Spring cleaning and good reading.

Byline: Brian Nelson

By Bruce G. Kauffmann

Time for my annual Spring Cleaning column, in which I address reader issues and recommend my favorite books of the past 12 months.

A new-reader issue I should have addressed before, but inquiries were up this year. Yes, I do travel to lecture on historic topics, in particular our Founding Fathers and the creation of the Constitution, but also Abe Lincoln and Winston Churchill. My lectures are 45 minutes long, plus Q&A. My fee varies, depending on audience and travel distance, but is very reasonable.

For an overview of my lectures and video of my lecture on Jefferson, go to "Host a Lecture'' on my website www.historylessons.net, or go directly to http://historylessons.net/speaking. If you are interested, fill out the form on my website, or contact me at my email address, or my agent, Tracey Shifflett (tlsrose@aol.com).

Recommended reading:

"Auschwitz: A New History'' by Laurence Rees. This is one of the best books I have read on the most famous of the Nazi death camps. The book is full of information about the politics and inner workings of Auschwitz and the other death camps, but Rees mostly tells the story through the eyes of death-camp survivors, which is what makes the book so unforgettable.

"Thirteen Days in September'' by Lawrence Wright. Wright, the author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book "The Looming Tower,'' the story of al-Qaeda's attack on the World Trade Center (which I previously recommended), has written a magnificent account of the Camp David Accords, in which President Jimmy Carter, Israeli...