Cole Porter: Selected Lyrics (American Poets Project) (Hardcover)
by Cole Porter, Robert Kimball (Editor)

Editorial Reviews - Cole Porter possessed to a singular degree the art of expressing depth through apparent frivolity. The effervescent wit and technical bravura of his songs are matched by their unguarded revelations of feeling. In the words of editor Robert Kimball, "Porter wrote tellingly of the pain and evanescence of emotional relationships. He gentle mocked propriety and said that few things were simple or lasting or free from ambiguity." Of the masters of twentieth-century American songwriting, Porter was one of the few who wrote both music and lyrics, and, even in the absence of his melodies, his words distill an unmistakable mixture of poignancy and wit that marks him as a genius of light verse.

Selected from over eight hundred songs, here are Porter's finest flights of invention, lyrics that are an indelible part of 20th-century culture: "Let's Do It," "Love for Sale," "I Get a Kick Out of You," "Anything Goes," "In the Still of the Night," "I Concentrate on You," and dozens more.

Choices Under Fire: Moral Dimensions of World War II (Hardcover) by Michael Bess

From Booklist: Excluding ardent pacifists, Americans generally view World War II as the "good war" in which the goals of defeating Nazi totalitarianism and Japanese militarism eliminated moral ambiguities. But Professor Bess insists that in a war fought for moral purposes, the moral ambiguities of specific governmental or individual actions are sharpened. In this fascinating but discomfiting work, he unhesitatingly tackles some of the moral dilemmas presented by the war. How did the racism prevalent in American society undermine the moral justification of our cause? British and American opposition to Japanese expansion in Asia is examined within the context of European imperialism and exploitation. Could the bombing of civilian centers be justified on the basis of saving the lives of our military personnel? Can the necessity of defeating the Nazis be morally squared with an alliance with the equally monstrous regime controlled by Stalin? These, of course, are difficult questions, and those who prefer pat answers will have little patience with these ruminations. Yet the strength of this book is that it forces us to acknowledge and confront them. Jay Freeman - Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Invasion!: Operation Sea Lion, 1940 (Hardcover) - by Martin Marix Evans

From the Back Cover: It's the summer of 1940 and the Nazis have crossed the English Channel to invade Britain. They advance North from the South coast and great swathes of Southern England come under German control.

Fiction, of course, but an invasion of Britain was planned by Hitler to take place in the summer of 1940 - how far would the Germans have been able to advance? Would they have been successful?
 

Farthing (Hardcover) - by Jo Walton

From Publishers Weekly - Starred Review. World Fantasy Award–winner Walton (Tooth and Claw) crosses genres without missing a beat with this stunningly powerful alternative history set in 1949, eight years after Britain agreed to peace with Nazi Germany, leaving Hitler in control of the European continent. A typical gathering at the country estate of Farthing of the power elite who brokered the deal is thrown into turmoil when the main negotiator, Sir James Thirkie, is murdered, with a yellow star pinned to his chest with a dagger. The author deftly alternates perspective between Lucy Kahn, the host's daughter, who has disgraced herself in her family's eyes by marrying a Jew, and Scotland Yard Inspector Peter Carmichael, who quickly suspects that the killer was not a Bolshevik terrorist. But while the whodunit plot is compelling, it's the convincing portrait of a country's incremental slide into fascism that makes this novel a standout. Mainstream readers should be enthralled as well. (Aug.)

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The Separation (Hardcover) - by Christopher Priest

From Publishers Weekly: Starred Review. In this subtle, unsettling alternative WWII history from British author Priest (The Prestige), Jack Sawyer is an RAF bomber pilot who encourages his government to distrust the peace proposal offered by renegade Nazi Rudolph Hess. At the same time, perhaps, Jack's identical twin brother, Joe, is a pacifist Red Cross staffer aiding peace negotiations with a German delegation headed by Hess. Jack's actions help shape the events we remember; Joe's lead to a truce between Germany and Britain in 1941 that results in a disturbingly familiar postwar world. Convincingly detailed diaries, scraps of published texts, declassified transcripts and more baffle a historian who tries to reconcile different realities. The brothers themselves recognize the uncertainty of motives and actions; Joe in particular struggles to believe that he's making a better future even though he realizes how much it costs him personally. Many alternative history novels are bloodless extrapolations from mountains of data, but this one quietly builds characters you care about—then leaves their dilemmas unresolved as they try to believe that what they have done is "right." (Dec.)
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"(The Author)Thomas Woods is a college history professor with a surprise hit on his hands. His upbeat look at our past, "The Politically Incorrect Guide to American History," has become a best-seller by putting a decidedly different spin on the liberal "facts" and myths we learned from our school textbooks." From Pittsburgh Tribune-Review - By Bill Steigerwald.