Faith in a Seed: The Dispersion of Seeds and Other Late Natural History Writings

Henry David Thoreau. Island Press, $29.95 (301pp) ISBN 978-1-55963-182-2

Dean, the editor of the Thoreau Society Bulletin, has culled essays from the notebooks Thoreau left behind at his death, works that illuminate the scientific side of the pioneering naturalist. (Apr.)

Featured Nonfiction Reviews

Bruce Chadwick

The Battle of Gettysburg was a dramatic combination of pathos and absurdity, according to this remarkable selection of primary sources from historian Chadwick (The Cannons Continue reading »

Joshua Howe, Alexander Lemons

Howe (Behind the Curve), a professor of environmental history at Reed College, and U.S. Marine veteran Lemons team up for a searing mix of wartime memoir and scientific Continue reading »

Rich Benjamin

Benjamin (Searching for Whitopia) delivers a devastating memoir about the ripple effects of the coup that ousted his grandfather, Haitian president Daniel Fignolé, in 1957. Continue reading »

Marlene L Daut

Historian Daut (Awakening the Ashes) offers a powerful biography of Henry Christophe (1767-1820), who fought for, defected from, and ultimately ruled over Haiti. She first Continue reading »