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Making Haste from Babylon: The Mayflower Pilgrims and Their World: A New HistoryNick Bunker. Knopf, $30 (400p) ISBN 978-0-307-26682-8

This superb book secures for the Pilgrims their iconic perch among the earliest founders of colonial America. Bunker, a British investment banker turned journalist, has succeeded in writing a major history, unprecedented in its sweep, of the Plymouth Colony, a history centered on the 1620s but not exclusive to that decade. If short on interpretation and on the drama inherent in the settlers' enterprise, it is long on facts. Bunker takes his history in two directions, downward into some never before used archives (which allows him to add detail and texture), and outward into the entire world context of the Pilgrim settlements. Never before has such a comprehensive and thoroughly researched study of the subject appeared. If sometimes fatiguing by the volume of detail (e.g., in a disquisition on one settlement, directions to the site include “turn left at the Dunkin' Donuts”), it scoops up every relevant character and links all to the basic tale of indomitable courage, religious faith, commercial ambition, international rivalry, and domestic politics. The results are stunning. Certain to be the dominating work on the Pilgrims for decades. 20 illus., 4 maps. (Apr.)

Blood Secrets: A Forensic Expert Reveals How Blood Spatter Tells the Crime Scene's StoryRod Englert with Kathy Passero, foreword by Ann Rule. St. Martin's/Dunne, $25.99 (288p) ISBN 978-0-312-56400-1

Proving that one person's bloody mess is another's treasure trove of clues, blood spatter analyst Englert takes readers on a fascinating journey into the study of crimson drops. Englert's first encounter with blood—and the stories it can tell—came when, as a young cop, he mistakenly assumed a bloody corpse had been the victim of an ax attack; in reality the victim had succumbed to a particularly nasty case of bleeding ulcers. He educated himself about the behavior of blood by recreating crime scenes in his Oregon barn using cow's blood and attending every available seminar on the subject. Englert presents case studies for each principle he discusses, from the varying velocities of blood spatter to the trajectory of a killer's bullet. It's easy to see why he's a favorite expert witness of prosecutors around the country, even in celebrity cases like O.J. Simpson's and Robert Blake's. With the help of reporter Passero, Englert deftly balances real-life examples and detailed scientific analysis, giving readers a richer understanding of this developing avenue of forensic science. 11 b&w photos. (Apr.)

The Eerie Silence: Renewing Our Search for Alien IntelligencePaul Davies. Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, $27 (288p) ISBN 978-0-547-13324-9

In what has become known as Fermi's Paradox, the great nuclear physicist Enrico Fermi once asked, if there are aliens out there, where is everybody? After 50 years of looking, the SETI (Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence) project has likewise failed to find anybody. Cosmologist Davies (The Mind of God), winner of the 1995 Templeton Prize, believes that SETI's search for narrow-band radio signals from planets around other stars needs to be broadened to look for other possible signs of life. Aliens may be using far more advanced technology than radio to signal the cosmos, such as manipulating pulsars to act as beacons or even neutrino signaling. Davies also puts forth the possibility that alien probes may be silently trolling the solar system. The author surveys popular topics in science fiction such as Dyson spheres, time travel, and wormholes, and decides that they're not feasible under physics as we understand it. He concludes with a far-ranging look at what might happen here on Earth when we make first contact. Highly recommended for both science fiction and astronomy buffs. Illus. (Apr. 13)

Door to the River: Essays & Reviews from the 1960s into the Digital AgeAram Saroyan. Godine/Black Sparrow, $17.95 paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-56792-396-4

Cobbled together from old reviews and essays, a 2000 lecture about writing, his post-9/11 journal, and some newer work, this short collection presents poet and biographer Saroyan's (Complete Minimal Poems) reflections on writing, politics, and poetics. Saroyan, who in 1965 created his self-described “notorious one-word poem,” “lighght,” proves prolix in his prose. He implies that the L.A. Times rejected his post-9/11 pieces because of his anti—Bush administration stance. His style is repetitive—for instance, he says three times in 10 pages that the “Star Wars” missile shield wouldn't have protected us on 9/11. Another piece, “Shifting Light,” is Saroyan's somewhat hazy attempt to tie the theory of relativity, infinity, the speed of light, and quantum mechanics to perception, death, and “self-dispossession.” Still, there are occasional gems. About a Giacometti work, Saroyan writes: “There is that sculpture of the dog, ravaged by [the light] as if about to disappear in it, and still just a dog, in the swing of his trot.” Readers well versed in poetry schools of the 20th century may enjoy his remarks; those less knowledgeable will want easy access to Google (for example, “H.D.” goes unexplained). (Apr.)

The Daughter Trap: Taking Care of Mom and DadLaurel Kennedy. St. Martin's/Dunne, $25.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-38510-1

Is caring for elderly parents the responsibility of families, government, nonprofit groups, religious organizations, business, the community—or all of the above? Kennedy, founder of the Boomer consulting firm Age Lessons, says “all of the above” in this scattershot polemic, not quite a call to arms and not quite a practical guide for adults facing the problems of helping older parents near the end of life. The author's argument that daughters, or daughters-in-law, are the primary caregivers for elderly parents, is contradicted by a Met Life survey she cites showing that 40% of caregivers are men; as well, she devotes a chapter to sons who provide care. Kennedy asserts that the women who fought for child-care services 30 years ago should now form a movement for elder care, yet that child care movement was far less successful than she claims. Most of the book argues points that are already obvious to caregivers, yet the part of her case that is aimed more at policymakers is too thin to be persuasive. Her practical suggestions are scattered and often dependent on persuading businesses to support caregiving employees. (Apr.)

Mint Condition: How Baseball Cards Became an American ObsessionDave Jamieson. Atlantic Monthly, $25 (336p) ISBN 978-0-8021-1939-1

“It's a form of megalomania, of course,” one famous card collector once said of his hobby—and, as Jamieson explains, there are plenty of people willing to cash in on collectors' obsessions; the secondary market for baseball cards may be as much as a half-billion dollars annually. It used to be even stronger: Jamieson got interested in the history of baseball cards when he rediscovered his own adolescent stash only to find that its value had plummeted in the mid-1990s. His loss is our gain as he tracks the evolution of the card from its first appearance in cigarette packs in the late 19th century through the introduction of bubble gum and up to the present. The historical narrative is livened by several interviews, including conversations with the two men who launched Topps (for decades the first name in cards) and a collector who's dealt in million-dollar cards. Jamieson also digresses neatly into curiosities like the “Horrors of War” card set, the legendary “Mars Attacks,” and a profanity-laced card featuring Cal Ripken's little brother. It's a fun read, but it also shows just how much serious work went into sustaining this one corner of pop culture ephemera. (Apr.)

Bridges: The Science and Art of the World's Most Inspiring StructuresDavid Blockley. Oxford Univ., $29.95 (288p) ISBN 978-0-19-954359-5

In this fascinating exploration for lay readers, Blockley lucidly explains both the basic forces at work on every bridge—tension, compression, and shear—and the structural elements combating those forces: beams, arches, trusses, and suspension cables. He succeeds in his desire to “read a bridge like a book.” Following fellow civil engineers and writers David Billington and Henry Petroski, Blockley makes clear that engineers as much as architects and scientists design bridges and that technology is not merely “applied science.” The author provides an excellent history of bridge construction, from primitive rope bridges and Roman aqueducts to 19th- and 20th-century railroad bridges and contemporary achievements like Japan's Akashi-Kaiky Bridge, which has the largest central span of any suspension bridge. The author also discusses important bridge failures and the lessons learned from them, including the Minnesota I-35 bridge, and the less seriously damaged London Millennium Bridge, which was closed for two years after opening day's huge crowds caused wobbling. Blockley concludes that bridges do not merely transport people and goods but also “help us express some of our deepest emotions.” Bold, insightful statements help make this a remarkable work. 50 b&w illus. (Mar.)

The Battery: How Portable Power Sparked a Technological RevolutionHenry Schlesinger. HarperCollins/Smithsonian, $24.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-06-144293-3

Obscured by the handheld electronic devices that pervade our high-tech culture is the battery that powers them all. Technology journalist Schlesinger provides an illuminating historical account of a device whose enormous influence has been downplayed or misunderstood. The term “battery” is attributed to Benjamin Franklin, who arranged Leyden jars in a manner akin to a battery of cannon. But possible early electrochemical batteries—the centuries-old Baghdad batteries—discovered by archeologists in the 1930s remain controversial, as the appendix details. Schlesinger (Spycraft) discusses the battery's evolution from the Italian Alessandro Volta's early 19th-century copper and zinc model through 21st-century advances in nanotechnology. In 1800 Volta constructed his famous “pile” of metal discs; touching each end generated a shock that could then be repeated. Yet the process remained mysterious for decades. While electric outlets replaced batteries in much of the 20th century, that process has recently been reversed, as laptop users surely appreciate. Combining enormous learning with a lively and entertaining style, this book deserves a wide general readership. 30 b&w line drawings. (Mar.)

Enlightening the World: The Creation of the Statue of LibertyYasmin Sabina Khan. Cornell Univ., $24.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-8014-4851-5

Despite countless publications on New York harbor's Statue of Liberty, no previous study has detailed its complex history. Independent scholar Khan ably fills this gap with a lucid account connecting France's widespread grief over Abraham Lincoln's 1865 assassination with that country's own struggles to establish a lasting democracy. Khan shows how Édouard-René Lefebvre de Laboulaye, a legal scholar and celebrant of French-American friendship, led others to design and construct what was officially called Liberty Enlightening the World. Other principals included the distinguished sculptor Auguste Bartholdi; visionary engineer Gustave Eiffel; prominent architect Richard Morris Hunt; and powerful publisher and fund-raiser Joseph Pulitzer. Khan sketches their lives plus that of Emma Lazarus, whose famous sonnet was added to the statue's pedestal in 1903. Khan suggests that the statue's crown of rays may derive from Benjamin Franklin's image of a sun rising over the new republic and that the broken chain under Lady Liberty's foot symbolizes slavery's abolition after the Civil War. Also intriguing were denunciations by women and African-Americans alike of the opening-day ceremonies as exaggerating the nation's commitment to liberty for all An important book for general audiences. B&w photos. (Mar.)

Agatha Christie's Secret Notebooks: Fifty Years of Mysteries in the MakingJohn Curran. Harper, $25.99 (496p) ISBN 978-0-06-198836-3

Curran, longtime literary adviser to the Agatha Christie estate, painstakingly describes and excerpts the private notebooks of one of the most influential names in detective fiction. Casual or even moderately well-versed fans of Christie may find themselves overwhelmed by the sheer volume of minutiae Curran extracts from the 73 notebooks the author maintained. His effort, however, is admirable: the majority of the notebook entries lack dates and often jump between novels and stories written years apart, and Christie's handwriting is at times akin to shorthand. The most fascinating aspect of the notebooks is the rare glimpse they allow into the mind of a writer, especially one as imaginative as Christie, who, though not a prose stylist, was expert at devising intricate plots. For example, in the notebooks, she poses questions to herself (“how should all this be approached?” “Who is killed?” and “Someone shot or stalked at school Sports?”) while mapping out the novel Cat Among the Pigeons. The inclusion of two rare short stories featuring Hercule Poirot makes this an appealing read for Christie-philes. B&w photos. (Mar. 1)

Poetry in Person: Twenty-Five Years of Conversation with America's Poets Edited by Alexander Neubauer. Knopf, $27.95 (352p) ISBN 978-0-307-26967-6

For almost 30 years, beginning in 1970, Pearl London taught a course at the New School called “Works in Progress,” to which she asked famous poets to come with drafts of new poems in hand. This book is a series of transcripts of discussions from those classes, taken from a series of previously unknown recordings found after London's death and edited by Neubauer (Nature's Thumbprint). Represented in these 23 conversations are such acknowledged masters of late 20th—century poetry as Robert Hass, Lucille Clifton, Amy Clampitt, and Charles Simic. London was a probing, highly intelligent reader who coaxes statements from her poets that perhaps no one else could: “We both love and hate our parents, and it's difficult to accept that because we would like only to love them,” Frank Bidart tells her. She goads Edward Hirsch into saying, “I feel unmasked! I want to put my jacket on.” More than anything else, though, she gets poets to explain their craft in sometimes shockingly clear terms, as when Muriel Rukeyser states, “A poem is not about anything, as you who have been working in poems surely know.” 22 photos. (Mar. 18)

Conspirator: Lenin in ExileHelen Rappaport. Basic, $27.95 (416p) ISBN 978-0-465-01395-1

Russia-specialist Rappaport (The Last Days of the Romanovs) has created a wonderfully thorough and highly interesting account of V.I. Lenin's purposeful wanderings in Europe before the Russian revolution. Lenin emerges as the quintessential fanatic, convinced of his own infallibility as a messiah of Marxism. Charismatic and driven, he captivates individuals and seizes control of the “Bolshevik” wing of the Russian Social Democratic Labor Party. Viewing himself as the embodiment of revolution, Lenin established underground operations in Munich, Geneva, London, Paris, and numerous other locations while feuding with anyone who dared question his approach (“We won't permit the idea of unity [with the Mensheviks] to tie a noose around our necks,” he said). His stoically loyal wife, Nadezhda Krupskaya provided her “Volodya” with constant support as he imposed his will on the Bolsheviks and, ultimately, on an entire nation. Too much attention is given to Lenin's affair with the beautiful, tragic Inessa Armand, but, on the other hand, some may find poetic justice in reading that Lenin very likely died of syphilis. (Mar.)

The Social Agent: A True Intrigue of Sex, Spies, and Heartbreak Behind the Iron CurtainCharles Lawrence. Ivan R. Dee, $26 (288p) ISBN 978-1-56663-845-6

Looking back at the espionage game in 1950s Prague, Lawrence, whose father was a high-ranking British diplomat, places his family squarely in a social and historical context amid repressive secret police, family secrets, and tragedy. A former foreign correspondent for the London Telegraph, Lawrence paints candid portraits of his cool, aloof father, his emotionally needy mother, and his older sister, who was starving herself to death. One of the most fascinating characters is double agent Jiri Mucha, the flamboyant son of famed art nouveau painter Alphonse Mucha, who is at the core of the narrative. He had friendships with such luminaries as Philip Roth, Peter Ustinov, Andy Warhol, Graham Greene, and Dylan Thomas. Researching “old spook files,” Lawrence tries to uncover whether Mucha spied for the Czech secret police and seduced Lawrence's mother, and he finds many more questions than answers. A snapshot of a time and place filled with spies, Stalinist tyranny, and deadly Iron Curtain antics, Lawrence's recollections of his family and their bittersweet taste of the Czech diplomatic life are crisp and pull no punches—about Mucha or his own family. (Mar.)

They Fought for Each Other: The Triumph and Tragedy of the Hardest Hit Unit in IraqKelly Kennedy. St. Martin's, $24.99 (336p) ISBN 978-0-312-57076-7

Journalist and former soldier Kennedy makes a solid contribution to a growing body of frontline reportage from Iraq in this account based on her series of articles in Army Times. The book tells the story of a rifle company's fight against long odds in a Baghdad neighborhood. Adhamiya was No One's Land, a place of random violence dominated by insurgents and criminals. The 1/26th Infantry did 15 months there, took more casualties than any U.S. battalion since Vietnam, and completed its tour with at least a simulacrum of civil order restored. Kennedy's account of Adhamiya's costs to Charlie Company is shaped by her own military service in Desert Storm. Urban combat, counterinsurgency, and civic action combined in a toxic brew that made mental health injuries more prevalent than physical ones. But to endure the “fears, nightmares and grief,” men had to look out for each other. That mutual caring brought Charlie Company through. It gives Kennedy her title, informs her work, and above all reaffirms the scars war leaves on those who fight. 8 pages of b&w photos. (Mar. 2)

Difficult Personalities: A Practical Guide to Managing the Hurtful Behavior of Others (and Maybe Your Own)Helen McGrath and Hazel Edwards, Experiment (PGW, dist.), $14.95 paper (304p) ISBN 978-1-61519-013-3

What do you get when a clinical psychologist (McGrath) and an experienced author of adult and children's literature (Edwards) team up to write a handbook for dealing with troublesome people at work or in one's personal life? You get a no-frills resource that is both easy to understand and highly informative. As with many such manuals, it's not necessary to read cover to cover (especially when the book's only shortcoming is its slightly repetitive tips and strategies) but, rather, to read the chapter about whichever personality causes stress in your life, from the anxious to the passive-aggressive, bullies, and narcissists. Whether the problem person is a chronic complainer, a fount of insults, or a perpetual martyr, you are guaranteed to find in-depth analysis, including what they do, why they do it, and strategies to help cope with that person in a positive, healthy way. The authors also have advice for people who recognize bothersome traits in themselves. McGrath and Edwards have avoided scientific jargon and created a handbook people can put to use immediately. There's nothing difficult about this book, except for the subject it gracefully explicates. (Mar.)

Fifty-nine in '84: Old Hoss Radbourn, Barehanded Baseball and the Greatest Season a Pitcher Ever HadEdward Achorn. Smithsonian, $25.99 (384p) ISBN 978-0-06-182586-6

In his first book, Achorn, an editor at the New Providence Journal, takes an in-depth look into the game of baseball when it was still in its infancy, especially the hard-nosed players rarely seen in today's incarnation of the national pastime, including one of the greatest pitchers that most of today's fans know nothing about. In the 1884 season, pitching for Providence, R.I., Radbourn—the son of English immigrants—endured one of the most grueling summers imaginable in willing his team to the pennant. The stress on his right arm, which caused such deterioration that he couldn't comb his own hair, also gave him a baseball record of 59 wins that will never be broken, in a year of “unparalleled brilliance.” Achorn wonderfully captures this era of the sport—when pitchers threw balls at batters' heads, and catchers, playing barehanded, endured such abuse that some would need fingers amputated. It's no wonder that, in some circles, as Achorn writes, baseball was thought to be “one degree above grand larceny, arson, and mayhem, and those who engaged in it were beneath the notice of decent society.” From the early stars of the game to archaic rules that seem silly by today's standards, there's plenty to devour (and learn) for even the biggest of baseball savants. (Mar.)

Whip Smart: A MemoirMelissa Febos. St. Martin's/Dunne, $24.99 (256p) ISBN 978-0-312-56102-4

Febos's candid, hard-slogging debut about her four years working as a dominatrix at a midtown Manhattan “dungeon” cuts a sharp line between prurience and feminist manifesto. Having grown up on Cape Cod, Mass., then dropped out of high school before moving to New York City and enrolling in the New School in the fall of 1999, Febos slipped into drug use and needed a way to finance it. An attractive law-school graduate neighbor in her Brooklyn apartment building mentioned that she worked as a “domme,” and Febos decided to give it a go. She spanked grown men, professionals, fathers, and rabbis, sometimes inserted enemas, sodomized them with dildos, and otherwise verbally humiliated them, all for $75 an hour, plus tips. At first, Febos managed the grueling, unsavory work while high on heroin and cocaine, and gained a tremendous sense of confidence, even invincibility at being able to justify her livelihood as “one of the few well-paid acting gigs in this city.” In time, she also became addicted to her job; she eventually joined AA to help get clean of drugs, but kicking her addiction to sadomasochism was harder, and in this emotionally stark, excoriating work, Febos mines the darkest, most troubling aspects of human interaction. (Mar.)

The Eight: A Season in the Tradition of Harvard CrewSusan Saint Sing. St. Martin's, $25.99 (320p) ISBN 978-0-312-53923-8

Although Harvard's legendary varsity crew did not measure up to expectations in intercollegiate competition in 2008, four of its alumni competed in the Beijing Olympics, and one—Malcolm Howard rowing for Canada—won the gold. In this fluid, thorough work by a former member of the U.S. National Rowing Team, journalist Sing takes a breathlessly reverential survey of the tradition of Harvard crew, first established in the Yale-Harvard regatta of 1852, expanded by innovative Harvard president Charles Eliot and championed by alum (and sculler) Teddy Roosevelt at the turn of the last century. The event's apotheosis came during the undefeated 1974—1975 season, coached by Olympian Harry Lambert Parker. Sing carefully notes Parker's coolheaded training method during early morning practices at the Newell Boathouse, where “you can smell time.... a place hallowed by deed and deserving of awe.” Over 46 years with Parker at the helm, the Crimson crews have gained 19 undefeated seasons and 17 national championships. Sing is besotted by Harvard's longstanding influence on athletics and makes an enthusiastic case for the role of sports in defining a noble character. (Mar.)

The Art of ChoosingSheena Iyengar. Hachette/Twelve, $25.99 (348p) ISBN 978-0-446-50410-2

“Choice,” perhaps the highest good in the American socioeconomic lexicon, is a very mixed blessing, according to this fascinating study of decision making and its discontents. Psychologist Iyengar cites evidence that a paucity of choice can damage the mental and physical health of dogs, rats, and British civil servants alike. But, she contends, choice can also mislead and burden us: advertising manipulates us through the illusion of choice; a surfeit of choices can paralyze decision making; and some choices, like the decision to withdraw life support from a loved one, are so terrible that we are happier if we delegate them to others. Iyengar draws on everything from the pensées of Albert Camus to The Matrix, but her focus is on the ingenious experiments that psychologists have concocted to explore the vagaries of choice. (In her own experiment, shoppers presented with an assortment of 24 jams were 1/10th as likely to buy some than those who were shown a mere six.) Iyengar writes in a lucid, catchy style, very much in the Malcolm Gladwell vein of pop psychology—cum—social commentary, but with more rigor. The result is a delightful, astonishing take on the pitfalls of making up one's mind. (Mar.)

Breakfast with Socrates: An Extraordinary (Philosophical) Journey Through Your Ordinary DayRobert Rowland Smith. Free Press, $22 (256p) ISBN 978-1-4391-4867-9

Modeled on the pop philosopher Alain de Botton's trademark blend of everyday observation and intellectual sophistication, this lively jaunt through the course of a day treats readers to such disquisitions as Thomas Hobbes on rush-hour traffic, Jacques Lacan on shopping, and Friedrich Nietzsche on work. Journalist Rowland Smith does a fair job of concisely explaining big ideas, and he offers a surprisingly colorful cast of thinkers from Carl Schmitt to Michel Foucault. He's at his best teasing out the little idiosyncrasies of modern experience, where simply washing your face in the morning betrays a remarkable optimism for the day ahead and fighting with your partner once in a while might actually be a good idea. While occasionally skirting into shallow discussions of some philosophers, the author maintains the central conceit of describing a typical day with admirable resourcefulness. This charming book wears its erudition with ease and suggests that despite what Socrates says, it is in fact the unexamined day that is not worth living. (Mar.)

Opium: Uncovering the Politics of the PoppyPierre-Arnaud Chouvy. Harvard Univ., $27.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-674-05134-8

Chouvy, a research fellow at France's Centre National de la Recherché Scientifique and an expert on opium production, offers a timely and provocative study of “the politics and economics of the poppy in Asia.” Despite the “broad adaptability” of the poppy, Asia accounts for 96% of the world's illicit opium, with war-ravaged Afghanistan alone supplying a staggering 93%. Chouvy meticulously recounts the poppy's very political history, concluding that while illicit production tends to flourish in areas where violence restricts state control, most “Asian opium farmers grow poppies in order to combat poverty.” Moreover, America's futile 40-year war on drugs has failed (and continues to fail) because it relies on inefficient and counterproductive eradication and crop substitution efforts to reduce supply without addressing the “root causes” of production—i.e., poverty and food insecurity. Exhaustively researched and cogently argued, Chouvy's analysis of the geopolitics of narcotics should be required reading for policymakers, stakeholders, and concerned citizens. (Mar.)

No University Is an Island: Saving Academic FreedomCary Nelson. New York Univ., $27.90 (300p) ISBN 978-0-8147-5859-5

Nelson (Revolutionary Memory), president of the American Association of University Professors, tackles the state of American college campuses in a world of identity politics and culture wars. This is an insider's book in some ways; there's not much general public curiosity about the university's internal mechanisms of hiring, paying, and firing, but Nelson recounts internecine arguments (for example, his debates with Stanley Fish and David Horowitz) with enough clarity and detail to be fully accessible and consistently interesting. Nelson revisits exemplars of the crisis in academic freedom (the controversies surrounding Ward Churchill and Norman Finkelstein, among others). There's the surprising revelation of the impact of Hurricane Katrina on major universities in New Orleans (“tenured faculty were fired with scant notice, no due process, no stated reasons, and no appeal except to the very administrators who terminated them”). He addresses the issues raised by “the massive shift to contingent labor (graduate students, part-time faculty, and full-time faculty off the tenure track) in the academy” and argues for faculty collective bargaining, not mere unionization. Nelson's feisty intellectual manifesto is kept rooted—and readable—by personal recollections, felicitous turns of phrase, and scrupulous fairness. (Mar.)

The Leader Who Had No Title: A Modern Fable on Real Success in Business and in LifeRobin Sharma. Free Press, $21.99 (224p) ISBN 978-1-4391-0912-0

Iraq War vet Blake Davis is working a dull job at a bookstore when he's confronted by an eccentric stranger, one Tommy Flinn, who claims to have known his father and wants to mentor Blake. Thus begins this contrived, faux-inspirational leadership parable from Sharma (The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari). Making the lackluster argument that everyone in an organization has to be a leader, not just the CEO, Tommy schools Blake in the way of the hackneyed “Leading Without a Title” philosophy. As Blake encounters such saccharine caricatures as Anna, a self-actualized hotel housekeeper; Jackson Chan, a CEO-turned gardener; and Jet Brisley, a superstar massage therapist, he learns that by changing his attitude, he can change his life. Though this message will hit home with magical-thinking acolytes—Blake crows on the first page, “The principles and tools you'll discover will automatically cause your career to fly, your happiness to soar, and your absolute best to fully express itself”—awkward writing and abundant platitudes make it of little benefit to readers looking for serious leadership advice. (Mar.)

Common Purpose: How Great Leaders Get Organizations to Achieve the ExtraordinaryJoel Kurtzman. Jossey-Bass, $27.95 (240p) ISBN 978-0-470-49009-9

A thoughtful—if somewhat long-winded—and ethics-based discussion of leadership in the modern age by lauded business consultant Kurtzman. The author takes an all-for-one-and-one-for-all view of management, stating that the heart and soul of leadership is the creation of common purpose. He advocates for flat organizations and the end of the traditional corporate hierarchy in the interests of forging a sense of identity and connection between leaders and led. He cites such successes as the long-lived Proctor & Gamble and the ever-lauded Apple, and failures like GM's former chairman taking the ill-advised private jet to ask Congress for a bailout as examples of how CEOs can save their companies by siding with employees—and fail by standing apart from them. A thought-provoking look at the behavior of young Gen X and Y leaders backs up his premise that leadership is evolving—for the better. He posits that in the years ahead, leaders will be kinder, more caring, and more empathic and are likely to create organizations superior to anything that has come before. While the material doesn't necessarily support an entire book's worth of encouragement, this is nonetheless a solid and readable look at “New Leadership.” (Mar.)

Capitalism and the JewsJerry Z. Muller. Princeton Univ., $24.95 (272p) ISBN 978-0-691-14478-8

In four fascinating essays, Muller (The Mind and the Market) sensitively examines how centuries of nomadism and diaspora have shaped Jewish financial life. Particularly intriguing is his essay “The Long Shadow of Usury,” which traces the roots of Jewish financial life to the time when Christians were banned from lending at interest, but Jews, following the law in Deuteronomy, were allowed to charge interest to gentiles (but not each other). Farmers and laborers could not understand the value—economic or social—of gathering and analyzing information, and Jewish usurers were cast as suspicious and parasitic figures. Muller explores why Jewish populations have been both disproportionately successful in capitalist societies and the system's loudest critics. Of paramount interest is his portrait of a people driven by exile and oppression to emphasize strong social networks, self-sufficiency, and higher education. Muller backs up his bold assertion—that capitalism has been the most important force in shaping the fate of the Jews in the modern world—with elegance and care. (Mar.)

Lifestyle

Food

Home Cooking with Trisha Yearwood: Stories and Recipes to Share with Family and FriendsTrisha Yearwood with Gwen Yearwood and Beth Yearwood Bernard. Clarkson Potter, $29.95 (224p) ISBN 978-0-307-46523-8

Singer Trisha Yearwood has found another way to reach her audience—with this follow-up to her successful Georgia Cooking in an Oklahoma Kitchen, she serves up more homey, Southern-inflected fare from her country music kitchen. And this newest is every pinch of salt the sequel—from the foreword by her husband, Garth Brooks, and her intimate personal anecdotes to the recipes donated by family and friends (her grandmother's strawberry cake; Brooks's mother's cabbage rolls, her mama's homemade waffles). Yearwood jumps off with some helpful hints, such as the importance of fresh-shredded cheese and how to use scissors to release a stubborn piecrust. The meat of the book is rib-sticking classics for both special occasions and weeknights, like sweet potato pudding, jalapeño hushpuppies, and a Lowcountry boil. Yearwood's ingredients are not for the faint of heart or high of cholesterol (Garth's Breakfast Bowl, for example is a mix of eggs, frozen tater tots, sausage, bacon, and packaged cheese and garlic tortellini). But Yearwood's enthusiasm and warmth come through, particularly in the “handwritten” notes at the bottom of the pages. Photos. (Apr.)

Burger PartiesJames McNair and Jeffrey Starr. Ten Speed, $19.99 paper (192p) ISBN 978-1-58008-110-8

If you live in the Napa Valley and have a habit of pairing hamburgers with domestic wines, then perhaps you are familiar with McNair and Starr, the head judge and culinary director, respectively, for the Build a Better Burger National Recipe Contest. They have collected several years' worth of winning entries from the competition and arranged them into 16 party menus. They have given each menu an unfortunate name, like Jamaican Me Hungry and Moroccan Mystique, and, since the contest is sponsored by Sutter Home Winery, they offer choices from that vineyard to accompany each meal. Indeed, Sutter's wine often turns up where it has no business. Notably, the classic New Orleans Hurricane cocktail is reimagined to contain white zinfandel. The contest clearly thrives on over-the-top ideas, as many of the entries are complex and suffer from ingredient overkill; for example, the bouillabaisse sliders requires red snapper and shrimp for the patties, saffron threads in the mayonnaise, and fennel, tomato, and garlic-flavored olive oil in the relish. Side dishes are overly thought out as well, as in a shrimp remoulade potato salad (with mayo, mustard, ketchup, horseradish, Tabasco, and Worcestershire sauce). Desserts include a simple flan, washed down, naturally, with a glass of Sutter's Moscato. (Apr.)

Bromberg Bros. Blue Ribbon CookbookBruce Bromberg, Eric Bromberg, and Melissa Clark. Clarkson Potter, $35 (256p) ISBN 978-0-307-40794-8

Chefs Bromberg, founders and owners of numerous Blue Ribbon restaurants, along with New York Times writer Clark, share an eclectic and appealing array of recipes, modified for the home cook. While their dishes may resemble the familiar, each possesses a bit of the Bromberg flair, from the duck club sandwich to Spicy Egg Shooters and banana walnut bread pudding with butterscotch-banana sauce. Throughout, the brothers share Blue Ribbon wisdom—tips on recipe preparation, related dishes, and ingredients, including how to dry brown sugar, work with yeast, and perfectly scramble eggs. Main dishes are simple and appealing, such as northern fried chicken; really good brisket; and rack of lamb with thyme and roasted tomato sauce. The brothers' originality really shines in the vegetable section, where they elevate everything from collard greens with browned butter to creamy turnip puree and sweet frizzled leeks, inspiration enough for even the most dedicated carnivore. They also include recipes for the basics, such as garlic dill pickles, red wine sauce, and spicy chicken sausage, so readers can add personal touches at will. Lavish photographs complete this worthwhile, appetizing collection that will delight cooks, not to mention the people they feed. (Mar.)

Parenting

We've Got Issues: Children and Parents in the Age of MedicationJudith Warner. Riverhead, $25.95 (320p) ISBN 978-1-59448-754-5

Author (Perfect Madness: Motherhood in the Age of Anxiety) and New York Times columnist Warner turns an investigative eye to the “epidemic” of diagnosed childhood psychiatric disorders and widespread use of prescription psychotropic drugs to modify children's behavior. Major questions are raised: are drugs a substitute for proper parenting? Is there something more socially significant underlying the labeling and drugging of kids? Following an awkward introductory chapter about why the subject confounded and eluded her, Warner serves up more bad news than good. The book is hampered by a great deal of diverse and conflicting professional opinion and research, with references to just about every prominent expert on child psychology, from mainstream to fringe. Although readers may end up more confused than hopeful about the status of children's mental health in America, they will discover that 5% of all American kids do have psychological issues for which they receive proper medication and counseling. Not as heartfelt as The Elephant in the Playroom nor as helpful as books on individual disorders, this examination will still function as a wakeup call for lots of parents. (Mar.)

Gardening

One Magic Square: The Easy, Organic Way to Grow Your Own Food on a 3-Foot SquareLolo Houbein. The Experiment (www.theexperimentpublishing.com), $18.95 (304p) ISBN 978-1-61519-012-6

Australian gardener Houbein has a personal and intimate understanding of food security, having survived famine during the Nazi occupation in Holland. In this charming but meandering book, she warns of the dangers of globalized, corporate agribusiness and “aims to put you in control of the production of at least part of the food you need.” She claims that one square yard of garden will provide a 10th of a person's food needs and encourages everyone to start a “magic square” or two. The book provides basic gardening information and a wide variety of square-yard vegetable garden plans, from salad plots to curry and anticancer plots, with sections on fruit trees and chickens thrown in, but this is as much a compilation of Houbein's gardening life as a straightforward step-by-step how-to manual. Like an eccentric but wise great aunt, at turns whimsically practical (“apart from spreading shredded bracken on beds to decay, use ferns as parasols for seedlings”) and confusingly questionable (“At this point in time, vast stretches of land are being poisoned by carbon dioxide smoke from brush and forest fires”), Houbein offers much valuable advice, but the presentation is so disorganized that novice gardeners looking for a clear and simple way to get started may be flummoxed. (Mar.)

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