T. H. Watkins, whose profile of the conservationist Aldo Leopold appears in this issue, recommends Aldo Leopold: His Life and Work by Curt Meine (University of Wisconsin Press, 653 pages, $35.00, CODE: UWS-1 ) as the definitive biography of Leopold—not merely because of its narrative strength, which is considerable, but because of its sure grasp of the myriad details of his complex professional life and contributions. A Sand County Almanac, and Sketches Here and There by Aldo Leopold (Oxford University Press, 228 pages, Special Commemorative Edition $25.00, CODE: OUP-7 ) is a fine collection of Leopold’s writing for a general audience and includes original line drawings by Charles W. Schwartz.

In his “In the News” column on health-care and the Congress Bernard Weisberger draws on the thorough history of congressional health-care battles provided by With Dignity: The Search for Medicare and Medicaid by Sheri I. David (Greenwood Press, 194 pages, $45.00, CODE: PGH-2 ).

Murray Kempton’s new book Rebellions, Perversities, and Main Events (Times Books, 570 pages, $27.50, CODE: RAN-22 ) is reviewed in Geoffrey Ward’s column “The Life and Times.” With this collection, such pure specimens of softly reasoned prose as “My Last Mugging,” “The Floating Life,” and “The Champ and the Chump” have been mercifully dug out of the news heap.