Nonfiction Reviews

MacMillan, author of the acclaimed Paris 1919, reminds readers that history matters: “It is particularly unfortunate that just as history is becoming more important in our public discussions, professional historians have largely been abandoning the field to amateurs.” According to MacMillan, this is a grave mistake. Governments and leaders use history to invent tradition and subvert the past. In a world hungry for heroes, badly researched historical biographies fly off bookstore shelves. In this highly readable and polished book, readers learn of the dangers of not properly tending to the past, of distorting it and ignoring inconvenient facts. If done correctly, history helps unlock the past in useful ways. The author explores the ways history has present meaning—not always constructively: in providing a sense of identity for groups, as a basis of nationalism or national pride, as a tool for redress of past wrongs and as an ideological tool. In this important work, we learn that history is more than presenting facts, it is about framing the past. This is a must read for anyone who wants to understand the importance of correctly understanding the past. (July 7)

In this accessible but overly ambitious debut, top consultant Andersen walks readers through a step-by-step guide to strategic thinking and action. She describes the process of formulating and executing strategy through the historical example of the 800-year-old castle at Criccieth, a massive construction project envisioned and overseen by Welsh nobleman Llewellyn Fawr. Through an imaginary narrative of Llewellyn's conversations with his wife and peers, Andersen culls the process of strategic thinking: clearly defining the challenge and considering the potential obstacles before taking action. While the castle analogy is appealing and helpful, midway through the book Andersen introduces case studies of several imagined companies to illustrate additional points, leaving the reader to wonder what happened to Llewellyn and his castle. Andersen's strong voice and experience in strategy coaching comes through, but she confuses her business reader with personal growth messages. In the end, her valuable lessons are watered down as she attempts too much by extending her deliberate thinking process beyond the business world to “Strategy as a Way of Life.” (June)

These swift, penetrating essays from former Los Angeles Times writer Arax (In My Father's Name) take the measure of contemporary California with a sure and supple hand, consciously but deservedly taking its place alongside Didion's and Saroyan's great social portraits. Expect the unexpected from Arax's reports up and down the state: on the last of the Okies, the latest migrants from Mexico, the tree-sitters of Berkeley, Bay Area conspiracy theorists, an Armenian chicken giant's infamous fall or the mammoth marijuana economy of Humboldt County, among much else. For Arax, a third-generation Californian of Armenian heritage who spent years covering the Central Valley as an investigative reporter, the state's outré reputation and self-representation are a complex dance of myth and memory that includes his own family lore and personal history. It's partly this personal connection, running subtly but consistently throughout, that pushes the collection past mere reportage to a high literary enterprise that beautifully integrates the private and idiosyncratic with the sweep of great historical forces. (May)

Cognitive ethologist Bekoff (The Emotional Lives of Animals) and philosopher Pierce (Morality Play) explore the moral lives of such commonly studied animals as primates, wolves, household rodents, elephants, dolphins—and a few uncommon critters as well. Citing too few examples (though the authors say that the more we look, the more we'll see) and too many term definitions, this book presents studies of rats refusing to obtain food if it means hurting another rat; the care given by chimpanzees to a chimp stricken by cerebral palsy; and comfort offered to grieving elephants by members of the same herd. The authors contend that, in order to understand the moral compass by which animals live, we must first expand our definition of morality to include moral behavior unique to each species. Studies done by the authors, as well as experts in the fields of psychology, human social intelligence, zoology and other branches of relevant science excellently bolster their claim. (May)

Amman and Peterson (coauthors, Eating Apes) offer a revelatory collection of photos and text on elephants. Ammann's photographs capture an astonishing range of elephant behavior, but Peterson's text—with its scope, synthesis of history and observation, précis of the ivory trade and conservation—is what distinguishes this book. He spins the history of elephant research into mini-mysteries of how scientists struggled to understand elephants' secretive behaviors. Why do male elephants vanish from time to time? Do elephants communicate infrasonically like blue whales? Peterson's awe and affection for the creatures is contagious—readers will be moved by his description of how females form life-long families (males are “isolated drifters”) and occasionally speak in choruses, in the elephant equivalent of “we.” The photographs and text complement each other beautifully in their respective odes to the “improbable” physicality of the elephant's body: the tusks, the trunk—an organ coordinated by 150,000 interlocking muscles used to suck water from parched riverbeds, console babies, communicate, grasp and convey emotion. A stunning testament to the “last of the giants standing, bereft, at the door of ancient time.” (May)

Sociologist Collins (Black Feminist Thought) argues that four dimensions of racial discrimination continue to characterize American society: structural, cultural, disciplinary and interpersonal, contending that symbolic victories such as the election of Obama and the success of black women like Oprah Winfrey and Condoleezza Rice are no substitute for substantive change. As the book's title suggests, attention is focused on public education, where sensitivity to minority group cultural characteristics is often lacking and racial disparities continue. Well-intentioned efforts at “forced assimilation” alienate minority group students who seek affirmation for their own distinctive perspectives. The author's personal experiences as a black woman and as a teacher enliven the book. She presents a variety of teaching tools: a classroom exercise “Lie Detector” that helped her to cultivate critical thinking in a sixth-grade class and other methods appropriate for college students. Despite such pedagogically useful material, the book, fashioned from a series of lectures given at Simmons College, remains an intellectually challenging monograph on race relations. While calling for “reimagining public education,” it offers few specifics for fashioning “another kind of public education.” (May)

Casey, Buenos Aires bureau chief for Dow Jones Newswires, tap dances across history and the globe to examine intellectual property and iconography through the lens of the famous image of Che Guevara captured by fashion photographer Alberto Korda. “Some say that only the famous photograph of Marilyn Monroe, her skirt rising as she stands over a subway grate, has been more reproduced,” writes Casey. The author does not neglect the relevant biographical details or history, but his focus is Che as a brand. He wants to understand why the Korda image remains so compelling to such a wide variety of people and how it continues to represent so many different (and differing) causes; he suggests that the power of Che, the brand, is in its ability to be anything to anyone. The book can feel like a disorderly amalgam of travelogue, visual criticism, biography and reportage—fragments befitting a study of globalized culture. Readers interested in the impact of visual culture or in better understanding the elusiveness of intellectual property rights, particularly in a global marketplace, will find much food for thought. (May)

In 2005, a, rancher and newspaper editor named Chris Simcox set out to maintain the border between the southwestern states and Mexico. He and his Minutemen Civil Defense Corps, dedicated to reporting undocumented migrants crossing into the U.S., were merely the latest in a lineage of self-appointed patriots patrolling the border. Nearly 100 years earlier, Harry Wheeler, an Arizona sheriff, stormed through Cochise County asking illegal residents, “Are you an American, or are you not?” before rounding them up in the Bisbee Deportation. At the turn of the last century, Cochise County represented the “New America” that emerged from the nation's incorporation of northwestern Mexico, the immigration of Europeans to work as miners and the passage of constitutional amendments loosening the racial strictures around citizenship. Benton-Cohen uses the backdrop of the Wild West, with its bustling commerce and growing population, to wage a discussion on racial division and the power of “white privilege”—even where the black-white dichotomy didn't necessarily exist—in this richly detailed anthropological look into the creation of racial boundaries and their application in present-day immigration reform debates. (May)

From his daring 1965 jail break at age 22 to his legendary career pilfering treasures from museums all over New England, Connor's life is the stuff of adventure novels. Now, with the aid of novelist Siler, the notorious art thief recounts his scores and sets the record straight on one of the biggest art heists ever—at Boston's Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum. The son of a cop, Connor grew up outside Boston. He developed a genuine appreciation for art—especially samurai swords—and after his first robbery, at the Forbes Museum in Milton, Mass., he never looked back. He stole a Rembrandt from Boston's Museum of Fine Arts in broad daylight and used it as a bargaining tool for a decreased prison sentence. Connor compares himself to Robin Hood: an art-world rogue who took pains to avoid violence and truly admired the pieces he stole. When asked whether he masterminded the Gardner heist, despite being behind bars at the time, he replied: “You would have known it was me. I would have taken the Titian.” (May)

This sprightly, if sometimes overblown, study finds the elusive hairy wildman of the Pacific Northwest lurking everywhere. Independent scholar Buhs (The Fire Ant Wars) skeptically but affectionately surveys the evidentiary traces of bigfoot and his yeti and Sasquatch kin in sightings, tracks, sideshow exhibits and film, but his focus is on the megapod as cultural signifier. To the white working-class men who are his biggest fans, Buhs contends, bigfoot is an icon of untamed masculinity, a populist rebel against scientific elites, the last champion of authentic reality against a plastic, image-driven, effeminate consumer society. (Ironically, Buhs notes, bigfoot's career as advertising mascot and tabloid teaser also makes him a touchstone of consumerism.) Buhs's rote application of race-class-gender theory—”By imagining themselves into the body of Sasquatch, white working-class men could imagine themselves as black, as women, could come in contact with... repressed and forbidden desires”—yields more academic cant than insight; his oft-invoked white proles feel almost as legendary and stereotyped as the creature itself. Buhs is at his amused best when following the exploits of bigfoot's human handlers—the colorful band of true believers, hoaxers and pseudo-documentarists who constructed this greatest of all shaggy-hominid stories. 35 b&w photos. (May)

After writing two books about Helen Keller, historian Nielsen (The Radical Lives of Helen Keller) vowed she “would never again write anything even remotely related to her.” Fortunately, she couldn't help herself: upon reviewing the letters of Keller's teacher, Anne Sullivan Macy, Nielsen “became convinced [we] had shortchanged the woman known only as the teacher of Helen Keller.” Through Sullivan's correspondence and notes, Nielsen remedies this lack with a “lightly fictionalized” autobiography drawing on the written impressions of Keller and others. Nielsen devotedly chronicles Sullivan's emergence as an opinionated and intelligent if troubled woman who was born poor, afflicted early on with a debilitating eye disease and abandoned to an almshouse after her mother's death. Luck and innate ability plucked her out of the asylum and placed her in the classroom. But Nielsen concedes that Sullivan's relationship with Keller took center stage in both the public consciousness and private life. Citing historical uncertainty, Nielsen self-consciously skims over Sullivan's early teaching methods, including that iconic moment at the water pump—the very moment we all wonder about. 4 b&w photos. (May)

BBC correspondent Johnston really gets involved in the story in this absorbing collection of reports, originally for broadcast, from Gaza and other Middle East hotspots. In 2007, he was seized in Gaza by an obscure Palestinian militia and held for 114 days by moody guards who subjected him to death threats and occasional violence; he persevered with a determined, positive-thinking regimen and support from an international campaign. It's a tale that Americans who think of Gaza only as an incomprehensible hellhole might expect, except that Johnston embeds his ordeal amid nuanced, sympathetic reporting that makes the region's travails all too understandable. He introduces Palestinians and Israelis hardened in their hatreds of each other, observes families grieving over children caught in the crossfire and takes us to a beach where Gazans get a break from Gaza. Johnston includes dispatches from Afghanistan under Taliban rule, in which he elegizes Kabul's once vibrant university and dodges Taliban beard inspectors. And he reports from Central Asia on Samarkand's architectural splendors and Mongolia's undying nomad culture. These radio pieces are a bit slender and out of date, but they intimately convey the human reality behind the dire headlines. Photos. (May)

Some books are easy companions, and this essay collection, in which Spiegelman speaks affectionately of them, can join their ranks. His top seven picks for happiness are reading, walking, looking, dancing, listening, swimming and writing—activities that are free and accessible to anyone with a library card and a pair of comfortable shoes. As old-fashioned, and occasionally charming, as a Lawrence Welk waltz, Spiegelman proclaims his suspicion of new technology that might replace the book and regrets dancing that doesn't involve a partner and a prescribed step. “To today's sufferers, melancholics, and ordinary neurotics, can we safely say, 'Throw out your Prozac, pick up your Wordsworth?' The advice would revolutionize the health industry.” Spiegelman, editor of the Southwest Review and professor of English at Southern Methodist University, is no self-help guru, but he is an intelligent, well-read and kindly soul. Back in the good old days, he found a set of activities that made him happy, and knows he's not the first to write on these subjects. But can a happiness-obsessed society accept that the simple act of looking at one painting all afternoon can make all the difference? (May)

Bestselling word maven O'Conner (Woe Is I) is that rare grammarian who values clear, natural expression over the mindless application of rules. In her latest compendium, she debunks the hoariest of false strictures, many of them concocted by evil latter-day pedants seeking to bind the supple English tongue with the fetters of Latinate grammar. A preposition, she proclaims, is a fine thing to end a sentence with. To deftly split an infinitive is no crime to her. And starting a sentence with a conjunction gets her approval, as well as Shakespeare's. Other misconceptions she targets include the idea that “woman” has a sexist etymology and that the British speak a purer form of English than do Americans,. Ranging through the history of English from Beowulf to the latest neologisms, the author accepts change in a democratic spirit; proper English, she contends, is what the majority of us say it is (though she can't resist making a traditionalist plea to preserve favored words like “unique” and “ironic” from corruption). Writers will appreciate O'Conner's liberating, common-sense approach to the language, and readers the entertaining sprightliness of her prose. (May 5)

Birds do it, bees do it, but why do humans do it? In this wide-ranging look at the evolutionary reasons for sex, physiologist and evolutionary biologist Moalem says that it's all about shuffling the gene pool and getting rid of any unwelcome guests, such as viruses, that may have latched onto human DNA. But why is one particular person attracted to another? Moalem relays the latest research showing that smell plays a very important role in attraction, and that even our genes may influence one's smell, and thus a person's desirability, to others. Scientists have found that women tend to be attracted to different types of men at different points in their ovulation cycles (dark and handsome hunks at their height; sensitive, care-giving types at other times). Moalem (Survival of the Sickest) whizzes through his discussion of homosexuality, neglecting angles that would have added to the book, but readers will find thought-provoking material in his chapter on differences in sexual anatomy and on how chromosomes and body parts aren't always what we expect them to be. Moalem writes fluidly for the general reader, and when he necessarily goes into graphic detail, he does it gracefully. (May)

In this rich study, British historian Moorhouse (Great Harry's Navy) portrays the destruction of England's 650 Catholic monasteries and nunneries in the 1530s as a brazen smash-and-grab by a cash-strapped King Henry and his crafty vicar-general, Thomas Cromwell. After a beady-eyed inventory of assets by Cromwell's lawyer-accountants, Moorhouse notes, religious houses were seized or semivoluntarily “surrendered” to the Crown by terrified abbots, their occupants dispersed, their estates auctioned off, their shrines vandalized and buildings demolished, their jewelry and chalices sent to the royal treasury. Moorhouse finds continuity amid the upheaval by focusing on Durham Priory, a Benedictine monastery with a celebrated cathedral, that survived to become an Anglican Deanery. Drawing on monastic archives, the author vividly recreates the Priory's close-knit community and the warmth and grandeur of its Catholic observances —whose spirit, he contends, infused the Anglican era. His story is partly about the triumph of modernity, with its mercenary logic and remorseless bureaucracy, over medieval values of tradition and sacredness. But as it mourns what was lost in the English Reformation, Moorhouse's absorbing account takes stock of what was not. Photos. (May)

In an effort to prove that he's a regular ole gourmand like the rest of us, Flay (Iron Chef, restaurateur and prolific cookbook author) makes a simple and wholly effective statement, “A cheeseburger with fries and a shake. Done right, it doesn't get much better than that.” Toward that end, here are tips on the best meat, potato and ice cream to employ, and instruction on the preferred ways to grill, deep-fry and blend. Full-page, full-color photos make options like the Greek burger (with feta cheese and Greek yogurt) and the garlic butter burger even more seductive than their toppings do already. There are fries of every thickness and even onion rings get their due. Both beer-battered and buttermilk are explored. Of course, Flay wouldn't be Flay without a chapter on condiments and seasonings so chipotle ketchup, red chili mustard and 14 others are at hand. Another reason why this collection is so satisfying: put the word milkshake in the name of any recipe and there is no turning away. Blackberry cheesecake milkshake is a must-have before even knowing that cream cheese and lemon zest are involved. The peanut butter-banana-marshmallow milkshake is puffed with Marshmallow Fluff, while the peach Bellini milkshake uses a blend of whole milk and peaches instead of ice cream, and is set afizz with Champagne. (Apr.)

The foods we eat and the ways we buy, store and prepare them are significant contributors to global warming. This information-packed volume, from cookbook author and newgreenbasics.com founder Heyhoe, provides detailed guidance for those looking to make their cooking and eating habits earth-friendlier. Heyhoe has thought long and hard about this topic—she cites myriad inspirations (from environmentalists to food scientists like Harold McGee and The New Basics Cookbook) and compelling statistics (“less than 7 percent of the energy consumed by a gas oven goes to the food”) that led her to develop the concept of a “cookprint” (the foodie version of an environmental footprint) and this guide to shrinking it. The book covers everything from appliances and cookware to shopping, ingredients (including details on the impact of meat and seafood on the planet), cooking techniques and cutting down on waste, and answers the questions that many aspiring eco-friendly types have probably wondered about—like which kind of grill is the greenest. At the end there's also a no-frills recipe section with dishes such as ginger chicken and broth, passively poached, short-cut lasagna and true skillet cornbread—all featuring a “Green Meter”—that put into practice what Heyhoe preaches. (Apr.)

Former radio show cohosts and authors (The Mommy Chronicles), Ellington and Triplett are an odd couple—best friends with differing views who happened to have been pregnant at the same time. Ellington is the organized stay-at-home mom who ended up bottle feeding and preferred her baby to sleep in a crib; Triplett is a working mom who breastfed and embraced the family bed. Together they prove that there's “no one right way to be a good mom,” as they dole out advice on an array of topics ranging from recovering from the giving birth to dealing with “sticky decisions” like whether to let kids eat Pop Tarts for breakfast. While the authors have thoroughly researched their material, they've also lived it, and along with tips from medical experts and other resources, they include insider advice readers won't hear from their pediatricians (i.e., to avoid embarrassment, practice collapsing the stroller before going out in public). Though the two occasionally disagree, they do so in a genial manner that demonstrates how working and stay-at-home moms can get along and learn from one another. They also offer an occasional tip for dads (i.e., after the delivery, “you can never go wrong with diamonds”). This breezy, chatty read is filled with practical information as well as laughs. (Apr.)

Family therapist, author and boy advocate Gurian (The Wonder of Boys; The Minds of Boys) observes that many boys are struggling to find a sense of purpose, and society has not sufficiently stepped up to the plate to help. Gurian paints a grim picture of boys who have lost their footing; many are failing in school; turning to drugs, alcohol or gangs; and engaging in violent behavior. Gurian attributes this disturbing trend to a lack of purpose and urges parents to help their male offspring channel their energies into productive lives. By employing a three-family system, Gurian argues, parents can join together with other adults—leaders, mentors, coaches—and such institutions as schools and churches, to help boys refocus and get back on track. The author offers practical suggestions for helping parents address boys' needs, tackling such issues as sexuality, work and overuse of electronic media. Particularly useful are Gurian's boxed questions for discussion, which will help parents and educators communicate directly with boys themselves. He also includes suggestions to help boys succeed in academic settings, for example, using movement, project-driven curricula and debate. Gurian's team approach to raising a son gives parents the tools and encouragement they need to help boys find direction and fulfillment. (Apr.)

Based on the work of her mentor, mind-body pioneer Moshe Feldenkrais, dancer and clinical psychologist Baniel developed a program she has used with clients, including professional musicians, athletes and learning-disabled children. Articulating and amplifying Feldenkrais's system, Baniel's method consists of nine ways to overcome dysfunctional mind-body connections that prevent people of all ages from feeling life-enhancing vitality and optimal health: moving with attention; turning on the “learning switch”; experiencing subtlety; breaking harmful habits through variation; living more slowly; setting flexible goals; firing enthusiasm; using the imagination; and cultivating awareness. Citing research into neurogenesis, Baniel contends that brain growth can be stimulated with such simple yet paradoxical shifts as making gains without pain, reducing force to increase power and solving problems by daydreaming. By taking quizzes, then doing gentle physical movements and brain exercises, readers can test Baniel's theories for themselves, as well as read personal success stories. Baniel's compassionate and empowering approach will leave readers, particularly those with problems defying traditional treatment (chronic pain, mental and emotional trauma) eager to forge positive communication pathways between the body and the mind. (Apr.)

Known to viewers of HBO's Sex and the City as the doctor Charlotte consults on fertility, Ni (Secrets of Longevity) is a 38th-generation doctor of traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) who practices acupuncture in Southern California. Based on the Chinese concept of rebirth, or “second spring,” offered to women at midlife, Ni's program for treating menopausal symptoms and preventing age-related disease is a battery of multitasking foods, herbs and supplements; dietary guidelines; stress-relieving strategies; beauty treatments; brain exercises; and tips on creating a healthy environment. Drawing contrasts between Eastern and Western protocols, Ni introduces the Chinese elemental constitutional types to help readers personalize regimes. His DIY arsenal includes acupressure, qi gong and tai chi, herbal tonics, meditation and color therapy. Divided into concise, one-page sections, chapters address holistically specific aspects of midlife change. Readers seeking simple, effective natural treatments for menopause and beyond have a windfall here and will benefit by using it with such essential volumes as Barbara Seaman's No-Nonsense Guide to Menopause. (Apr.)

These two memoirs explore life with an autistic family member.

Sibling rivalry—and love—of a ravaging kind is the subject of this unsparing memoir of the author's life with his severely autistic brother. Journalist Greenfeld (Standard Deviations) describes his brother, Noah, as a “spitting, jibbering, finger-twiddling, head-bobbing idiot”; unable to speak or clean himself and given to violent tantrums, Noah and his utter indifference to others makes him permanently “alone.” But Karl feels almost as alienated; with his parents preoccupied with Noah's needs (and Noah's celebrity after his father, Joshua, wrote a bestselling account of his illness in A Child Called Noah), he turns to drugs and petty crime in the teenage wasteland of suburban Los Angeles. Greenfeld doesn't flinch in his depiction of Noah's raging dysfunctions or his critique of a callous mental health-care system and arrogant autism-research establishment. (He's especially hard on the psychoanalytic theories of the “Viennese charlatan” Bruno Bettelheim.) But the author's self-portrait is equally lacerating; he often wallows in self-pity—“I return home stoned, drunk, puking on myself as I sit defecating into the toilet, crying to my parents... that I am a failure”—and owns up to the coldness that Noah's condition can provoke in him. The result is a bleak but affecting chronicle of a family simultaneously shattered and bound tight by autism. (May)

In this intense, polished account, the Austin, Tex., parents of an autistic boy trek to the Mongolian steppes to consult shamans in a last-ditch effort to alter his unraveling behavior. Author Isaacson (The Healing Land) and his wife, Kristin, a psychology professor, were told that the developmental delays of their young son, Rowan, were caused by autism. Floored, the parents scrambled to find therapy, which was costly and seemed punitive, when Isaacson, an experienced rider and trainer of horses from his youth in England, hoisted Rowan up in the saddle with him and took therapeutic rides on Betsy, the neighbor's horse. The repetitive rocking and balance stimulation boosted Rowan's language ability; inspired by the results, as well as encouraged by such experts as Temple Grandin and Isaacson's own experience working with African shamans, Isaacson hit on the self-described crazy idea of taking Rowan to the original horse people, the Mongolians, and find shamans who could help heal their son. The family went in July, accompanied conveniently by a film crew and van, which five-year-old Rowan often refused to leave, and over several rugged weeks rode up mountains, forded rivers and camped, while enduring strange shamanic ceremonies. Isaacson records heartening improvement in Rowan's firestormlike tantrums and incontinence, as he taps into an ancient, valuable form of spirit healing. (Apr.)