In"What it meant," Boston Globe, 9 November, John Dittmer, Eric Foner, Jacqueline Jones, Steve Lawson, and Thomas Sugrue reflect on where Obama's election fits in the American narrative. Thanks to Manan Ahmed for the tip.

Miranda Seymour,"Troubled Water," NYT, 9 November, reviews Peter Ackroyd's Thames: The Biography.

Tony Horwitz,"The Ideal Colonist," Washington Post, 9 November, reviews David Hackett Fisher's Champlain's Dream.

Stephen Prothero,"Those Wacky Puritans," Washington Post, 9 November, reviews Sarah Vowell's The Wordy Shipmates.

Max Byrd,"The Bullet Machine," NYT, 7 November, reviews Julia Keller's Mr. Gatling's Terrible Marvel: The Gun That Changed Everything and the Misunderstood Genius Who Invented It.

Steven V. Roberts,"A Yearning for the High Seas," Washington Post, 9 November, reviews Ken McCoogan's Race to the Polar Sea: The Heroic Adventures of Elisha Kent Kane.

Dennis Drabelle,"A Devotion to Nature," Washington Post, 9 November, reviews Donald Worster's A Passion for Nature: The Life of John Muir.

Robert Kagan,"An Officer and a Bulldog," NYT, 9 November, reviews Carlo D'Este's Warlord: A Life of Winston Churchill at War, 1874-1945.

Ben Ratliff,"Hearts Full of Sorrow," NYT, 9 November, reviews Ted Goia's Delta Blues: The Life and Times of the Mississippi Masters Who Revolutionized American Music.