"Wilson purveys many hoary myths long since discredited by historical research…. Repeatedly, he introduces material that is marginal or irrelevant…. Some of his judgements are simply bizarre…. Wilson concludes with a series of reflections that are breathtaking in their banality." —A.N. Wilson's Hitler: A Short Biography, reviewed by Richard J. Evans. (via, via)

Here is a small bit of Janny Scott's biography of Barack Obama's mother, detailing in particular the years they lived in Indonesia with her second husband. Born in 1942, having her first child in 1961, and moving to Jakarta in 1967—which set the stage for her to become an early expert in the more recently trendy world of global microfinancing—it reveals yet again that the women of this generation lived incredible lives in an incredible time, a fact that's often covered-up by (at least) the passage of decades. To me, the story most notably shows the value of following your interests and passions—moving from anthropology to teaching English [...]

The "young readers" Christian biography of Sarah Palin has been shelved. Too bad, because it sounds great! "Vanity Fair, which published a critical post-mortem on the McCain campaign, is called a 'widely read gossip magazine.'" Well, half-right.