RaveChristian Science Monitor... an incisive, balanced, and engaging book that, while breaking no new political ground, gives insights into the complex job of governing. It also allows Obama to loosen up his famously cerebral image ... a deeply personal book that explains the values that propel Obama forward. Nothing counts more to him than being a good husband and parent.
Tom Holland
RaveThe Christian Science MonitorHolland is a supremely gifted writer ... Holland organizes this expansive and impressive book around a series of episodes that outline the emergence of Christianity, its growth, and the acceptance of its core values ... This is not a straightforward history of Christianity. Indeed, some of the most prominent events that would be central to such a volume, such as the Crusades and the Reformation, appear only in passing ... Importantly, Holland does not whitewash the extent to which Christianity has often veered far from the course its values should have demanded ... Holland’s book is extraordinarily wide ranging, and he writes with grace and verve. He blends an array of information and insights into a narrative that slowly but relentlessly builds his case that Christianity has shaped our thinking and standards in ways that we may not even recognize ... Dominion is an answer to the seemingly dispiriting times that we live in today. Though we are bombarded daily by news reports of suffering, hatred, intolerance, and violence, Holland’s view on the influence of Christianity is a hopeful and optimistic reminder.
Ibram X. Kendi
PositiveThe Christian Science MonitorDeftly weaving [Kendi\'s] personal experiences with the history of racism in America and current racial inequalities, he offers assessments of the ways that racism in America is shaped and perpetuated by power structures, ethnicity, culture, behavior, class, color, gender, sexuality, and ethnicity, and the steps he thinks we need to take to address them. It is a wide-ranging and often insightful discussion ... It is also a remarkably candid and deeply self-critical portrait ... Kendi, like any good academic, is clear about his terms and definitions ... Sometimes Kendi generalizes to the extent that complex policy issues are overly simplified ... Individual readers are likely to find much in How to Be an Antiracist that they agree with. Most will also find points or ideas that they disagree with. Regardless, this is a thought-provoking and insightful book even if it makes some readers uncomfortable. As such, it represents an important and necessary contribution to our understanding of racism in America.
David McCullough
RaveThe Christian Science MonitorResearch and analysis are woven into a seamless narrative that makes it an absolute joy to read ... While acknowledging his flaws, McCullough clearly likes and admires his subject and writes of him with great warmth and affection.
Robert Matzen
PositiveThe Christian Science MonitorAs with his earlier volumes, this book dives deep into a corner of his subject’s life that gets little attention from most biographers ... Despite extensive research, it is not a complete biography because it only examines one part of Hepburn’s life, albeit in great detail. Nor is it as fully satisfying as a history because it focuses on events primarily as Hepburn experienced them. But it offers a wonderfully complete and revealing character sketch of an individual who continues to fascinate millions around the world ... This entertaining and enlightening book adds another dimension to the legend of Audrey Hepburn.
Mary Gabriel
PositiveThe Christian Science MonitorGabriel investigates the role of several women who were central to the artistic milieu by weaving biography and social history into an engaging and seamless narrative. The result is a book that will expand and enrich understanding of Abstract Expressionism and shine a well-deserved spotlight on a handful of artists who deserve more visibility and recognition for their accomplishments.
Lynn Vincent and Sara Vladic
RaveThe Christian Science Monitor\"...a gripping and engaging tale that features grievous mistakes, extraordinary courage, unimaginable horror, and a cover-up ... Vincent and Vladic spent years talking to the dwindling band of survivors and giving voice to their stories. Some parts of this wonderful book – especially those involving the sailors in the water waiting for rescue – make for painful reading. But this exhaustive and comprehensive assessment is as complete an account of this tragic tale as we are likely to have. It is compelling history.\
Taylor Downing
RaveThe Christian Science MonitorThis is a complicated, multifaceted story and Downing deftly provides a complete and gripping account. He weaves together information from a wide array of sources and benefits from having access to new documents released in response to Freedom of Information requests. It reads like a thriller, even though the reader knows how it will turn out. The incident is important and deserves to be more widely known ... Ultimately, this book is a clear and compelling reminder of how much words and actions matter in international relations.
Benn Steil
RaveThe Christian Science Monitor\"Benn Steil’s new book, The Marshall Plan: Dawn of the Cold War is an important and welcome analysis of why and how the US became a global superpower and the difference it made to the world we inhabit … Steil makes a compelling case that the integration of Western Europe that we now take for granted really began with the Marshall Plan … This is a gripping, complex, and critically important story that is told with clarity and precision. The book is superbly documented and reflects an extraordinary level of research.\
Jed Perl
RaveThe Christian Science Monitor...Jed Perl, one of America’s most insightful and thoughtful art critics, has written a comprehensive and marvelous biography that clearly establishes Calder as one of the artistic giants of the 20th century. A gifted writer and a meticulous researcher, Perl’s rich prose brings Calder alive, both as an artist and person ...at this point – just as Calder enters his early 40s – that this important, rich and engrossing book ends. There is a second volume to come and it will be eagerly and deservedly anticipated ... Thanks to Perl’s superb book, Calder’s ubiquitous mobiles and stabiles will soon be regarded with far more insight, understanding, and appreciation than ever before.
Ron Chernow
RaveThe Christian Science Monitor...a magnificent book ... Indeed, after reading this deeply researched and superbly written volume, the reader will understand why Walt Whitman put Grant, along with Washington, Lincoln, and Ralph Waldo Emerson in his personal pantheon of great Americans ... Chernow’s special gift is to present a complete and compelling picture of his subjects. His biographies do not offer up marble deities on a pedestal; he gives us flesh and blood human beings and helps us understand what made them tick. Just as he did with George Washington and Alexander Hamilton, Chernow brings Ulysses S. Grant to life. At the end of the book, the reader feels as if he knows the man. This is richly rewarding and compelling reading.
Sean McMeekin
RaveThe Christian Science Monitor...a superb and eye-opening account of this important chapter in 20th century history that will be indispensable reading for those anxious to learn more about this seminal event and the aftershocks that followed ... The Russian Revolution is a carefully researched, well-written assessment of the complex and confusing events that did so much to shape the last century. McMeekin is a reliable guide to a complex story and the book moves seamlessly and clearly across a vast landscape of people and events.
Rory Stewart
PositiveThe Christian Science MonitorThroughout the journey, Stewart demonstrates a deep historical understanding of the land and describes the flora and fauna that he encounters with the precision of a botanist ... Woven throughout the book are deep and careful reflections on the relationship between government and the people it serves. The author deftly connects the historical lessons from his travels to the current international environment ... Some of the places he visits are obscure and the level of detail is, at times, more extensive than necessary. But this reflects Stewart’s desire to engage completely with the environment he encounters.
Heather Ann Thompson
RaveThe Christian Science Monitor...a magnificently comprehensive study of the incident ... Thompson’s book is a masterpiece of historical research; it is thoroughly researched, extensively documented and reads like a novel. Her sympathies clearly lie with the prisoners and the families of the hostages but the analysis is fair and evenhanded.
Max Hastings
RaveThe Christian Science MonitorHastings has written an authoritative and engaging book that will stand as the definitive single volume analysis of 'The Secret War' for years to come ... This is a marvelous book – smart, carefully and exhaustively researched and highly informative. Even those exceptionally knowledgeable about World War II will find it extremely valuable. It is compelling and fascinating reading.
