The errors of five giants of science and the role these mistakes played in the vital process of discovery.

• History,
• Science,

Two women who flouted their families’ wishes and married men who played key roles in the Revolutionary War.

• Biography & Memoir,
• History,

Examining such diverse leaders as the Ayatollah Khomeini and Margaret Thatcher, the author sees in the passing era a triumph of the individual over the forces of collectivism.

• History,
• Political Science,

The author looks at how the opinions of various thinkers were appropriated and woven together to form the underpinnings of Nazi ideology.

• History,

This final work of a trilogy may be “the single best volume” about the war in Europe from D-Day to the capitulation of German forces.

• History,

A decade before Jackie Robinson wore a Dodgers’ uniform, a coach in Bismarck, N.D., fielded an integrated “semi-pro” team that included Satchel Paige.

• History,

Sometimes death isn’t the end, as in these cases of eminent people through the ages whose remains got a second life.

• History,

The author revisits, in brisk storytelling, the case of a 17-year-old Jewish boy whose provocative act in Nazi Germany attracted international attention.

• History,