As props go, a vase of flowers or bowl of fruit may qualify as the painter’s favorite subject—excepting, of course, a portrait of the person paying the artist’s fee in advance. But artists throughout history have also shown a... Read More

Intelligence historian Gill Bennett’s easy familiarity with Anglo-Soviet foreign policy and espionage imbues "The Zinoviev Letter" with impressive authoritativeness, untangling the 1924 “fake news” document from speculation to... Read More

Most of the ten essays collected in "Inevitably Toxic" are based on papers presented at Claremont College’s “Contested Expertise, Toxic Environments” workshop in Fall 2015. Reading them is like attending an academic conference and... Read More

Carleton Watkins may not be a name known to contemporary artists and art critics, but his exceptional photographs of the American West, taken during the mid- to late-1800s, “did more to make the West a part of the United States” than... Read More

John Briscoe’s Crush: The Triumph of California Wine is a lively introduction to California’s wine industry. Though blessed with a superb climate and geography for cultivating grapes, California winemakers endured centuries of... Read More

Even as climate change causes the perilous decline of Arctic ice, an international race is taking place to determine which nation will control the area’s vast natural resources. Arctic expert Martin Breum offers an eyewitness account... Read More

In a very real sense, the presidential election of 1968 was a battle for America’s soul. Taking place against the backdrop of a protracted and unpopular war overseas and assassinations, student protests, race riots, and cities in... Read More

This carefully researched, absorbing biography documents the remarkable environmental legacy of Stewart Udall. The Washington DC headquarters of the Department of the Interior is named after Stewart Lee Udall. This excellent book by... Read More