John Bohrer, “The Revolution of Robert Kennedy: From Power to Protest after JFK” (Bloomsbury, 2017)
From the moment he entered politics as the manager of John F. Kennedy’s 1952 Senate campaign, Robert Kennedy’s political career was subsumed into that of his older brother. With President Kennedy’s as...
25 Maj 20171h 4min
Patrick J. Hayes, “The Civil War Diary of Rev. James Sheeran, Confederate Chaplain and Redemptorist” (Catholic Univ. of America Press, 2016)
During the Civil War Father James Sheeran served as a Catholic chaplain for the 14th Louisiana Infantry. Between his various responsibilities Sheeran kept a journal in which he recounted his experienc...
23 Maj 201757min
Linda Heywood, “Njinga of Angola: Africa’s Warrior Queen” (Harvard University Press, 2017)
In the capital of the African nation of Angola today stands a statue to Njinga, the 17th century queen of the Ndongo and Matamba kingdoms. Its presence is a testament to her skills as a diplomat, warr...
19 Maj 201753min
Amir Engel, “Gershom Scholem: An Intellectual Biography” (U. Chicago Press, 2017)
In Gershom Scholem: An Intellectual Biography (University of Chicago Press, 2017) , Amir Engel, a lecturer in the German Department at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, positions Gershom Scholem’s w...
15 Maj 201738min
Tara H. Abraham, “Rebel Genius: Warren S. McCulloch’s Transdisciplinary Life in Science” (MIT Press, 2016)
Fueling his bohemian lifestyle and anti-authoritarian attitude with a steady diet of ice cream and whiskey, along with a healthy dose of insomnia, Warren Sturgis McCulloch is best known for his founda...
11 Maj 201735min
Rebe Taylor, “Into the Heart of Tasmania: A Search For Human Antiquity” (Melbourne UP, 2017)
In her book, Into the Heart of Tasmania: A Search For Human Antiquity (Melbourne University Press, 2017), Rebe Taylor, the Coral Thomas Fellow at the State Library of New South Wales, explores the lif...
30 Apr 201718min
Sarah Bracey White, “Primary Lessons: A Memoir” (CavanKerry Press, 2013)
As an African-American child growing up in the segregated pre-Civil Rights South, Sarah Bracey White pushed against the social conventions that warned her not to rock the boat, even before she was old...
29 Apr 201728min
Tania Munz, “The Dancing Bees: Karl von Frisch and the Discovery of the Honeybee Language” (U of Chicago Press, 2016)
Tania Munz‘s new book is a dual biography: both of Austrian-born experimental physiologist Karl von Frisch, and of the honeybees he worked with as experimental, communicating creatures. The Dancing Be...
25 Apr 20171h 2min
