Gerald Posner is the author of Why America Slept: The Failure to Prevent 9/11. His other best-sellers include Case Closed, on the J.F.K. assassination, and Motown: Money, Power, Sex and Music.
The Warburgs by Ron Chernow (Vintage, $21). Forget about the Kennedys, this is a captivating soap opera revolving around a family every bit as anointed with great fortune, and intersecting the crossroads of fate and history. The fascinating anecdotes in this sometimes dark saga are worth revisiting time and again.
Other Powers by Barbara Goldsmith (Perennial, $16). Goldsmith’s talents for scrupulous research and vivid writing have never been better displayed than in this seductive biography of Victoria Woodhull, magnetic healer and clairvoyant. Goldsmith artfully weaves the politics of feminism in Victorian America against the raging spiritualist movement that swept the country.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer (Simon & Schuster, $25). It is now popular to criticize Shirer’s work as falling short in one area or another, but no single book has so effectively captured Nazi Germany’s broad historical sweep. It also benefits from Shirer’s own fine journalistic eye and his 1930s posting to Berlin.
The War Against the Jews by Lucy Dawidowicz (Bantam, $19). This seminal historical study is a benchmark in a field about which so much has been written. Dawidowicz successfully explores the lasting puzzle of how “decent” and sophisticated Germany embarked on history’s unparalleled war of annihilation. Every time I read this book, I want to trade in our VW Beetle.
The Power Broker by Robert A. Caro (Random House, $22). This doorstop of a book (almost 1,400 pages) thoroughly illuminates both Robert Moses the man and his startling accumulation of power, and also provides one of the most intimate and lively histories of New York ever printed.
Alice in Wonderland
-
Frauds: ‘fantastically stylish’ crime heist caper is a ‘triumph’The Week Recommends Suranne Jones and Jodie Whittaker play a pair of ex-cons planning one last job
-
The struggles of Aston MartinIn the Spotlight The car manufacturer, famous for its association with the James Bond franchise, is ‘running out of road’
-
The end of ‘golden ticket’ asylum rightsThe Explainer Refugees lose automatic right to bring family over and must ‘earn’ indefinite right to remain
-
Marisa Silver’s 6 favorite books that capture a lifetimeFeature The author recommends works by John Williams, Ian McEwan, and more
-
Lou Berney’s 6 favorite books with powerful storytellingFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Dorothy B. Hughes, James McBride, and more
-
Elizabeth Gilbert’s favorite books about women overcoming difficultiesFeature The author recommends works by Tove Jansson, Lauren Groff, and more
-
Fannie Flagg’s 6 favorite books that sparked her imaginationFeature The author recommends works by Johanna Spyri, John Steinbeck, and more
-
Jessica Francis Kane's 6 favorite books that prove less is moreFeature The author recommends works by Penelope Fitzgerald, Marie-Helene Bertino, and more
-
Keith McNally's 6 favorite books that have ambitious charactersFeature The London-born restaurateur recommends works by Leo Tolstoy, John le Carré, and more
-
Garrett Graff's 6 favorite books that shine new light on World War IIFeature The author recommends works by James D. Hornfischer, Craig L. Symonds, and more
-
Helen Schulman's 6 favorite collections of short storiesFeature The award-winning author recommends works by Raymond Carver, James Baldwin, and more
