Barack Obama: The Story

By David Maraniss (Simon and Schuster, $32.50)

A narrative that begins decades prior to Obama’s birth and ends in 1990.

The Obamians: The Struggle Inside the White House to Redefine American Power By James Mann (Viking, $26.95)

The successor volume to “Rise of the Vulcans,” Mann’s sketch of the foreign-policy worldview of those surrounding George W. Bush.

Our Divided Political Heart: The Battle for the American Idea in an Age

of Discontent By E.J. Dionne Jr. (Bloomsbury, $27)

A thoughtful attempt to restore civic grace and productive political conversation.