History: November 2007 Archives

What constitutes a good hero? Someone brave and loyal, sure, but how about folks who throw good parties? Author-historian Paul Johnson casts a wide net and includes both in his new book, Heroes: From Alexander the Great and Julius Caesar to Churchill and De Gaulle (HarperCollins, 284 pages, $25.95).

There are a couple chapters dedicated to female heroes in particular ("Feminist Fire and Slaughter," Tortured Heroism in a Man's World"), but I like the fact that Johnson includes women all over this book, not favoring either gender in other chapters, such as, "Exemplary Heroes."

Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R-Texas) follows up her bestselling book American Heroines with Leading Ladies: American Trailblazers (Harper, 365 pages, $25.95), another excellent collection of biographical portraits of women who've paved the way for the rest of us, in all walks of life...

Top chef turned food historian Michael Krondl traveled the world while sharing meals and swapping stories with farmers, sailors and foodies like himself all in the name of research for his latest book, The Taste of Conquest — The Rise and Fall of the Three Great Cities of Spice (Ballantine Books. 305 pages, $25.95)...

Think you know everything there is to know about the U.S. presidents? Think again. Author and History Channel documentarian Rick Beyer brings us The Greatest Presidential Stories Never Told: 100 Tales From History to Astonish, Bewilder and Stupefy (Collins, 212 pages, $18.95)...