Always Under Siege: Olga Freidenberg’s Diary-Theory and the Everyday Terror of Stalinism
By Irina Paperno | Cornell
Olga Freidenberg’s journals recorded the indignities and horrors of daily life in the Soviet Union. Review by Gary Saul Morson
Beyond Inheritance: Our Ever-Mutating Cells and a New Understanding of Health
By Roxanne Khamsi | Riverhead
Genetic mutations are more pervasive than previously thought, causing cancer and other ailments. Are there possible benefits as well? Review by David A. Shaywitz
The Fullness of Time: Marking the Day by Birdsong, Blooms, Shadows, and Stars
By Cathy Haynes | Riverhead
Before the era of standardized clocks, communities marked the hours through signs glimpsed in the natural world. Review by Brandy Shillace
Gilgamesh: A New Verse Translation
By Simon Armitage | Liveright
The epic of Gilgamesh is more than 40 centuries old. Simon Armitage’s new translation feels thrillingly alive. Review by William Giraldi
James Joyce: A Political Life
By Frank Callanan | Princeton
The writer left his native Ireland when he was a young man, but the nation’s struggle for independence haunted the fiction he wrote in exile. Review by James Campbell
John Foster Dulles: Apostle of American Empire
By Bevan Sewell | Johns Hopkins
As secretary of state, Dulles kept the U.S. out of major wars and came to recognize the danger of an all-or-nothing approach to nuclear weapons. Review by Richard Aldous
London Falling: A Mysterious Death in a Gilded City and a Family’s Search for Truth
By Patrick Radden Keefe | Doubleday
The death of a British teen reveals a bizarre tale of avarice and deception. Review by Dominic Green
Prophecy: Prediction, Power, and the Fight for the Future, from Ancient Oracles to AI
By Carissa Véliz | Doubleday
Prophecy is often about power. Those who are believed to be able to see the future are granted more control in the present. Review by Julian Baggini
The Rolling Stones: A Biography
By Bob Spitz | Penguin Press
Keith Richards and Mick Jagger built the Rolling Stones out of endless hours of practice. The carnival of excess would come later. Review by David Kirby
This Is Not About Running: A Memoir
By Mary Cain | Mariner
Mary Cain set several national high-school track records before turning pro as a teenager. Her memoir depicts a toxic athletic subculture. Review by James S. Hirsch
This Vast Enterprise: A New History of Lewis & Clark
By Craig Fehrman | Avid Reader
Lewis and Clark’s expedition to the Pacific was aimed at mapping trade routes, but its heroic ambition shaped the identity of a young nation. Review by Karin Altenberg
