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"Martin Scorsese's Documentary Histories: Migrations, Movies, Music" by Mike Meneghetti explores the often overlooked documentaries of acclaimed filmmaker Martin Scorsese. While Scorsese's narrative films have received extensive analysis, his documentaries have been seen as secondary or preparatory works. Meneghetti argues that Scorsese's documentaries have made significant contributions to the genre and have boosted its international reputation. The book focuses on Scorsese's documentaries related to migration, movies, and music, including "Italianamerican" and "The Last Waltz." Meneghetti provides critical assessments of these films, highlighting their contradictions and influences. Overall, the book fills a gap in the literature on Scorsese and offers a scholarly analysis that will appeal to both film studies students and admirers of Scorsese's work. [Extracted from the article]

The book "Power from Below in Premodern Societies: The Dynamics of Political Complexity in the Archaeological Record" edited by T. L. Thurston and Manuel Fernández-Götz explores how ordinary people influenced the organization of prehistoric societies and how this is reflected in archaeological evidence. The book includes eleven case studies from different time periods and regions, covering topics such as social organization in megasites, Bronze Age settlements, early European Iron Age society, heterarchy in prehistoric societies, and social dynamics in post-Roman states. The book concludes with a synthetic chapter that applies the findings to contemporary societies. Overall, the book provides a comprehensive overview and is a valuable resource for archaeological, historical, and sociological research. [Extracted from the article]

A retired Virginia librarian compiles an annotated bibliography of high-quality nonfiction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]