TheBestseller
Observatory

Best Sellers

Hardcover Nonfiction

Week of December 10, 1961

FictionNonfiction
WeekMonth
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1
THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT 1960
Theodore H. White

THE MAKING OF THE PRESIDENT 1960

by Theodore H. White · Atheneum

19 wks at #1 · 22 on list

Analyses the 1960 election when John F. Kennedy was elected President of the United States.

9
THE COMING FURY
Bruce Catton
Cover of THE COMING FURY

THE COMING FURY

by Bruce Catton · Doubleday

4 wks on list

Volume 3: "Never call retreat" carries the war from Fredericksburg, and through many campaigns to the death of Lincoln and the war's end.

10
2
INSIDE EUROPE TODAY
John Gunther

INSIDE EUROPE TODAY

by John Gunther · Harper and Brothers

20 wks on list

A survey of Europe in the early '60's, examining the differences between the Europe of today and that of twenty-five years ago and emphasizing the current political situation throughout the continent.

11
1
RING OF BRIGHT WATER
Gavin Maxwell
Cover of RING OF BRIGHT WATER

RING OF BRIGHT WATER

by Gavin Maxwell · E.P. Dutton

40 wks on list

A personal narrative of life with two pet otters on the isolated Western Highlands of Scotland.

15
1
SINCLAIR LEWIS: AN AMERICAN LIFE
Mark Schorer

SINCLAIR LEWIS: AN AMERICAN LIFE

by Mark Schorer · McGraw-Hill

7 wks on list

Multilith copy of the original typescript with corrections in ink.

16
4
THE AGE OF REASON BEGINS
Will and Ariel Durant
Cover of THE AGE OF REASON BEGINS

THE AGE OF REASON BEGINS

by Will and Ariel Durant · Simon & Schuster

12 wks on list

If there is a linchpin to understanding modern European history, it lies in the period of religious strife & scientific progress between the 1550s & 1650s. In The Age of Reason Begins, Will & Ariel Durant bring together a fascinating network of stories in their discussion of the bumpy road toward the Enlightenment. This is the age of great monarchs & greater artists: on the one hand, Elizabeth the First of England, Philip II of Spain & Henry IV of France; on the other, Shakespeare, Cervantes, Montaigne & Rembrandt. It also encompasses the heyday of Bacon, Galileo, Giordano Bruno & Descartes--the fathers of modern science & philosophy. But it is equally an age of extreme violence, a moment in which all Europe was embroiled in the horrible Thirty Years' War--in some respects, the real First World War. Whatever the case, this is a chapter in cultural history one can't set aside. "Mr & Mrs Durant are admirably lucid...This is a book that can be commended very warmly."--The New York Times.

Historical bestseller data sourced from the New York Times Book Review, archived by Hawes Publications.