Washington & Co.

American history books have long insisted that Shay's Rebellion (1786—1787)—the Massachusetts insurrection that pulled George Washington out of retirement and ultimately sped the revision and ratification of the Constitution—was an uprising of poor, indebted farmers. University of Massachusetts Amherst history professor Leonard L. Richards begs to differ. In his Shay's Rebellion: The American Revolution's Final Battle, Richards investigates the identities of the rebels and argues that they were generally not poor at all, and that scholars have misunderstood the causes of this pivotal revolt. (Univ. of Pennsylvania, $24.95 216p ISBN 0-8122-3669-6; June)

Abraham Lincoln, Georges Clemenceau, Winston Churchill and David Ben Gurion—what made them great wartime heads of state, according to Eliot A. Gohen (Military Misfortunes), a professor of strategic studies at the School of Advanced International Studies at Johns Hopkins University, is that they were able to finesse a relationship with their military leaders that kept the balance of power squarely in (their own) civilian hands. In his lucid study, Supreme Command: Soldiers, Statesmen and Leadership in Wartime, Cohen looks closely at the strategies of the four premiers and addresses broader questions about the tension between politicians and generals in a wartime democracy. (Free Press, $25 320p ISBN 0-7432-3049-3; June)

Art by Air, Land, Sea & Eye

South African sculptor Sibusiso Mbhele lived in a life-size, fish-shaped helicopter that he made himself, and earned a living in his small rural town by making scrap-metal sculptures of airplanes and other vehicles, until his jealous neighbors destroyed his home and had him jailed. Sibusiso Mbhele and His Fish Helicopter, a photo book by South African photographer and filmmaker Koto Bolofo that accompanies his documentary film of the same name, offers a look at Mbhele's enormous, painstakingly crafted, whimsical sculptures. The color and black-and-white photos capture not only the art works but the surrounding community and Mbhele himself—who has since been forced to relocate—in various stages of his life. Also included are a few reproductions of Mbhele's drawings and paintings. (PowerHouse, $60 128p ISBN 1-57687-132-0; June)

With its now-familiar presence in art galleries, advertising and pop culture around the world, it can be hard to remember that graffiti was once outlaw art. Art critic Ivor Miller takes us back to the New York City of the 1970s and '80s, where "writers," as graffiti artists called themselves, used the subways as canvases and mayors spent millions of dollars trying to erase their work. Based on interviews with the most prolific and talented aerosol artists of the era, the scholarly Aerosol Kingdom: Subway Painters of New York City looks at the evolution of graffiti art, its role in hip-hop culture and the various social forces that led to its creation—from white flight to the mass marketing of spray paint. (Univ. Press of Mississippi, $60 288p ISBN 1-57806-464-3; paper $30 -465-1; Aug.)

Long before they became the playground of celebrities and nouveaux riches, the Hamptons were a popular refuge for artists. The tradition continues to this day, and Studios By the Sea: Artists of Long Island's East End showcases the homes of contemporary artists Julian Schnabel, Chuck Close, April Gornik, David Salle and many others. Color photographs by Vanity Fair contributing photographer Jonathan Becker show artists in their studios and backyards—hard at work, posing with their masterpieces, or romping with their families. The introductory text is by Vanity Fair correspondent Bob Colacello (Holy Terror). (Abrams, $49.95 224p ISBN 0-8109-0448-9; June)

Some of Emmet Gowin's black-and-white aerial photographs look almost like abstract expressionist paintings or etchings—until captions like "Weapons Disposal Trenches," "Off-Road Traffic Pattern" and "Effluent Holding Pond" make clear the concrete implications of these weirdly beautiful formations. Changing the Earth, which accompanies the celebrated photographer's first traveling exhibition in ten years, documents man-made incursions in the natural landscape. The mostly aerial views show strip mines, power stations, munitions storage facilities and golf courses in the U.S., Czech Republic, Japan and Israel. Editor Jock Reynolds, director of the Yale University Art Gallery, offers an overview of Gowin's work and includes an interview with Gowin by Corcoran Gallery curator Philip Brookman and an essay by environmental activist Terry Tempest Williams (Red). (Yale Univ., $45 168p ISBN 0-300-09361-6; May 20)

Harvard Medical School neurobiology professor Margaret S. Livingstone explains how great artists exploit the functions of the human eye and brain in Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing. Livingstone, whose biological explanation of why the Mona Lisa's smile appears enigmatic stirred much interest when it appeared in the New York Times, here offers a detailed explanation of how elements like perspective, luminance, color mixing, shading and chiaroscuro produce certain effects in art works. She discusses da Vinci's use of contrast, the illusory three-dimensionality of Impressionist paintings and why Mondrian's Broadway Boogie Woogie gives the impression of motion. (Abrams, $45 208p ISBN 0-8109-0406-3; June)

Rhetorical Flourishes

Alan Stoudemire and Boyce Blake grew up together in the foothills of the North Carolina Blue Ridge Mountains in the 1950s and continued to be close friends through high school. An ordinary story, except that Stoudemire was white and Blake was black. Stoudemire (1951—2000), a psychiatrist, completed A Place at the Table, a memoir of his friendship with Blake, shortly before he died of cancer. In it, he recalls how the boys' friendship helped to smooth the integration of their rural school district. He also recounts how he and Blake fell out of touch after high school, but reconnected in time to watch each other's children grow up and support each other through serious illnesses (Blake died of ALS in 1997). (Cherokee, $28 280p ISBN 0-87797-286-9; June)

Over 150 of the Bard's monologues are reprinted and explained for the aspiring actor or director in Speak the Speech! Shakespeare's Monologues Illuminated. The knowledgeable and breezy commentary ("Dial Lady M for Murder," reads one section heading) by acting coach Rhona Silverbush and playwright Sami Plotkin offers a brief context for each monologue, explains unfamiliar vocabulary and expressions, examines the relationship between mood and meter and even reminds readers what words to elide or expand. Boxed asides offer historical background and describe literary controversies over various lines and passages. There's also a general discussion of rhetorical elements. (FSG/Faber, $25 paper 768p ISBN 0-571-21122-4; Aug.)

Soviet Technologies

A companion to the feature film of the same name, K-19: The Widowmaker tells the hair-raising story of the Soviet submarine that nearly caused a nuclear meltdown in 1961. The sub developed a leak as it was heading toward the North Atlantic, and only the ingenious efforts of the crew—eight of whom died within days from radiation poisoning—staved off a global disaster. Author Peter Huchthausen, a retired U.S. Navy captain and former naval attaché in Moscow (as well as a technical adviser on the film), recounts the fateful events and also describes the making of the film. (National Geographic Books, $16 paper 248p ISBN 0-7922-6472-X; July)

Rare, handmade and handprinted books illustrated by Aleksandr Rodchenko, Marc Chagall, Kazimir Malevich, Varvara Stepanova, Natalia Gonchorova and other revolution-era luminaries are stunningly reproduced in The Russian Avant-Garde Book: 1910—1934. The volume accompanies a spring 2002 exhibition of the same name at New York's Museum of Modern Art. Edited by MoMA guest curator Margit Rowell and MoMA Department of Prints and Illustrated books curator Deborah Wye, the book features revolutionary propaganda pamphlets, futurist broadsheets, children's books and illustrated volumes of the work of Mayakovsky and Walt Whitman, among others. (Abrams, $65 296p ISBN 0-8109-6224-1; June)

Andrew Moore's large-format color photographs offer breathtaking views of the Cuban capital's crumbling baroque splendor in Inside Havana. The photographs, a mix of street scenes and interiors, show color-saturated stucco storefronts and dilapidated courtyards. Residents seem dwarfed by their improbably high-ceilinged apartments, with huge transomed windows and faded, chipping walls. Russophilic communist kitsch mingles with antique furniture and modern electronics. The book shows off a range of Cuban architecture—from colonial-era neoclassical to art nouveau to the "revolutionary" architecture of the 1960s—and includes a preface by critic Andy Grundberg (Crisis of the Real) and an introduction by Cuban architect and historian Eduardo Luis Rodríguez. (Chronicle, $40 ISBN 0-8118-3343-7; Sept.)

June Publications

Mixing modern technology with witchcraft, Sirona Knight (A Witch Like Me) and Patricia Telesco (An Enchanted Life) offer Cyber Spellbook: Magick in the Virtual World. Although thousands of Wicca enthusiasts use the Web daily for research and to meet people, they may not realize their computer's witchcraft-related properties. For example, a keyboard can represent "creative flow," with the "delete" key an instrument for banishing and the "shift" key helping one shift between the ordinary and magickal worlds. The authors explain ways to integrate technology (from cell phones to lawn mowers) with spells, making this a truly up-to-date Wicca resource. (Career Press/New Page, $13.99 paper ISBN 1-56414-582-4)

In Utah, first cousins can marry, but only after they're 65 years old. Training a bear to wrestle is a felony in Alabama. In Delaware it's illegal to sell perfume as a drink. Seventeen-year-olds Jeff Koon and Andy Powell collect these and other wacky laws in You May Not Tie an Alligator to a Fire Hydrant: 101 Real Dumb Laws. Some of the laws show compassion (in Florida's Jupiter Colony Inlet, you can't launch missiles at birds), while others are just plain bizarre (in Oklahoma, hamburgers purchased on Sunday can only be eaten in the restaurant). (Free Press, $12.95 160p ISBN 0-7432-3065-5)

Craig Aaron, managing editor of In These Times, gathers works from the muckraking newsmagazine's 25 years of publication in Appeal to Reason: 25 Years In These Times. Barbara Ehrenreich and Ellen Willis write about feminism and abortion; Alice Walker sounds off on race and crime; Noam Chomsky expresses his views on "democracy's slow death"; and Arundhati Roy speaks out on diversity and resisting hegemony. Other journalists write on war and peace, cultural criticism and the environment. An attractive, almost square shaped layout works well with the text, which is punctuated by riveting photographs and images. (Seven Stories, $19.95 paper 416p ISBN 1-58322-275-8)

May Publication

At Oakhurst Links, a golf course in Sulphur Springs, W.Va., golfers are required to use hickory shafted clubs and sheep are allowed to graze on the grounds. That's because the course is America's oldest and it's still run according to 19th-century rules. In Oakhurst: The Birth and Rebirth of America's First Golf Course, golf magazine writer Paula DiPerna and Vikki Keller, who helps manage Oakhurst, tell the story of the course's initial creation by an American and four Scottish immigrants in 1884, when golf was still largely unknown in the U.S., and of its painstaking reconstruction over a century later. (Walker, $23 192p ISBN 0-8027-1371-8)