Thanks to its small size and distinctive sound, the ‘ukulele has been lampooned in everything from literature and film to comic strips. But Jim Tranquada and John King hope to change the instrument’s image by exploring its legacy in... Read More

In Thomas Jefferson’s Crème Brûlée: How a Founding Father and His Slave James Hemings Introduced French Cuisine to America, author Thomas J. Craughwell serves up a lively story with a generous helping of culinary history. Political... Read More

As the first female governor of Vermont, and a lifelong feminist, Madeleine M. Kunin brings a wealth of knowledge and authority to her latest book, "The New Feminist Agenda". Convinced that feminism has not lived up to its potential,... Read More

It’s difficult to find a new way to examine an iconic figure, especially one as popular as Marilyn Monroe, but "Dressing Marilyn", by Andrew Hansford, manages to do precisely that. In cataloging the costumes created for Monroe by... Read More

Judith Kitchen’s new memoir, Half in Shade: Family, Photography, and Fate, kicks off with the following disclaimer: “I have never owned a camera and I never snap photos, except reluctantly when asked by others.” It’s an odd way... Read More

We live in a free society, yet, in philosopher Renata Salecl’s opinion, society has reached a point where “life choices are described in the same terms as consumer choices.” It’s a scenario that creates the illusion that we can... Read More

The vibrant public images of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams often overshadow that of James Madison, who has entered history as a shadowy, albeit important, figure. It is, after all, Madison’s system of... Read More

Ronald Reagan is most often connected to Hollywood glamour and Washington politics. The fact that Reagan spent his formative years in the American heartland, living in a string of small towns in Illinois, has been almost entirely... Read More