Bob Duffy
![Bob Duffy](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/WIRoB_BobDuffy_headshot.gif)
Former academic Bob Duffy is a Maryland author and brand consultant. His writing credits range from scholarly articles about literary history and film to commentaries on business strategy and emerging online technologies. As an ad agency vice president, Bob founded and led a national research and strategy practice serving large organizations He has spoken and led workshops on digital branding throughout the U.S., Europe, and the Far East, and his articles have appeared in Social Media Today, Literature-Film Quarterly, Government Executive, and Public Relations Quarterly, among many other periodicals. He also makes occasional forays into short fiction, with half-a-dozen stories appearing or forthcoming online or in print.
123 entries by Bob Duffy
The Britannias: An Archipelago’s Tale
By Alice Albinia
![The Britannias: An Archipelago’s Tale](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thebritannias.png)
A charming sojourn to isles both familiar and foreign.
The Fox Wife: A Novel
By Yangsze Choo
![The Fox Wife: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thefoxwife.jpg)
A wise, folktale-like romance set in 1900s China.
A Noble Ruin: Mark Antony, Civil War, and the Collapse of the Roman Republic
By W. Jeffrey Tatum
![A Noble Ruin: Mark Antony, Civil War, and the Collapse of the Roman Republic](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/anobleruin.jpg)
This vivid biography pulses with energy and erudition.
Homer and His Iliad
By Robin Lane Fox
![Homer and His Iliad](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/homerandhisiliad.png)
Did the blind poet really pen the ancient epic by himself?
Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World
By Mary Beard
![Emperor of Rome: Ruling the Ancient Roman World](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/emperorofrome.png)
It’s lonely (and occasionally perverted) at the top.
Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever
By Matt Singer
![Opposable Thumbs: How Siskel & Ebert Changed Movies Forever](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/opposablethumbs.jpg)
A thorough, repetitive ode to the erstwhile irascible duo.
Happiness Falls: A Novel
By Angie Kim
![Happiness Falls: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/happinessfalls.jpg)
This stellar, nuanced mystery transcends typical whodunit tropes.
Beatrice’s Last Smile: A New History of the Middle Ages
By Mark Gregory Pegg
![Beatrice’s Last Smile: A New History of the Middle Ages](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/beatriceslast.jpg)
A winning antiquarian primer for the rest of us.
The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season that Defined the American West
By Chris Wimmer
![The Summer of 1876: Outlaws, Lawmen, and Legends in the Season that Defined the American West](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thesummerof1876.jpg)
A fascinating rundown of the frontier’s famed good and bad guys (and girls).
The Lock-Up: A Novel
By John Banville
![The Lock-Up: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thelockup.png)
Familiar tropes are cast aside in this outstanding pseudo-whodunit.
Shakespeare’s Book: The Story Behind the First Folio and the Making of Shakespeare
By Chris Laoutaris
![Shakespeare’s Book: The Story Behind the First Folio and the Making of Shakespeare](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/shakespeares-book-9781639363261_xlg.jpg)
A superb account of how the Bard’s compendium came to be.
Ghost Girl, Banana: A Novel
By Wiz Wharton
![Ghost Girl, Banana: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/ghostgirl.png)
A Chinese Brit hears from her mysterious benefactor in Hong Kong.
Small Mercies: A Novel
By Dennis Lehane
![Small Mercies: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(121).png)
A tough-as-nails Southie mom searches for her missing teen.
Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300
By Peter Heather
![Christendom: The Triumph of a Religion, AD 300-1300](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/christendom.jpg)
A bold reinterpretation of the faith’s nascent days.
Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction
By Anjili Babbar
![Finders: Justice, Faith, and Identity in Irish Crime Fiction](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/finders.jpg)
Sussing out the throughline among popular Gaelic gumshoes.
A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe
By Mark Dawidziak
![A Mystery of Mysteries: The Death and Life of Edgar Allan Poe](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/amystery.jpg)
The subject’s demise, like his tales, was spooky and unsettling.
The Tudors in Love: Passion and Politics in the Age of England’s Most Famous Dynasty
By Sarah Gristwood
![The Tudors in Love: Passion and Politics in the Age of England’s Most Famous Dynasty](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thetudorsinlove.jpg)
An intelligent, astute account of those randy royals.
A Dangerous Business: A Novel
By Jane Smiley
![A Dangerous Business: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/adangerous.jpg)
Winning elements fail to coalesce in this disappointing frontier whodunit.
Watching Darkness Fall
By David McKean
![Watching Darkness Fall](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/watching.jpg)
A riveting look at some of the men who did — or didn’t — sound the alarm.
Hollywood: The Oral History
By Jeanine Basinger and Sam Wasson
![Hollywood: The Oral History](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/hollywood.jpg)
A chatty, affectionate ode to Tinseltown.
Anvils, Mallets & Dynamite
By Jaime Weinman
![Anvils, Mallets & Dynamite](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/anvils.jpg)
An affectionate, erudite look back at Bugs and Daffy’s reign.
Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel
By Kate Atkinson
![Shrines of Gaiety: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/shrines.jpg)
A raucous, Dickensian jaunt through Jazz Age London.
Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne
By Katherine Rundell
![Super-Infinite: The Transformations of John Donne](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/superinfinite.jpg)
An affectionate look at a complex renaissance man.
Matrix
By Lauren Groff
![Matrix](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/matrix.jpg)
Banished to a nunnery, a headstrong 12th-century girl discovers her strength.
The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators
By Martin Edwards
![The Life of Crime: Detecting the History of Mysteries and Their Creators](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thelifeofcrime.jpg)
Whodunit fans should dive into this broad, if not deep, informative pool.
Dream Girl
By Laura Lippman
![Dream Girl](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/dreamgirl.jpg)
This subversively witty tale starts off as a mystery in search of a crime.
The Monster’s Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World
By David K. Randall
![The Monster’s Bones: The Discovery of T. Rex and How It Shook Our World](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/monsters_1.jpg)
The rip-roaring race to put dinosaurs on display.
Ethel Rosenberg
By Anne Sebba
![Ethel Rosenberg](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/ethel.jpg)
This riveting biography of the infamous “spy” makes a persuasive case for its subject’s innocence.
City on Fire: A Novel
By Don Winslow
![City on Fire: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(946).png)
This piercing tale’s emotional precision distinguishes it from its author’s recent bestsellers.
The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies
By Paul Fischer
![The Man Who Invented Motion Pictures: A True Tale of Obsession, Murder, and the Movies](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/the-man-who-invented-motion-pictures-9781982114824_lg.jpg)
It’s this book’s account of history, not homicide, that’s truly riveting.
Red Widow
By Alma Katsu
![Red Widow](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/red_1.jpg)
This gripping, authentic spy procedural is made even stronger by its mostly female cast of characters.
Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life
By James Curtis
![Buster Keaton: A Filmmaker’s Life](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/busterkeaton.jpg)
An exquisitely produced ode to a long-ago comic genius.
![Architects of an American Landscape: Henry Hobson Richardson, Frederick Law Olmsted, and the Reimagining of America’s Public and Private Spaces](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/architects.jpeg)
An inspired look at two of our nation’s masters.
![Watching Darkness Fall: FDR, His Ambassadors, and the Rise of Adolf Hitler](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/watching.jpg)
A riveting look at some of the men who did — or didn’t — sound the alarm.
The Gilded Page: The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts
By Mary Wellesley
![The Gilded Page: The Secret Lives of Medieval Manuscripts](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(658).png)
An illuminating examination of enduring, aged texts.
![Anvils, Mallets & Dynamite: The Unauthorized Biography of Looney Tunes](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/anvils.jpg)
An affectionate, erudite look back at Bugs and Daffy’s reign.
Matrix: A Novel
By Lauren Groff
![Matrix: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/matrix.jpg)
Banished to a nunnery, a headstrong 12th-century girl discovers her strength.
The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England
By Julie Kavanagh
![The Irish Assassins: Conspiracy, Revenge, and the Phoenix Park Murders that Stunned Victorian England](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/IrishAssassinsFINAL-340x509.jpg)
A superb true-crime narrative set in fulsome historical context.
Dream Girl: A Novel
By Laura Lippman
![Dream Girl: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/dreamgirl.jpg)
This subversively witty tale starts off as a mystery in search of a crime.
Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy
By Anne Sebba
![Ethel Rosenberg: An American Tragedy](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/ethel.jpg)
This riveting biography of the infamous “spy” makes a persuasive case for its subject’s innocence.
Red Widow: A Novel
By Alma Katsu
![Red Widow: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/red_1.jpg)
This gripping, authentic spy procedural is made even stronger by its mostly female cast of characters.
The Falcon Thief
By Joshua Hammer
![The Falcon Thief](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/falcon.jpg)
A wild tale of crime and punishment amid the world of raptors and rapscallions.
Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith
By Richard Bradford
![Devils, Lusts and Strange Desires: The Life of Patricia Highsmith](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/devilslusts.jpg)
Though ably capturing his subject’s life, this biographer seems dismissive of her work.
Snow: A Novel
By John Banville
![Snow: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/snow.jpg)
The traditional manor-house mystery is turned on its head in this cheeky whodunit set in mid-20th-century Ireland.
Richard III
By Michael Hicks
![Richard III](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/richardiii_1.jpg)
Was the notorious stage villain really such a bad guy?
The Talented Miss Farwell: A Novel
By Emily Gray Tedrowe
![The Talented Miss Farwell: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/talented.jpg)
A hardworking, filial young woman in small-town Illinois isn't quite what she seems...
A Castle in Wartime
By Catherine Bailey
![A Castle in Wartime](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/acastle.jpg)
A captive German mother’s tribulations amid the final throes of the Reich.
A Private Cathedral: A Dave Robicheaux Novel
By James Lee Burke
![A Private Cathedral: A Dave Robicheaux Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/Screenshot_(339).png)
The latest installment in the entertaining series takes an unexpected — and not entirely successful — turn toward the supernatural.
The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor
By Paul Dickson
![The Rise of the G.I. Army, 1940-1941: The Forgotten Story of How America Forged a Powerful Army Before Pearl Harbor](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/RiseOfGI-Army-340x509.jpg)
A detail-rich, engaging account of the United States’ WWII preparations.
Caligula
By Stephen Dando-Collins
![Caligula](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/caligula.jpg)
An entertaining, modern-day look at a notorious long-ago ruler.
In West Mills
By De’Shawn Charles Winslow
![In West Mills](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/inwestmills.jpg)
This debut brings rural American culture into vibrant, emotion-grabbing focus.
The Deep: A Novel
By Alma Katsu
![The Deep: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/deep_1.jpg)
A survivor of the Titanic tempts fate and faces down her ghosts.
Ten Caesars
By Barry Strauss
![Ten Caesars](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/tencaesars.jpg)
A wild, thoroughly enjoyable ride through four centuries of imperial rule.
The Triumph of Christianity
By Bart D. Ehrman
![The Triumph of Christianity](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/triumphof.jpg)
From Paul to Constantine, a modest faith’s stunning rise to prominence.
No Beast So Fierce
By Dane Huckelbridge
![No Beast So Fierce](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/nobeast.jpg)
The thrilling clash of man versus monster, told in evenhanded detail.
Deacon King Kong: A Novel
By James McBride
![Deacon King Kong: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/deacon.jpg)
A National Book Award winner’s uplifting tale of life, death, and redemption in the Brooklyn projects.
The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird
By Joshua Hammer
![The Falcon Thief: A True Tale of Adventure, Treachery, and the Hunt for the Perfect Bird](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/falcon.jpg)
A wild tale of crime and punishment amid the world of raptors and rapscallions.
The Truants: A Novel
By Kate Weinberg
![The Truants: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/truants.jpg)
This beguiling homage to Dame Agatha Christie plays out in a proper British university.
Cesare: A Novel of War-Torn Berlin
By Jerome Charyn
![Cesare: A Novel of War-Torn Berlin](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/cesare.jpg)
A haunting, dystopian tale of the Third Reich.
Richard III: The Self-Made King
By Michael Hicks
![Richard III: The Self-Made King](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/richardiii_1.jpg)
Was the notorious stage villain really such a bad guy?
All That’s Bright and Gone: A Novel
By Eliza Nellums
![All That’s Bright and Gone: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/allthats.jpg)
Her family fractured, a 6-year-old detective searches for answers surrounding her brother’s disappearance.
A Castle in Wartime: One Family, Their Missing Sons, and the Fight to Defeat the Nazis
By Catherine Bailey
![A Castle in Wartime: One Family, Their Missing Sons, and the Fight to Defeat the Nazis](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/acastle.jpg)
A captive German mother’s tribulations amid the final throes of the Reich.
Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War’s Most Audacious Espionage Operation
By Steve Vogel
![Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War’s Most Audacious Espionage Operation](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/betrayal.jpg)
A dazzling, true-life saga of the spy-versus-spy underpinnings of the Cold War.
War at Sea: A Shipwrecked History from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century
By James P. Delgado
![War at Sea: A Shipwrecked History from Antiquity to the Twentieth Century](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/waratsea.jpg)
A sprawling chronicle of ocean-going warfare from a scholar and hands-on explorer.
French Exit
By Patrick DeWitt
![French Exit](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/frenchexit.jpg)
A witty (and somewhat soulless) postmodernist comedy of arch understatement.
We, the Survivors: A Novel
By Tash Aw
![We, the Survivors: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/wethe.jpg)
A third-world tale starkly relevant to our own plight today.
Caligula: The Mad Emperor of Rome
By Stephen Dando-Collins
![Caligula: The Mad Emperor of Rome](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/caligula.jpg)
An entertaining, modern-day look at a notorious long-ago ruler.
Barnum: An American Life
By Robert Wilson
![Barnum: An American Life](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/barnum.jpg)
A clear-eyed new look at the 19th-century huckster.
Kingdom of Lies: Unnerving Adventures in the World of Cybercrime
By Kate Fazzini
![Kingdom of Lies: Unnerving Adventures in the World of Cybercrime](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/kingdom_1.jpg)
A befuddling, fragmentary plunge into the realm of computer criminals.
In West Mills: A Novel
By De’Shawn Charles Winslow
![In West Mills: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/inwestmills.jpg)
This debut brings rural American culture into vibrant, emotion-grabbing focus.
Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine
By Barry Strauss
![Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/tencaesars.jpg)
A wild, thoroughly enjoyable ride through four centuries of imperial rule.
A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II
By Sonia Purnell
![A Woman of No Importance: The Untold Story of the American Spy Who Helped Win World War II](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/womanofnoimportance.jpg)
An engrossing, even spectacular, true story that reads like a thriller.
Richard III
By Chris Skidmore
![Richard III](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/richardiii.jpg)
Misunderstood? Maligned? Maybe so…but still as ruthless as the age in which he lived.
No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History
By Dane Huckelbridge
![No Beast So Fierce: The Terrifying True Story of the Champawat Tiger, the Deadliest Man-Eater in History](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/nobeast.jpg)
The thrilling clash of man versus monster, told in evenhanded detail.
Blood Orange: A Novel
By Harriet Tyce
![Blood Orange: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/bloodorange.jpg)
A bad-girl barrister tries to find justice before it’s too late in this formulaic thriller.
El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America
By Carrie Gibson
![El Norte: The Epic and Forgotten Story of Hispanic North America](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/elnorte.jpg)
Chronicling the ebb and flow of Latin culture over half a millennium.
The Current: A Novel
By Tim Johnston
![The Current: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thecurrent.jpg)
A fatal road trip dredges up a small town’s memories of a decade-old murder.
The Day the Sun Died: A Novel
By Yan Lianke; translated by Carlos Rojas
![The Day the Sun Died: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thedaythesun.jpg)
From today’s China, a sardonic fable about social conformity and the impulses it suppresses.
![Mad, Bad, Dangerous to Know: The Fathers of Wilde, Yeats, and Joyce](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/madbad.jpg)
A revealing, maybe shocking, consideration of three Irish literary patriarchs.
Everything Under: A Novel
By Daisy Johnson
![Everything Under: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/everythingunder.jpg)
This Man Booker-nominated retelling of the Oedipus tale brings a wrenching, transcendent relevance to the myth.
Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life
By Diarmaid MacCulloch
![Thomas Cromwell: A Revolutionary Life](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/thomasmacculloch.jpg)
Everything you wanted to know about Henry VIII’s trusted fixer.
The Burning Time
By Virginia Rounding
![The Burning Time](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/burningtime.jpg)
An authoritative chronicle of the gruesome era when religious dissenters met their end at the stake.
French Exit: A Novel
By Patrick DeWitt
![French Exit: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/frenchexit.jpg)
A witty (and somewhat soulless) postmodernist comedy of arch understatement.
Dinner with Darwin
By Jonathan Silvertown
![Dinner with Darwin](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/dinnerwithdarwin.jpg)
A fascinating discussion of the science and anthropology behind today’s human diet.
Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago
By Max Allan Collins and A. Brad Schwartz
![Scarface and the Untouchable: Al Capone, Eliot Ness, and the Battle for Chicago](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/scarface.jpg)
A deep and detailed dive into a staple of American popular mythology.
Rome Resurgent: War and Empire in the Age of Justinian
By Peter Heather
![Rome Resurgent: War and Empire in the Age of Justinian](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/romeresurgent.jpg)
A scholarly overview of the once-mighty realm’s last hurrah in the West.
Since We Fell
By Dennis Lehane
![Since We Fell](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/sincewefell.png)
A compulsively readable — if formulaic — thriller from a master of the genre.
Rome: A History in Seven Sackings
By Matthew Kneale
![Rome: A History in Seven Sackings](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/romeahistory.jpg)
This accessible chronicle of the Eternal City is ideal for lay readers.
Richard III: England’s Most Controversial King
By Chris Skidmore
![Richard III: England’s Most Controversial King](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/richardiii.jpg)
Misunderstood? Maligned? Maybe so…but still as ruthless as the age in which he lived.
Four Princes
By John Julius Norwich
![Four Princes](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/fourprinces.jpg)
A famed historian offers a fascinating look at the intersecting reigns of several powerful rulers.
The Plague of War
By Jennifer T. Roberts
![The Plague of War](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/plagueofwar_1.jpg)
An erudite retelling of the brutal long-ago clashes.
Chicago
By David Mamet
![Chicago](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/chicagomamet.jpg)
A premier American dramatist tackles the whodunit…after his fashion.
The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World
By Bart D. Ehrman
![The Triumph of Christianity: How a Forbidden Religion Swept the World](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/triumphof.jpg)
From Paul to Constantine, a modest faith’s stunning rise to prominence.
How America Lost Its Secrets
By Edward Jay Epstein
![How America Lost Its Secrets](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/howamerica.jpg)
Is the infamous leaker a patriot or pariah? A veteran author tries to untangle the truth.
Release Your Inner Roman
By Jerry Toner
![Release Your Inner Roman](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/innerroman.jpg)
A Cambridge don serves up a tongue-in-cheek guide to classical etiquette.
It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America
By David Cay Johnston
![It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/itsevenworse.jpg)
It’s not just our president, it’s the “termites” he’s unleashed to undermine the Executive Branch.
Haunted
By Leo Braudy
![Haunted](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/haunted.jpg)
A scholarly yet readable treatise on things that go bump in the night.
The Immortalists: A Novel
By Chloe Benjamin
![The Immortalists: A Novel](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/immortalists.jpg)
Does knowing the date of your death make a difference in how you live?
Game of Queens: The Women Who Made 16th-Century Europe
By Sarah Gristwood
![Game of Queens: The Women Who Made 16th-Century Europe](https://www.washingtonindependentreviewofbooks.com/assets/uploads/gameofqueens_1.jpg)
A detail-rich chronicle of the Continent’s most formidable — if often unsung — monarchs.