Claude R. Marx

Senator Edward M. Kennedy’s remarkable and often tragic life is one that could have been scripted by Shakespeare. John A. Farrell has a great deal to work with and handles it well. He is respectful but not fawning. And those who love political history and complex characters will learn a lot from and enjoy Ted Kennedy: A Life.

Trump supporters may consider William P. Barr something of a modern-day Judas Iscariot, while Trump critics will deem him to be a shameless apologist. But those who take the time to read One Damn Thing After Another: Memoirs of an Attorney General will learn a great deal and have the chance to draw their own conclusions.

While Susan Page conducted several interviews with her subject and clearly admires her, Madam Speaker: Nancy Pelosi and the Lessons of Political Power is no work of is hagiography.

Washington Post columnist Karen Tumulty does a great service in her new book by taking us behind the public façade. The Triumph of Nancy Reagan is a detailed, insightful, and gossipy look at the wife of Ronald Reagan, one of our most consequential, yet controversial presidents.

Susan Berfield’s book reads like a novel and she proves the adage that truth can be just as engaging as fiction. This is no small feat given that there are extensive discussions of century-old legislation and litigation, which only a true antitrust nerd can love.