George Marshall is one of those important historical figures that not many people know much about. The Marshall Plan is often invoked in public debate, but it’s not something that many people (including, I regret to say, myself) know a lot of details about. So here’s a chance to learn. In Winning the Peace: The Marshall Plan and America’s Coming of Age As A Superpower, author NIcolaus Mills — a professor of American studies at Sarah Lawrence College — first details the important aspects of the Marshall Plan. He then goes on to give his opinion on how the plan — often invoked as a reason for extending America’s influence across the globe — can be used going forward for foreign policy.

Also in nonfiction, Jim Motavalli’s Naked In The Woods: Joseph Knowles and the Legacy of Frontier Fakery is one of those books that examines a particularly weird or interesting moment in time. In this case, it’s an August 1913 publicity stunt by the Boston Post. The Post sent Knowles into the woods of Maine, alone and naked, to survive on his own for two months. He returned to Boston a superstar, but when a rival newspaper accused him of faking his exploits, it set off a months-long clash between the media outlets. Beyond just detailing the controversy, Motavalli also gets into how, even today, Americans have a need for believing that a man can survive alone in the wilderness, so expect some psychology and sociology on top of your compelling history.

In fiction, Hester Browne returns with The Little Lady Agency and The Prince, the latest in the British author’s series about Melissa Romney-Jones, a “freelance girlfriend” from London. This time around, she is asked to transform a notorious playboy (and, naturally, a prince) into a proper gentleman. Frothy fun. No wonder it burns up the bestseller charts.