In "Waters of the World", Sarah Dry profiles the lives of six brilliant scientists from the mid-nineteenth century to the present who made essential contributions to our understanding of how the Earth works, pioneering new theories,... Read More

Matthew L. Schuerman’s measured "Newcomers" examines gentrification and how it impacts cities for good and ill. Terms are defined with care in the text, which argues that new people moving into older urban neighborhoods don’t create... Read More

The Housing and Urban Development Act of 1968 is a case study in the way that private industries twist government programs to their advantage. Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor’s "Race for Profit" is clear and methodical as it details how a... Read More

With the confidence that Mexico’s respect for people of retirement age would ferry him safely through the dangers hinted at by the state department, Paul Theroux set out to drive across Mexico, a trip recorded in "On the Plain of... Read More

In the internet age, struggles to protect personal privacy are all the more significant, claims Lawrence Cappello in "None of Your Damn Business", a thorough account of privacy struggles that draws on deep research to reveal that the... Read More

A neighborhood in the East Bronx is the subject of "Parkchester", a fascinating study by former Parkchesterite Jeffrey S. Gurock. Built by Metropolitan Life Insurance Company in 1940, Parkchester at first served as an idyllic alternative... Read More

Camden is an anthropomorphized cat attending high school. He grapples with his sexuality and how to reveal it to his best friend in Jon Allen’s graphic novel "The Lonesome Era". Camden inhabits a late-1990s American Rust Belt town that... Read More

Judy Mundle was astounded when a Japanese American work colleague—rendered here as Janet Hayashi—confided that she had been a block manager at an American internment camp during World War II. In this poignant memoir, she reveals the... Read More