Thy Will Be Done: George Washington’s Legacy of Slavery and the Fight for American Memory by John Garrison Marks

University of North Carolina Press Review by Brian Tanguay The legend of George Washington is deeply etched into the American historical consciousness. The Virginia native is revered as the father…

Leila & Khaled by Nyla Matuk

Anansi Review by Brian Tanguay Leila, a fifty-something woman from Montreal, is part of a delegation visiting Palestine, her first trip to her father’s homeland. Leila is unmarried, an academic…

Honeysuckle by Bar Fridman-Tell

Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay Honeysuckle is one of the strangest novels I’ve read in a long while, and by strange I mean in the sense of unsettling and rarely…

Billionaire Backlash: The Age of Corporate Scandal and How It Could Save Democracy by Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee

Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay A fundamental political question lies at the heart of Billionaire Backlash by Pepper Culpepper and Taeku Lee: who makes the rules? Is it individual billionaires…

The ABCs of California’s Native Bees by Krystle Hickman

Heyday Review by Brian Tanguay I always enjoy learning new facts about my home state. Prior to reading The ABCs of California’s Native Bees, I had no idea that California…

Being Thomas Jefferson: An Intimate History by Andrew Burstein

Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay It’s fair to say that Thomas Jefferson fascinates historians. The sheer number of biographies of America’s third president is staggering, and one might wonder what…

Mexico Between Feast and Famine: Food, Corporate Power, and Inequality by Enrique C. Ochoa

University of Arizona Press Review by Brian Tanguay Mexico has a well-earned reputation for culinary excellence, and foodies all over the world recognize its local and regional food cultures. But…

The Coroner’s Silence: Death Records and the Hidden Victims of Police Violence by Terence Keel

Beacon Press Review by Brian Tanguay When I think of people who died while in state custody the first name that comes to mind is Sandra Bland, the 28-year-old Black…

The Body Builders by Albertine Clarke

Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay Being thrust into a different place and time is one of the pleasures of reading fiction. Sometimes the place is inside the mind of a…

Truth And Consequence: Reflections on Catastrophe, Civil Resistance, and Hope by Daniel Ellsberg, Edited by Michael Ellsberg and Jan R. Thomas

Bloomsbury Review by Brian Tanguay The late Daniel Ellsberg is perhaps the most famous whistle-blower in American history. When he copied and leaked the Pentagon Papers in 1971 — a…