The New Republic

The Eagle Unbowed: Poland and the Poles in the Second World War By Halik Kochanski (Harvard University Press, 734 pp., $35) The Auschwitz Volunteer: Beyond Bravery By Witold Pilecki translated by Jarek Garliński (Aquila Polonica, 460 pp., $34.95)   READ MORE >>

The Founders and Finance: How Hamilton, Gallatin, and Other Immigrants Forged a New Economy By Thomas K. McCraw (Harvard University Press, 485 pp., $35)   READ MORE >>

The Great Persuasion: Reinventing Free Markets since the DepressionBy Angus Burgin (Harvard University Press, 303 pp., $29.95)   READ MORE >>

The Unintended Reformation: How a Religious Revolution Secularized SocietyBy Brad S. Gregory (Harvard University Press, 574 pp., $39.95) I.  THERE ARE ONLY so many ways of telling a story. Scan world literature and you discover a surprisingly small stock of narrative styles; narrow your search to historical writing and you find only a handful. READ MORE >>

The Mauthausen Trial: American Military Justice in Germany By Tomaz Jardim (Harvard University Press, 276 pp., $29.95) Conscience on Trial: The Fate of Fourteen Pacifists in Stalin’s Ukraine, 1952–1953 By Hiroaki Kuromiya (University of Toronto Press, 212 pp., $60) All the Missing Souls: A Personal History of the War Crimes Tribunals By David Scheffer (Princeton University Press, 533 pp., $35) READ MORE >>

Before 2013 begins, catch up on the best of 2012. From now until the New Year, we will be re-posting some of The New Republic’s most thought-provoking pieces of the year. Enjoy. Why Lyrics Last: Evolution, Cognition, and Shakespeare’s Sonnets By Brian Boyd (Harvard University Press, 227 pp., $25.95) Wired for Culture: Origins of the Human Social Mind By Mark Pagel (W.W. Norton, 416 pp., $29.95) READ MORE >>

From Enemy to Brother: The Revolution in Catholic Teaching on the Jews, 1933–1965 By John Connelly (Harvard University Press, 376 pp., $35) READ MORE >>

Design for Liberty: Private Property, Public Administration, and the Rule of Law By Richard A. Epstein (Harvard University Press, 233 pp., $29.95) READ MORE >>

The Collapse of American Criminal Justice By William J. Stuntz (Harvard University Press, 413 pp., $35) READ MORE >>

The Book that Changed Europe: Picart & Bernard’s “Religious Ceremonies of the World” By Lynn Hunt, Margaret C. Jacob, and Wijnand Mijnhardt (Harvard University Press, 383 pp., $32.95) A New Science: The Discovery of Religion in the Age of Reason By Guy G. Stroumsa (Harvard University Press, 223 pp., $35) READ MORE >>