Glenn C. Altschuler

Biography details what 'Rulebreaker' Barbara Walters did to get to the top

NONFICTION: Susan Page follows books about Nancy Pelosi and Barbara Bush with one about the pioneering broadcaster.

'3 Shades' shows how Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Bill Evans made the biggest jazz album ever

NONFICTION: James Kaplan's book asks whether the success of "Kind of Blue" corresponded with the death of jazz.

Review: 'The Good Country: A History of the American Midwest 1800-1900,' by Jon K. Lauck

NONFICTION: Jon K. Lauck argues that the history of the Midwest reveals an advanced democratic society and refutes stereotypes about the region's repressive culture.

Review: 'War by Other Means,' by Daniel Akst

NONFICTION: The little-known story of pacifist activism during World War II, told through the lives of four people.

Review: 'O Say Can You Hear,' by Mark Clague

NONFICTION: A fascinating history of America's national anthem that examines the origins of the song and the many ways it has been used.

Review: 'The Man Who Understood Democracy: The Life of Alexis De Tocqueville,' by Olivier Zunz

NONFICTION: An informative biography of Alexis De Tocqueville, whose analysis of liberty, equality and democracy has remained influential for almost 200 years.

Review: 'The Fifties: An Underground History' by James R. Gaines

Gaines tells the stories of gay rights, civil rights and feminist and environmental activists who fought for change through the thicket of postwar conformity and repression.

Review: 'The Transcendentalists and their World,' by Robert Gross

A social history of Concord in the 19th century examines the ways changes in the town influenced Emerson and Thoreau.

Review: 'A Brave and Cunning Prince: The Great Chief Opechancanough and the War for America,' By James Horn.

An informative and engaging — but largely speculative — account of the role of a mostly forgotten Native leader of the first Anglo-Indian Wars in Virginia.

Review: 'The Last King of America,' by Andrew Roberts

Andrew Roberts draws on a newly released cache of documents to provide a detailed biography of King George III that presents him in a whole new light.