Last week Denver Public Library’s David Johnson offered an eloquent reading of the “I Have a Dream” speech, which inspired me to write about the sometimes neglected role of the West in the history of American civil liberties, and, on the eve of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday, to offer some suggestions from the many recent books on civil rights in the American West.

On the New West literary blog's current book essay and book preview column, Char Miller of Pomona College offers observations on booms, busts, cities and the legacy of the late UNLV historian Hal Rothman.

New titles of interest examine the Chinese experience in America from the perspective of one family; the perils of uranium on the Navajo reservation; and the long story of segregation through a Little Rock high school football team.

Yunte Huang's Charlie Chan: The Untold Story of the Honorable Detective and His Rendezvous with American History has received widespread notice and excellent reviews. But did you know the detective had a real life Hawaiian inspiration?

James L. Haley's Wolf: The Lives of Jack London arrives at a time of uncertainty, much like the one that shaped the young author.

The Center for Colorado and the West, established on the Auraria Campus in 2009, has a delightful website which presents content of interest to any student or enthusiast of Colorado's past.

On Wednesday, July 28, 2010, 6-7PM at the Ross-Cherry Creek Branch, join us for notable books in recent Western history, including the three finalists for the Caroline Bancroft Prize.

This past weekend's book and literary pages bring additional reviews of recently released works by Nathaniel Philbrick and John Phillip Santos, first noted here last week, and a review of a new work on a Western mine disaster.

The past week has seen a number of reviews of new works of Western history, including several reviews of a new work on the Battle of Little Bighorn, a search for personal family history bridging the Old and New Worlds, and the murderous reality of a border city.

Recent works reviewed in major newspapers and other outlets, including books on young women crossing cultural lines, wizards of the imagination, and visions of the less-than-angelic history of Los Angeles and its residents, both real or fictional.