An entertaining new history by Steven Johnson explores an explosive moment when terror and nascent surveillance collided.

Jessica Shattuck’s “Last House” dips into the cultural intrigues of 20th-century America, but keeps its nose surprisingly clean.

Inspired by her own family’s past, Claire Messud’s “This Strange Eventful History” unfolds over seven decades and two wars.

A renowned member of the New York School of poets, he also found accidental notoriety when he was photographed during the 1968 uprising at Columbia University.

The best-selling author of dark fantasy novels for Y.A. and adult audiences discusses her career and her stand-alone new historical fantasy, “The Familiar.”

For The Book Review Podcast’s May book club, we’ll talk about “James,” Percival Everett’s radical reimagining of “Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.”