Plunkett Lake Press

07/16/2026

Our latest eBook is Karel Čapek by William E. Harkins (https://plunkettlakepress.com/kc)

“In the future it will not be possible to do criticism and research about Čapek without first fully taking into account Professor Harkins’ contribution. Using all available sources, he presents the main facts of Čapek’s life and then analyzes his works one by one, in chronological order. Everywhere there is evidence of thorough research... The strength of this study lies in its comprehensiveness, the copious summaries of individual works, and the carefully considered comments about them... [an] excellent study.” — Slavic Review

“This is a book which every admirer of Čapek will warmly welcome. Although much has been written about this excellent Czech writer, long studies are still scarce — and this is the first full-length book on him in English... W. E. Harkins’s analysis is clear and systematic... a valuable and stimulating book... the book has a pioneering value.” — The Slavonic and East European Review

“[A] pioneering work... Professor Harkins’ sparing, judicial use of historical data has contributed towards making the monograph compact, balanced, and readable. He has skillfully compressed a complex subject matter within the compass of a fairly short volume... The publication of this monograph is an event of importance for Czech studies in general and for American Czech studies in particular. In it there is presented an objective and original interpretation of the nature, variety, and relevance of Čapek’s literary accomplishment which will, undoubtedly, be the source of inspiration for future scholarship in the field of modern Czech literature.” — The Slavic and East European Journal

07/08/2026

Our latest eBook is Egon Erwin Kisch, The Raging Reporter: A Bio-Anthology by Harold B. Segel and Egon Erwin Kisch (https://plunkettlakepress.com/eek).

Egon Erwin Kisch (1885-1948) is widely regarded as one of the most outstanding journalists of the 20th century. He is also credited with virtually defining reportage as a form of literary art in which accuracy of observation and fidelity to facts combine with creative narrative.

Born in Prague under the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Kisch began his career as a crime reporter for local newspapers. He saw combat in Serbia as a soldier in the Austro-Hungarian Army in World War I, led an abortive left-wing coup d’état in Vienna in 1918, and became famous in the German-speaking world as der rasende Reporter (the raging reporter) when he exposed the attempted cover-up of a case of treason in high places that rocked the Habsburg Empire on the eve of World War I.

He visited North Africa, the Soviet Union, Central Asia, Australia, China, and the United States, where he traveled from one coast to the other as an ordinary seaman, made friends with Charlie Chaplin and Upton Sinclair, and commented with wit and irony on American life.

06/25/2026

Our latest eBook is The Strange Alliance: The Story of Our Efforts at Wartime Co-operation with Russia by John R. Deane (https://plunkettlakepress.com/tsal)

“General Deane, who was head of the United States Military Mission to the U.S.S.R. from the fall of 1943 to October 31, 1945, has set forth a personal account of his experiences in directing American attempts at military collaboration with the Soviet Union. He has written a factual, fairly objective, and generally interesting book.” — Political Science Quarterly

“[F]or two years [John R. Deane] saw Russo-American relations from the inside. His book is a very persuasive and attractive one because he is so obviously a North American extrovert with little interest in ideologies but with a great passion for getting practical things done, and because he tells the detailed story of his long series of frustrations with such good humour and frankness... This book, in spite of its unpretentiousness or because of it, is a manual for diplomats and statesmen.” — International Journal

“Of the many envoys, official and unofficial, who have been sent by the United States to Russia in recent years it is doubtful that any have been more effective than ‘Russ’ Deane... He has written a book [... that...] establishes... the record of a mission with probably more accomplishments to its credit than any other since the Bolsheviki achieved their October Revolution. To mention only one of a score of notable achievements, Maj. Gen. John Russell Deane was responsible for a virtually incredible (and heretofore unrevealed) liaison between General Donovan’s OSS and the Soviet NKVD... in the account of his experience in day-to-day relationship with Russia there are assuredly valuable lessons to be learned of the possibilities of hammering out solutions acceptable to both Russia and America.” — The New York Times

06/20/2026

Our latest eBook is A Community on Trial: The Jews of Paris in the 1930s by David H. Weinberg (https://plunkettlakepress.com/acot)

“A Community on Trial is an in-depth study of the organized Paris Jewish community of the 1930s. It examines demographic, social, cultural, and political aspects of French Jewish behavior. It describes the two very different Jewish populations: the wealthier, acculturated, native French Jews, and the recently arrived Eastern European Jews... Weinberg describes a myriad of separate religious, political, social, and ideological organizations of native Jews and of immigrant Jews... Weinberg’s study is based on French- and Yiddish-language periodicals, the archives of several Jewish organizations — the consistory, the Bund, the Alliance Israélite — and personal interviews and correspondence with people active in the community during the 1930s. It is painstakingly researched, well written, and beautifully documented. The many long notes make almost as interesting reading as the text itself. The book is a rare example of excellence in Jewish community studies.” — The American Historical Review

06/12/2026

Our latest eBook is Gambling with History: Reagan in the White House by Laurence I. Barrett (https://plunkettlakepress.com/gwh)

“[A]n impressively clear and thorough account of the past three years of its subject’s life...[Laurence Barrett] tells that story very well... his job as chief White House correspondent for Time has provided him with plenty of access and plenty of juicy outtakes from his weekly reports... Mr. Barrett’s brief portraits of Mr. Reagan’s chief lieutenants are vivid... To understand a revolutionary, as Mr. Reagan sometimes calls himself, requires weaving his life, his beliefs and their consequences into a single tapestry. No one has yet done this for Mr. Reagan, but Mr. Barrett comes pretty close.” — The New York Times

“[A] formidable book, a valuable addition to the still-emerging saga of a first-of-his-kind President whose imprint on history is almost certain to be significant.” — The Christian Science Monitor

“A triumph... remarkable for its pe*******on into the decision making processes of the regime... and unique in the relationship of the author with his sources.” — Washington Post Book World

05/18/2026

Just out in eBook form: Charles Evans Hughes by Merlo J. Pusey, https://plunkettlakepress.com/ceh

“[A] dominant figure is bound to be controversial, and a contemporary biography too readily invites hagiography or debunking. Let it be said at once that Merlo J. Pusey wholly escapes both temptations... it is fortunate that Chief Justice Hughes entrusted his papers to so conscientious and responsible a digger into materials as Pusey for his authorized Life... The Life of Hughes has to be woven on the loom of a half century of our political-judicial history. With a due sense of proportion, Pusey gives us Hughes in that context without losing him in it. Through Pusey’s lucid and measured narrative, Hughes emerges as the clear-headed, impressive, self-disciplined, resourceful, witty, companionable, energizing, exacting and considerate person that all who worked with him in the various roles of his long life will recognize through their own experience... And the younger generation, whose participation in history comes through the printed page, should find in Pusey a reliable guide.” — Felix Frankfurter, The New York Times

“In the preparation of what may well be a definitive biography of Charles Evans Hughes, Merlo J. Pusey... had the benefit of numerous personal conferences with the subject of his fascinating story... a valuable contribution to American history.” — World Affairs

“Mr. Pusey... has ranged widely in his search for materials bearing directly upon the life of his subject and has organized those materials with skill and literary fluency... this full-length portrayal of Hughes is a distinguished and valuable piece of work.” — The American Historical Review

03/22/2026

Our newest eBook is The Great Getty: The Life and Loves of J. Paul Getty — Richest Man in the World by Robert Lenzner (https://plunkettlakepress.com/getty)

“Getty was every bit as miserly as he was usually depicted...[Lenzner] give[s] a full exposure of the other well-known aspect of Getty’s character, his voracious womanizing from puberty on... it is hard to decide which Getty enjoyed more, penny-pinching or bottom-pinching... If somebody sits down to write the history of the oil industry in the 20th Century, Lenzner’s book will be of... value to him or her... [Lenzner] address[es] the inevitable old question — did Getty’s money make him happy? (Patently, no.)” — The Los Angeles Times

“The Great Getty is thorough and serious. Mr. Lenzner, who is the chief New York correspondent for The Boston Globe, adequately translates the purely business history of the Getty empire... [a] useful reminder that being rich is not enough.” — The New York Times

03/07/2026

Stalin: The Man and His Era by Adam Ulam, who directed Harvard's Russian Research Center, is now available in eBook form (https://plunkettlakepress.com/stalin).

“The character of Stalin’s dictatorship is admirably described and analyzed in Ulam’s impressive book. It provides a richly detailed account of Stalin’s political development, of his purges in the thirties and forties, and of his role in World War II and in the cold war that followed. But it is much more than a biography of Stalin: it is also a history of the Bolshevik party, of the Russian Revolution and of the Soviet regime up to Stalin’s death in 1953... Ulam writes with vigor and with penetrating intelligence... Ulam has written a thoughtful book in a lively and provocative style that holds one’s undivided attention... It is the fullest and most up‐to‐date biography of Stalin now available, and will make instructive reading for specialist and layman alike.” — The New York Times

“Ulam’s Stalin is the familiar tyrant, but this massive biography explores and analyzes other dimensions... Ulam does not stress psychological interpretations, but his Stalin also emerges as a reflection of the movement and the society which produced him. The author does not dodge the obscure or controversial issues, always injecting his best judgment or educated guess.” — Foreign Affairs

“This is an excellent book. Stalin’s personal development and his leading role are carefully examined through all the complicated years of his political life. Professor Ulam writes eloquently, as always, basing his work upon profound scholarship and keen intuition. A splendid portrait emerges from his pages — terrible and fascinating — of Stalin as one of the truly evil and ‘great’ men of this century.” — The Russian Review

02/16/2026

Just out as an eBook is Special Envoy to Churchill and Stalin, 1941-1946 by W. Averell Harriman and Elie Abel (https://plunkettlakepress.com/sen)

“Mr. Harriman was Roosevelt’s personal envoy to Britain at the start of World War II. Roosevelt was already at war but the United States wasn’t, so the President needed an unofficial ambassador as well as the real one. Mr. Harriman had the title of ‘expediter,’ and he expedited himself into virtual membership in Churchill’s War Cabinet, actually attending some sessions and giving it advice. He went on to Moscow, this time with the title of ‘Ambassador.’ But few contemporary ambassadors have operated as he did, virtually as a government himself. As he writes in a foreword, with no self-belittlement but no inaccuracy either: ‘More than any other American, I had both a close personal association with Winston Churchill and intimate dealings with Josef Stalin. Of course, I had known Franklin Roosevelt since childhood.’ It would be impossible for anyone to add a great deal to the portrait of that most painted and self‐painted man, Churchill, but Mr. Harriman has a few brilliant touches.” — The New York Times

“As Roosevelt’s lend-lease representative in London from 1941 to 1943 and as ambassador to the Soviet Union from 1943 to 1946, W. Averell Harriman wielded extraordinary influence. A confidant of Roosevelt and Churchill, with unusual access to Stalin, he became an intermediary among the Big Three, a man entrusted to represent the views of one to the other. In the early days of the Truman administration he played a vital role in the formulation of policy toward the Soviet Union. Now in his mid-eighties, Harriman has at last offered a full account of his service in World War II. The fruit of close collaboration with the journalist Elie Abel, Special Envoy is neither memoir nor biography. Rather, drawing heavily on Harriman’s personal papers and recollections, Abel has written a history of Big Three diplomacy from the ambassador’s perspective and offered his judgments on men and events.” — The American Historical Review

“[A] significant memoir from the thinning ranks of senior participants [in World War II]... It is a story of noblesse oblige, of dedication to the commonweal... The book must stand as a basic reference on the period... should be of use and interest to all students of strategy and diplomacy.” — Naval War College Review

02/12/2026

How Plunkett Lake Press was created, what we do and why.

Join host Justin Fortier as he interviews Patrick Mehr, the publisher at Plunkett Lake Press, who has digitally transformed rare and old books into accessibl...