Bookshelf

The story of Plymouth Colony, told afresh through the life of one of its lesser-known founders, the Puritan printer Edward Winslow. David M. Shribman reviews ‘The Mayflower’ by Rebecca Fraser.

Smartphones, social networks and all our digital gossip and griping are altering the way we learn to trust others and assess risky behavior. Philip Delves Broughton reviews ‘Who Can You Trust?’ by Rachel Botsman.

While mutineers succumbed to half-clad Tahitians, Capt. Bligh performed a navigational feat—and convicts began populating Australia. A. Roger Ekirch reviews ‘Paradise in Chains’ by Diana Preston.

A philosophical examination of the logic and reason of soccer.

Golden State and Cleveland have become the two most-watched, most-discussed, most-written about teams of the past decade.

The story of the American Revolution as told through the lives of six people.

Gardner raced to every news event. Brady aimed to create magisterial art.

The chalky hills of Champagne produce the world’s most fabled wines.

Americans like Julia Child and M.F.K. Fisher came to Paris seeking ‘a better way of living and being.’

Science doesn’t really destroy mystery. The physics of prisms was worked out in Isaac Newton’s day. But has anyone ever seen a rainbow and felt disappointed?

The author of ‘The Fleet at Flood Tide’ on total war in the Pacific.

Stress, sleep loss and operatic emotion: How the startup culture got going.

Cameras and binoculars have made it unnecessary to shoot and collect a bird simply in order to study it.

Journals from a century ago describing family excursions into nature, evoking a world now lost.

A surprising number of art collectors and even dealers feel they lack understanding and fear making judgments. No wonder the art world is full of anxious conformity.

The author’s sui generis science fiction is rooted in linguistics and cultural anthropology.

Matthews’s ancestors established a ranch in the 1850s. A century and a half later Matthews still ran the place, seemingly the last living link to Texas frontier culture.

A history of art dealership, a curious trade whose requirements include an ability to flatter the rich.

For 50-odd years, Fairfield County, Conn., was the cartoon capital of the world.

It’s not as well known as Philly soul or the sound of Detroit’s Motown, but its influences range from Ray Charles to KC & the Sunshine Band.

A great critic’s chronicle of the postwar love affair between jazz and pop.

Has Silicon Valley programmed its products to disadvantage women, minorities and the poor? An indictment of bias in the tech industry. Meghan C. Kruger reviews ‘Technically Wrong’ by Sara Wachter-Boettcher.

Tom Perrotta recommends the best books to give to the sports lover in your life.

Peter Plagens recommends the best books to give to the art lover in your life.

William Meyers recommends the best books to give to the photography lover in your life.