Bookshelf

The author of “Gilded Suffragists” on the fight for women’s suffrage

Tom Nolan on the latest adventure of Lisbeth Salander.

Meghan Cox Gurdon on “His Royal Highness, King Baby” and other books.

Goodbye, cold roast chicken. Hello, flavorful dishes from Africa, Asia and Latin America. Barry Estabrook reviews “Christopher Kimball’s Milk Street.”

The 18th-century wit’s most penetrating letters, with the uncharitable parts restored. Brooke Allen reviews “Horace Walpole: Selected Letters” edited by Stephen Clarke.

Sam Sacks on Nicole Krauss’s “Forest Dark” and Nathan Englander’s “Dinner at the Center of the Earth.”

How a diamond “the size of a hen’s egg” journeyed from the Punjab to Persia to Afghanistan to London. Henrik Bering reviews “Koh-i-Noor” by William Dalrymple and Anita Anand.

Istanbul is civilization’s “Center City,” the crossroads of Europe and Asia. Peter Thonemann reviews “Istanbul” by Bettany Hughes.

Parkinson wrote political pamphlets, treatises on fossils and the first paper on “paralysis agitans.” William F. Bynum reviews “The Enlightened Mr. Parkinson” by Cherry Lewis.

A brush with death altered the way Fred Hersch plays. One can hear a new joy and freedom in his music. Ted Gioia reviews his memoir “Good Things Happen Slowly.”

Why a primitive tale of sex, death, taboo, temptation—and snakes—still fascinates and confounds. A.N. Wilson reviews “The Rise and Fall of Adam and Eve” by Stephen Greenblatt.

The rock band Iron Maiden has built close connections with its fans, who now buy almost anything it puts out, from albums to belt buckles. Philip Delves Broughton reviews “Perennial Seller” by Ryan Holiday.

Like nurse practitioners in medicine, paralegals and notaries can cut costs in the legal profession by providing basic services. Jonathan H. Adler reviews “Rebooting Justice” by Benjamin H. Barton and Stephanos Bibas.

Activists often fail to draw a line between refugees and economic migrants. The result can be catastrophic for host countries. James Traub reviews “Refuge” by Alexander Betts and Paul Collier.

Liberal arts majors have the skills to translate their studies of history, philosophy and politics into impressive career trajectories. Michael S. Roth reviews “A Practical Education” by Randall Stross and “You Can Do Anything” by George Anders.

The Château de l’Horizon, on the French Riviera, was a playground for the idle rich as well as intellectuals, royalty and heads of state. Moira Hodgson reviews “The Riviera Set” by Mary S. Lovell.

A definitive biography shows a Soviet leader changing his mind. Max Boot reviews “Gorbachev” by William Taubman.

The spy master’s latest Smiley novel entwines today’s world with a lost one. Henry Hemming reviews “A Legacy of Spies” by John le Carré.

An epic history destroys the idea of a single global ideological battle. Paul Kennedy reviews “The Cold War” by Odd Arne Westad.

Sam Sacks on novels by Jesmyn Ward and others.

Tom Nolan on the latest from Louise Penny, T. Jefferson Parker and Sue Grafton.

Conflict between the U.S.’s greatest rival and its closest regional ally may soon test the thesis that well-off societies don’t go to war. Robert D. Kaplan reviews “Asia’s Reckoning” by Richard McGregor.

Reimagining a Western technology for Chinese characters led inventors in all sorts of directions. Peter Neville-Hadley reviews “The Chinese Typewriter” by Thomas S. Mullaney.

A memoir from the hilariously honest folksinger Loudon Wainwright III: “I’ve had the blues for about sixty years now.” Tony Fletcher reviews “Liner Notes.”

A former FBI special agent and the author of “Three Minutes to Doomsday: An Agent, a Traitor, and the Worst Espionage Breach in U.S. History” on spies and counterspies.