year, his reputation suffered after unimpressive performances in minor actions until June 1862, when he assumed command of the army fending off George McClellan’s Union forces advancing on Richmond and drove them into headlong retreat. Describing the iconic victories over the following three years, Guelzo praises Lee’s martial talents but holds a low opinion of apologists who emphasize that he opposed both secession and slavery. Lee disliked rabid secessionists as much as abolitionists but went along with the popular Virginia assumption that the North had overreacted to the surrender of Fort Sumter and intended to wreak terrible revenge. He opposed slavery because it was morally repugnant, but he also believed that Blacks were inferior human beings. As a gentleman, he disapproved of mistreating them but hated Reconstruction and opposed efforts at Black equality.
A fine biography of a flawed American icon.Pub Date: Sept. 28, 2021
ISBN: 978-1-101-94622-0
Page Count: 608
Publisher: Knopf
Review Posted Online: July 14, 2021
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 2021
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PERSPECTIVES
by David Grann ‧ RELEASE DATE: April 18, 2017
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
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National Book Award Finalist
Greed, depravity, and serial murder in 1920s Oklahoma.
During that time, enrolled members of the Osage Indian nation were among the wealthiest people per capita in the world. The rich oil fields beneath their reservation brought millions of dollars into the tribe annually, distributed to tribal members holding "headrights" that could not be bought or sold but only inherited. This vast wealth attracted the attention of unscrupulous whites who found ways to divert it to themselves by marrying Osage women or by having Osage declared legally incompetent so the whites could fleece them through the administration of their estates. For some, however, these deceptive tactics were not enough, and a plague of violent death—by shooting, poison, orchestrated automobile accident, and bombing—began to decimate the Osage in what they came to call the "Reign of Terror." Corrupt and incompetent law enforcement and judicial systems ensured that the perpetrators were never found or punished until the young J. Edgar Hoover saw cracking these cases as a means of burnishing the reputation of the newly professionalized FBI. Bestselling New Yorkerstaff writer Grann (The Devil and Sherlock Holmes: Tales of Murder, Madness, and Obsession, 2010, etc.) follows Special Agent Tom White and his assistants as they track the killers of one extended Osage family through a closed local culture of greed, bigotry, and lies in pursuit of protection for the survivors and justice for the dead. But he doesn't stop there; relying almost entirely on primary and unpublished sources, the author goes on to expose a web of conspiracy and corruption that extended far wider than even the FBI ever suspected. This page-turner surges forward with the pacing of a true-crime thriller, elevated by Grann's crisp and evocative prose and enhanced by dozens of period photographs.
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.Pub Date: April 18, 2017
ISBN: 978-0-385-53424-6
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Feb. 1, 2017
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 15, 2017
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BOOK TO SCREEN
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by Kamala Harris ‧ RELEASE DATE: Sept. 23, 2025
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.
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An insider’s chronicle of a pivotal presidential campaign.
Several months into the mounting political upheaval of Donald Trump’s second term and following a wave of bestselling political exposés, most notably Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson’s Original Sin on Joe Biden’s health and late decision to step down, former Vice President Harris offers her own account of the consequential months surrounding Biden’s withdrawal and her swift campaign for the presidency. Structured as brief chapters with countdown headers from 107 days to Election Day, the book recounts the campaign’s daily rigors: vetting a running mate, navigating back-to-back rallies, preparing for the convention and the debate with Trump, and deflecting obstacles in the form of both Trump’s camp and Biden’s faltering team. Harris aims to set the record straight on issues that have remained hotly debated. While acknowledging Biden’s advancing decline, she also highlights his foreign-policy steadiness: “His years of experience in foreign policy clearly showed….He was always focused, always commander in chief in that room.” More blame is placed on his inner circle, especially Jill Biden, whom Harris faults for pushing him beyond his limits—“the people who knew him best, should have realized that any campaign was a bridge too far.” Throughout, she highlights her own qualifications and dismisses suggestions that an open contest might have better served the party: “If they thought I was down with a mini primary or some other half-baked procedure, I was quick to disabuse them.” Facing Trump’s increasingly unhinged behavior, Harris never openly doubts her ability to confront him. Yet she doesn’t fully persuade the reader that she had the capacity to counter his dominance, suggesting instead that her defeat stemmed from a lack of time—a theme underscored by the urgency of the book’s title. If not entirely sanguine about the future, she maintains a clear-eyed view of the damage already done: “Perhaps so much damage that we will have to re-create our government…something leaner, swifter, and much more efficient.”
A determined if self-regarding portrait of a candidate striving to define herself and her campaign on her own terms.Pub Date: Sept. 23, 2025
ISBN: 9781668211656
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Sept. 23, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2025
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by Kamala Harris ; illustrated by Mechal Renee Roe
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