'Gods of War, Gods of Peace'
By Russell Bourne
Harcourt Books, $27.50.
The conflicting spiritual beliefs and moral codes of Europeans and American Indians made for bloody confrontations for more than 200 years. It was this frontier that defined the nature of the continent as much as any physical boundaries.
And it is that frontier that makes the framework of this totally fascinating, swiftly paced historical narrative. Bourne has taken Francis Parkman from the shelf, shaken the dust from the covers and given us another, more contemporary look at North America's first cultural shocks. Not that Bourne is Parkman or that this is the landmark work of that earlier historian, but this is a substantial history the way Americans like everything these days: fast, slick and colorful.
The incredible stories that make up America's infancy slide through these pages: French Jesuit missionaries who refuse to denounce their God under horrendous torture, King Philip's savage war, Native American warrior prophets trying in vain to unite against a hopeless future, the French and Indian Wars. Bourne brings them out of history's past and enlightens his fortunate readers. — Craig Holyoak
'The Dive From Clausen's Pier'
By Ann Packer
Knopf, $24.
Warning: Reading this book could be hard on your sinuses. You might cry. A lot.
Packer, known for her short stories, has a written novel that delivers the compressed punch of a short story. This coming-of-age story begins as a 22-year-old girl named Carrie comes to Clausen's Reservoir for a picnic with her fiancé, Mike, and some other friends from high school.
In just a few paragraphs, Packer sets up the entire conflict: Carrie is not the same person she was in school — and everyone else is. Thus far, her sweet Mike is the only one who has noticed she's changed. Anyway, they all sit on the pier together, and then Mike dives off. He breaks his neck.
The rest of the novel is about how Carrie learns to stop pretending to be someone she's not. — Susan Whitney
'Warriors of God'
By James Reston Jr.
Doubleday, $27.50.
The author, who recently visited the University of Utah to lecture, is prolific. He has written 12 books, including "Galileo: A Life" and "The Last Apocalypse."
The new book is an epic story of the battle for the Holy Land at the end of the 12th century. It is really a dual biography of the legendary Richard the Lionheart and the Sultan Saladin, a hero of the Islamic world.
Although Richard is usually depicted as a romantic symbol of chivalry, Reston paints him with much more complexity, resulting in a dark side of the man. He also describes how Saladin united Egypt with Syria. He also graphically treats the final battle of the Third Crusade.
The book is written in a lively, appealing style and is ideal for lovers of military history. Considering the increasingly dark clashes now occurring in the Middle East, the story is highly relevant. — Dennis Lythgoe