About Book Marks
Recent Reviews
Erik Larson
Rave Booklist Compelling details, fresh perspectives, and lively writing make this a standout view of the antebellum and Civil War eras.
James Traub
Rave Booklist This corrective, vivid biography expands readers’ knowledge of Humphrey and chronicles how hard work and idealism can make things better.
Peter Stark
Positive Booklist A well-organized, vivid text ... [Stark\'s] capable summary of the War of 1812 in the West enriches frontier history while his insightful epilogue ties the past to the lives of present-day Native Americans.
Samuel G. Freedman
Positive Booklist Freedman opens and closes the book with vignettes about Humphrey’s later life, including his accomplishments as a U.S. senator, the criticism he endured for supporting the Vietnam war, his campaign against Richard Nixon in the 1968 presidential election after a tumultuous nominating convention in Chicago that catalyzed riots and police brutality, and his struggle with cancer. An illuminating look at an important yet overlooked facet of American history.
Jon Meacham
Positive Booklist Meacham’s expert biography enlarges the view of Lincoln’s life by vividly rendering mood and setting. Readers will feel menace hovering over Lincoln as he travels to Washington, D.C., for his first inauguration and imagine that they are in the crowd, mud, and sudden burst of sunlight at his second. Meacham’s portraits of Lincoln’s family and contemporaries include a more balanced view of Mary Lincoln than is usually offered and startling and unsettling examples of Andrew Johnson’s racism and drunkenness. Meacham’s clear, compelling, and detailed accounts of Lincoln’s childhood and the campaign for the 1864 election illuminate key aspects of his life that are not always covered. Meacham also greatly emphasizes Lincoln’s religious beliefs at every stage and shares some Lincoln witticisms not found elsewhere. The book is well-researched and up-to-date, and its informatively captioned maps, paintings, and photographs enhance the narrative. In the epilogue, Meacham traces Lincoln’s legacy to the present and concludes this fresh and revealing addition to the vast Lincoln canon with some of the best last words in any book.
Greg Steinmetz
Rave Booklist Vivid, witty, and well-researched ... Steinmetz chronicles his subject’s strengths and weaknesses within a rich historical context. He ably contrasts how Gould modernized financial markets and America’s economy and Gould’s willingness to try almost any ploy to get ahead. Readers will enjoy Steinmetz’s wonderful background sketches of the Gilded Age and appealing accounts of railroad history.
Keith Thomson
Rave Booklist Thomson eloquently proves Mark Twain’s oft-cited adage, \'Truth is stranger than fiction.\' Thanks to lively writing and thorough research, Thomson’s pirates burst from the pages as vividly and compellingly as those in the Pirates of the Caribbean film series rule the screen ... Thomson writes in punchy, short chapters, which often end with a cliffhanger, while black-and-white illustrations and maps help readers follow the voyages. The author also helpfully defines many arcane nautical terms, including a reveal about aargh and the origin of modern words like avocado and barbecue. The entertaining suspense and high energy continue to the very end.
Sam W Haynes
Positive Booklist Haynes’ history of early Texas goes beyond the usual focus on battles at the Alamo and San Jacinto, widening his scope to include all who lived in or emigrated to Texas. Instead of discussing Native Americans as a monolithic bloc, he portrays individuals from different tribes. Haynes also identifies the shifting policies of various factions in the complicated politics of newly independent Mexico, and explains how they affected relations with Texans. He illuminates the lives of Mexican settlers, African American freemen, and enslaved people, some of whom were illegal immigrants after Mexico passed a law to restrict American settlement ... With over 100 characters, the narrative can be challenging, requiring rereading or a visit to the index. Three maps and 30 illustrations complement the text. Haynes generously acknowledges the help of librarians and archivists in research, especially during the pandemic.
Jonathan W. White
Positive Booklist White describes, movingly, Lincoln’s meetings with many African Americans of all backgrounds, providing brief biographies of each participant and describing the conversation and its aftermath. Readers will perceive the sacred and the profane in White’s accounts of the historical context for these encounters. During this era, politicians, journalists, and the public often used biblical references in framing their opinions, yet their commentary was also laced with racial epithets.
Willard Sterne Randall
Rave Booklist The book’s strong organization, the conversion of colonial financial sums to modern dollars, and well-paced and lively writing make for an outstanding work of American history and a joy to read. Alongside the financial history, Randall’s account of the Founders’ world is compelling and highly readable, while his description of French aid during the revolution suggests that FDR got the Lend-Lease idea from Louis XVI. Randall’s dry wit drives the true stories of French police searching Ben Franklin’s underwear and Sam Adams’ beer career.
Noah Feldman
Positive Booklist Vignettes about slavery, the negotiators of the compromises, abolitionists, the Civil War, and beyond offer context for Feldman’s innovative legal analysis. In describing interactions among political groups, voting rights, diverse views of abolitionists, suspending habeas corpus, and censorship, Feldman offers insights strikingly relevant to today’s politics.