Notes on Contemporary History

Edward Rothstein, "A Library's Treasures, From Gutenberg to Malcolm X," NYT, 17 May, reviews "Celebrating 100 Years," the New York Public Library's celebration of its centennial.

Adam Kirsch, "Three-Part Harmony," Tablet, 17 May, and Chris Beneke, "Judeo-Catholic-Protestant America," Religion in American History, 17 May, review Kevin M. Schultz's Tri-Faith America: How Catholics and Jews Held Postwar America to Its Protestant Promise.

Eliza Griswold, "Being Obama's Mother," NYT, 13 May, reviews Janny Scott's A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother.

Max Frankel for the NYT, 13 May, and Rana Mitter for the Guardian, 15 May, review Henry Kissinger's On China.

Martin Vander Weyer, "Inside the Squid," Literary Review, May, reviews William D. Cohen's Money and Power: How Goldman Sachs Came to Rule the World.