Contemporary biography is trying to break down the color line into individuals and families, and to show the intricate connections between Americans of all colors.

We want to know who is telling the tale, and how it is that what we think is bound up in what our predecessors have thought and said and done.

Almost no one writes letters anymore, but there are now more ways of documenting a life than ever before. I’d say biographers will adapt to the new dispensation and will embark on new adventures.

Norman Lock’s ‘Voices in the Dead House’ is on the cutting edge, providing us with a way to grapple with our evolving sense of the past, as we wonder what is next.

The biographer of three widows of polar explorers is dealing with an elusive sphere of history, and using speculation in an attempt to get inside only diminishes its poignancy.

CARL ROLLYSON

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