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John Jenkins, "Summer of '71" – Part 1

August 04, 2026

John A. Jenkins has been a journalist most of his life in the city of his birth, Washington, DC. He says he's never known another summer like the one 55 years ago. His book, "Summer of '71: Five Months That Changed America," focuses on well-known names from that era: Daniel Ellsberg, Neil Sheehan, Henry Kissinger, Sarah Weddington, and Angela Davis. John Jenkins writes that "each main character has an important back story that sets them up for the summer of '71 to come." He also writes: "My p...

Christine Kuehn, "Family of Spies"

July 28, 2026

The author's name is Christine Kuehn. The book is titled "Family of Spies: A World War II Story of Nazi Espionage, Betrayal, and the Secret History Behind Pearl Harbor." Christine Kuehn worked on her family's story for over 30 years. According to the publisher's note, it began with a letter from a screenwriter asking about a story. It was the first time she had ever heard about the secrets of the Kuehn family. Her father had never spoken about his mother Friedel (FREE-duhl) and his father Ott...

Ted Widmer, "The Living Declaration"

July 21, 2026

The commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence has now gone beyond the Fourth of July. Many books have been published about the Declaration in the first half of 2026. The question for Americans is: "Have you read the Declaration in full?" A recent study says that only 3 in 10 U.S. citizens have read the Declaration in its entirety. Author Ted Widmer has published, through the Library of America, a detailed history of how the Declaration came about...