The U.S. Navy’s origins apparently go back to the Battle of Lexington and Concord in 1775 – or so I’ve learned from reading the press for If By Sea, a new book that follows the formation and evolution of the Navy, including the many failures and false starts. The book, which is very thick and so, therefore, we assume detailed is written by George C. Daughan, who has a Ph.D. in American History and Government from Harvard University.

In another sort of military history, retired Lt. Col. Nathan Sassaman offers Warrior King, in which the outspoken former commander details some of the successes, and many of the mistakes, made by U.S. forces in Iraq. The book centers on the mysterious death of two Iraqi civilians and the investigation that followed. Also available this month is Moyers on Democracy, in which the longtime journalists offers speeches he has made over the years, including those on the place of religion in a democracy and the “mounting environmental crisis.”