PHOTO AND ART

American Sports, 1970
(Aperture, 128 pages, $50)
A collection of sports photographs, serving as metaphors for the Vietnam War, by Tod Papageorge, head of Yale University's graduate photography program.

Flight Attendants
(Powerhouse, 112 pages, $35)
Award-winning photographer Brian Finke's compilation, two years in the shooting, of men and women who choose to work at 40,000 feet for airlines in the U.S. and abroad.

Birth of the Cool
(Prestel, 301 pages, $65)
An anthology of 300 images, edited by Elizabeth Armstrong, representing a multidisciplinary journey through America’s West Coast zeitgeist during the 1950s.

NONFICTION

Seducing the Boys Club
By Nina DiSesa
(Ballantine Books, 240 pages, $25)
DiSesa, chairwoman of McCann Erickson New York, shares her experience of climbing the ranks in the historically male-driven ­advertising industry to give other go-getting gals a boost. Her account pits an ambitious, gutsy woman against a boys club, where men bond and bask in their supremacy. DiSesa's spirited voice, honed by years of ad writing, leads the reader through the lessons she learned in manipulating, managing, and training men while, for example, winning the Master­Card account and losing the Gateway business. Hers is an entertaining, fast-paced, and useful read. —Willow Duttge

George Washington and the Art of Business
By Mark McNeilly
(Oxford University Press, 224 pages, $22)
The first U.S. president would have made a fine C.E.O., argues McNeilly, an I.B.M. strategist, in this interestingly eccentric book. McNeilly creates a primer on business fundamentals by comparing Washington with contemporary managerial heroes. He posits, for example, that Washington's victories ­during the Revolution parallel McDonald's triumph over Burger King. —Josh Saul

Sneaker Wars
By Barbara Smit
(Ecco, 400 pages, $27)
Smit brings a keen reporter's eye to the schism between Puma, founded by German Rudi Dassler, and Adidas, started by his brother, Adi. Their battle becomes a celebrity tug-of-war as they race to outdo each other in the caliber of sports star recruited to wear their brands. The book also ably tells the broader story of the red-hot global sneaker trade. —J.S.