Norman Stone, "A Very English Controversialist," WSJ, 10 December, reviews Adam Sisman's An Honourable Englishman: The Life of Hugh Trevor-Roper.

David Margolick, "The African-American Experience," NYT, 9 December, reviews Henry Louis Gates's Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008. Isn't it time to admit that Skip is a trickster and we been tricked?

Ben MacIntyre, "The Risks and Rewards of Exploring the Nile," NYT, 9 December, reviews Tim Jeal's Explorers of the Nile: The Triumph and Tragedy of a Great Victorian Adventure.

Julia Frey reviews Steven Naifeh's and Gregory White Smith's Van Gogh: The Life for the Washington Post, 9 December.

Jacob Heilbrunn reviews John Lewis Gaddis's George Kennan: An American Life for the Daily Beast, 9 December. Geoffrey Kabaservice, "William F. Buckley Jr.: Right Man, Right Time," NYT, 9 December, reviews Carl T. Bogus's Buckley: William F. Buckley Jr. and the Rise of American Conservatism. Bogus, "God and man and William F. Buckley," LAT, 27 November, considers the importance of Buckley's God and Man at Yale.