Scott McLemee reviews Eric Foner's The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery for the Barnes & Noble Review, 30 December.

Dennis Drabelle reviews Greg Sadowski, ed., Four Color Fear: Forgotten Horror Comics of the 1950s and Jim Trombetta, ed., The Horror! The Horror! Comic Books the Government Didn't Want You to Read! for the Washington Post, 30 December.

Sasha Abramsky,"Lives & letters: house of books," Guardian, 1 January, recalls his grandfather, Chimen Abramsky, who held forth in his London house of books, arguing with Salo Baron or Isaiah Berlin"over matzo ball soup and roast duck."

Jordan Michael Smith,"The Birth and Death of Human Rights Doctrine," Slate, 1 January, reviews Samuel Moyn's The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History.

Finally, farewell to Irwin Abrams, pioneer historian of peace and an expert in the Nobel Peace Prize. See the tribute by his grandson, Scott London.