A unique architectural history well suited for enthusiasts of American history and international relations.
Peterson’s history explores the world of diplomacy, power, and democracy.
After World War II, one of the biggest perceived international threats was the rise of the Soviet Union and communism. In response, U.S. embassies built during the Cold War worked to celebrate and exemplify the virtues of democracy. Over 25 embassies were built during this period and, through an illustrated history of this architectural epoch, Peterson focuses on 12 of them, telling their stories chronologically. Beginning with the 1948 Harrison & Abramovitz–designed embassy in Rio de Janeiro and ending with the embassy in Dublin designed by John Johansen in 1957, the reader learns each building’s context, the story of its architect and design choices, as well as the critical reception. Perhaps most interesting is Peterson’s attention to the fate of the buildings: While the building in Dublin is still a working embassy, the one in Karachi was downgraded to a consulate hardly a year after it opened in 1960. Each chapter is fascinating (if sometimes a little formulaic), but the stories behind these embassies and Peterson’s lucid writing connect the threads of every building project to highlight how cultural diplomacy informed each one to become “symbols of American progress and technology, built in an era when the world admired American values and culture.” With its informative introduction and plethora of color photos, we learn, perhaps surprisingly, that the embassies were once sites of exhibitions and concerts. Most impressive is Peterson’s honesty in recounting the history surrounding these buildings: He does not shy from pointing out the hypocrisy of the United States espousing democracy abroad during the Cold War while civil rights of African Americans, for example, were violated at home. Peterson also calls attention to the flaws in some of these building designs. Though primarily concerned with the Cold War period, Peterson’s writing resonates with contemporary concerns in international diplomacy, such as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, firmly establishing that the importance of the American embassies covered in this book does not end with the turn of the 20th century.
A unique architectural history well suited for enthusiasts of American history and international relations.Pub Date: Sept. 19, 2023
ISBN: 9780578348032
Page Count: 171
Publisher: Onera Publishing
Review Posted Online: Aug. 17, 2023
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Dogged original research and superb narrative skills come together in this gripping account of pitiless evil.
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
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
BOOK TO SCREEN
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.
Words that made a nation.
Isaacson is known for expansive biographies of great thinkers (and Elon Musk), but here he pens a succinct, stimulating commentary on the Founding Fathers’ ode to “life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.” His close reading of the Declaration of Independence’s second sentence, published to mark the 250th anniversary of the document’s adoption, doesn’t downplay its “moral contradiction.” Thomas Jefferson enslaved hundreds of people yet called slavery “a cruel war against human nature” in his first draft of the Declaration. All but 15 of the document’s 56 signers owned enslaved people. While the sentence in question asserted “all men are created equal” and possess “unalienable rights,” the Founders “consciously and intentionally” excluded women, Native Americans, and enslaved people. And yet the sentence is powerful, Isaacson writes, because it names a young nation’s “aspirations.” He mounts a solid defense of what ought to be shared goals, among them economic fairness, “moral compassion,” and a willingness to compromise. “Democracy depends on this,” he writes. Isaacson is excellent when explaining how Enlightenment intellectuals abroad influenced the founders. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Declaration’s “five-person drafting committee,” stayed in David Hume’s home for a month in the early 1770s, “discussing ideas of natural rights” with the Scottish philosopher. Also strong is Isaacson’s discussion of the “edits and tweaks” made to Jefferson’s draft. As recommended by Franklin and others, the changes were substantial, leaving Jefferson “distraught.” Franklin, who emerges as the book’s hero, helped establish municipal services, founded a library, and encouraged religious diversity—the kind of civic-mindedness that we could use more of today, Isaacson reminds us.
A short, smart analysis of perhaps the most famous passage in American history reveals its potency and unfulfilled promise.Pub Date: Nov. 18, 2025
ISBN: 9781982181314
Page Count: 80
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Review Posted Online: Aug. 29, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2025
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
SEEN & HEARD
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