Sunday, September 20, 2009

Links & Reviews

- In Humanities, there is a conversation with Jill Lepore, which I enjoyed reading. She talks about her books, her teaching, her writing process, &c., and about the field of history in general.

- Another interview (sort of), this one with ITV's Melvyn Bragg in The Scotsman.

- In the Boston Globe, Joshua Kendall writes on Samuel Johnson as anti-American.

- Nick Basbanes offers up his picks from the fall's major book releases.

- On Friday, the Justice Department weighed in on the Google Books Settlement, admitting concerns but suggesting that the agreement could be modified. The Open Content Alliance responds.

- Over at Reading Copy, they take a look at what books were selling like hotcakes in 1909 ... fascinating list.

- On one of the NYT blogs, an essay on the chilling effect of British libel law.

- The National Heritage Museum offers to answer any of questions about Freemasonry and associated subjects that crop up as you're reading the new Dan Brown book (as I am at the moment). The museum, founded and supported by the Masons, holds one of the greatest collections of Masonic materials in the U.S.

- Neely Tucker reported for the WaPo on this week's Swann sale of Bibles from the collection of Mel and Julie Meadows. A full report on that sale and this week's others to follow.

Book Reviews

- In the WaPo, Diane Ackerman's Dawn Light: Dancing with Cranes and Other Ways to Start the Day is reviewed by Wendy Smith.

- Lacy Ford's Deliver Us From Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South is reviewed by Ira Berlin in the NYTimes.

- Philip Kopper reviews Alison Hoover Bartlett's The Man Who Loved Books Too Much, in the Washington Times.