The Economist's "Pick of the Pile" - 3

Here is the Third section of the Economist’s best of 2008.

History

The Return of History and the End of Dreams. By Robert Kagan. Knopf; 128 pages; $19.95. Atlantic Books; ₤12.99.

A Splendid Exchange: How Trade Shaped the World. By William J. Bernstein. Atlantic Monthly Press; 467 pages; $30. Atlantic Books; ₤22.

Freedom for the Thought that We Hate: A Biography of the First Amendment. By Anthony Lewis. Basic Books; 240 pages; $25 and ₤14.99.

The Age of Wonder: How the Romantic Generation Discovered the Beauty and Terror of Science. By Richard Holmes. Harper Press; 380 pages; ₤20.

Masters and Commanders: How Roosevelt, Churchill, Marshall and Alanbrooke Won the War in the West. By Andrew Roberts. Allen Lane; 720 pages; ₤25.

Out of Mao’s Shadow: the Struggle for the Soul of a New China. By Philip P. Pan. Simon & Schuster; 368 pages; $38. Picador; ₤14.99.

Modern China: The Fall and Rise of a Great Power, 1850 to the Present. By Jonathan Fenby. Ecco Books; 816 pages; $34.95.

The White War: Life and Death on the Italian Front 1915-1919. By Mark Thompson. Faber & Faber; 464 pages; ₤25.

The Blackest Streets: The Life and Death of a Victorian Slum. By Sarah Wise. The Bodley Head; 240 pages; ₤20.

Empires of the Sea: The Siege of Malta, the Battle of Lepanto, and the Contest for the Centre of the World. By Roger Crowley. Random House; 368 pages; $30. Faber & Faber; ₤20.

American Rifle: A Biography. By Alexander Rose. Delacorte Press; 512 pages; $30.