Gerald Posner
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.
Subscribe to 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
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How the woke right gained power in the US
Under the radar The term has grown in prominence since Donald Trump returned to the White House
By Chas Newkey-Burden, The Week UK
-
Codeword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily codeword puzzle
By The Week Staff
-
Crossword: April 24, 2025
The Week's daily crossword
By The Week Staff
-
Susan Page's 6 favorite books about historical figures who stood up to authority
Feature The USA Today's Washington bureau chief recommends works by Catherine Clinton, Alexei Navalny, and more
By The Week US
-
Ione Skye's 6 favorite books about love and loss
Feature The actress recommends works by James Baldwin, Nora Ephron, and more
By The Week US
-
Colum McCann's 6 favorite books that take place at sea
Feature The National Book Award-winning author recommends works by Ernest Hemingway, Herman Melville, and more
By The Week US
-
Max Allan Collins’ 6 favorite books that feature private detectives
Feature The mystery writer recommends works by Dashiell Hammett, Raymond Chandler, and more
By The Week US
-
John McWhorter’s 6 favorite books that are rooted in history
Feature The Columbia University professor recommends works by Lyla Sage, Sally Thorne, and more
By The Week US
-
Abdulrazak Gurnah's 6 favorite books about war and colonialism
Feature The Nobel Prize winner recommends works by Michael Ondaatje, Toni Morrison, and more
By The Week US
-
Elliot Ackerman’s 6 favorite books on war and duty
Feature The Marine veteran recommends works by Robert A. Heinlein, John le Carré, and more
By The Week US
-
Xochitl Gonzalez’s 6 favorite books that shaped her storytelling
Feature The best-selling author recommends works by Stephen King, Julian Barnes, and more
By The Week US