9 New Books We Recommend This Week

Twenty years after the formalist poet Anthony Hecht died, he seems to be having a mini-revival with the simultaneous release, from separate publishers, of a biography and a vast collected poems. Hecht was a complicated figure: A Jewish American veteran of World War II, he was haunted by what he saw of the Holocaust up close and also by his pacifist decision never to fire his gun at another person even in battle. He channeled that experience and its psychological burden into precisely regimented meter and rhyme, in poems that gained much of their power from the tension between their content and their technical constraints. You could read either the biography or the collected poems individually, but why not read both together? They benefit from the pairing.

Also up this week: a consideration of American evangelicals and their turn to the right, a pointillistic history of a turning point in the Second World War and a look back at a reporter’s influential trip to 19th-century Russia, along with a study of Renaissance beauty standards as revealed through Italian art and an argument that Egypt’s second president, Gamal Abdel Nasser, was too accepting of autocracy throughout the Middle East. In fiction, we like new novels by Amy Jo Burns and Claire Oshetsky. Happy reading. — Gregory Cowles

Wallance’s biography of Kennan convincingly portrays him as one of the 19th century’s most influential journalists, arguing that “Siberia and the Exile System,” his exposé of Russian penal colonies, was what first soured the country’s relationship with America.

Written by a poet and critic, this biography of the noted formalist poet Anthony Hecht (1923-2004) delivers the desired curiosities — Hecht once stole a girl from a young Marlon Brando! — while maintaining a gratifying focus on his poetry.

St. Martin’s | $40

Hecht is best known for work that addressed his experiences in World War II, but this volume, edited by Philip Hoy and comprising all seven of his individual collections plus a scattering of other work, shows his range.

Knopf | $50

With a scrupulous and skillful hand, Englund (a Swedish economist and historian) uses the diaries and memoirs of 39 people, including Albert Camus and Vera Brittain, to create an original panorama of humankind’s most destructive war, in this pointillistic history translated by Peter Graves.

In this brave and absorbing book, Alberta — a staff writer for The Atlantic who also happens to be the son of an evangelical Christian minister — subjects his faith’s embrace of right-wing extremism to critical scrutiny.

Harper | $35

Shapewear, nose jobs, unrealistic standards: Burke’s study of 16th-century beauty proves that an obsession with aesthetics is nothing new. Through paintings of the Italian Renaissance, Burke offers a fun, informative and occasionally sobering look at the lives of women across social strata.

This memorable novel explores the secrets and conflicting loyalties of a roofing clan in small-town Pennsylvania. At the center of the story is a woman who rolled into town with car windows down and radio blasting, forever shifting the family’s equilibrium.

Celadon | $29

Oshetsky’s second novel evokes a child’s grief and guilt after her friend dies in an accident. As she grows up under the shadow of death, she’s accompanied by Poor Deer, a manifestation of inner turmoil who haunts her and forces her to face the truth.

Ecco | $26.99

Rowell traces the roots of the Arab Spring to Nasser, Egypt’s second president, who before his death in 1970 sowed the seeds of future troubles by supporting dictators and coups in countries like Libya and Iraq.