A selection of the month’s most noteworthy books, as discussed by The Wall Street Journal’s reviewers.
America’s Book: The Rise and Decline of a Bible Civilization, 1794-1911
By Mark A. Noll | Oxford
For much of its history, American society was awash in biblical ideas, themes and names — for good and ill. Review by DG Hart.
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The Great Passion
By James Runcie | Bloomsbury
The author of the “Grantchester” mysteries takes readers on an imagined sojourn in the house of JS Bach, hard at work on a masterpiece. Review by Boyd Tonkin.
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The Method: How the Twentieth Century Learned to Act
By Isaac Butler | Bloomsbury
Stanislavski brought his system for the creation of emotionally resonant drama to America. Actors embraced it — but few could agree on its meaning. Review by Willard Spiegelman.
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Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast
By Joan DeJean | Basic
Many of the women that France first settled in its American colonies had been arrested for prostitution — or poverty — and shipped away. Review by Kathleen DuVal.
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Nazi Billionaires: The Dark History of Germany’s Wealthiest Dynasties
By David de Jong | Mariner
The lucrative legacy of colluding with Hitler lives on in the vast fortunes of fi ve German dynasties. Review by Diane Cole.
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The Perfect Sound: A Memoir in Stereo
By Garrett Hongo | Pantheon
Can the right turntable or the ideal amp bring a listener to auditory nirvana? One music lover was determined to find out. Review by Daniel J. Levitin.
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The Right: The Hundred Year War for American Conservatism
By Matthew Continetti | Basic
An account of the conservative movement that stresses the great variety of concerns — and in many cases the bitter disagreements — within its ranks. Review by Barton Swaim.
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Riverman: An American Odyssey
By Ben McGrath | Knopf
Richard Conant traded an ordinary life for a continent-spanning journey in a red plastic canoe. Then he vanished. Review by Heller McAlpin.
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Six California Kitchens
By Sally Schmitt | Chronicle
Before there were foodies or Instagram-ready restaurants, Sally Schmitt started a revolution at the original French Laundry. Review by Heller McAlpin.
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True: The Four Seasons of Jackie Robinson
By Kostya Kennedy | St. Martin’s
Having broken the “color barrier” in baseball, Jackie Robinson inevitably became a symbol in the national debate over race. But there is more to the story. Review by David M. Shribman.
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Victory at Sea: Naval Power and the Transformation of the Global Order in World War II
By Paul Kennedy | Yale
For both the Allies and the Axis, a crucial part of the struggle came down to dominance of the marine battlefield. Review by Brendan Simms.
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Winslow Homer: American Passage
By William R. Cross | Farrar, Straus and Giroux
No one captured 19th-century America like the painter Winslow Homer, who ranged widely in his subjects, while always seeking to capture human endurance. Review by Randall Fuller.
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