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ALEXANDER GRAHAM BELL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE MAN WHO INVENTED THE TELEPHONE, by Edwin S. Grosvenor and Morgan Wesson, Harry N. Abrams, $45.

Published on the 150th anniversary of inventor Alexander Graham Bell’s birth, this authoritative biography, written by Morgan Wesson, an Emmy Award-nominated documentary filmmaker, and Edwin S. Grosvenor, Bell’s great-grandson, recountsthe life of this remarkable man, whose many inventions include the telephone, the respirator, the first practical phonograph, and the metal detector. Based largely on Bell’s private and public papers, and written with the cooperation of his family, the book also details his lesser-known achievements, which include involvement in developing early airplanes and the hydrofoil, participation in early civil rights work, and a lifelong campaign to teach the deaf lip-reading and speech.