Book TV airs on C-Span 2 this week from 8 a.m. Friday to 8 a.m. Monday and focuses on political and historical books as well as the book industry. The following are highlights for this coming weekend. For more information, go to Book TV's website.

Friday, July 3

3 p.m. Pamela Newkirk, editor of Letters from Black America (FSG, $30, 9780374101091/0374101094), presents a history of African-American men and women through their personal correspondences. (Re-airs Saturday at 3 a.m.)

5 p.m. For an event hosted by Politics and Prose bookstore, Washington, D.C., John Stauffer discusses his book, Giants: The Parallel Lives of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln (Twelve, $30, 9780446580090/0446580090). (Re-airs Saturday at 5 a.m.)

Saturday, July 4

8 a.m. Politics and Prose Bookstore also hosted Ray Raphael, author of Founders: The People Who Brought You a Nation (New Press, $35, 9781595583277/1595583270), who examines lesser-known participants in the founding of the U.S. (Re-airs Saturday at 8 p.m.)

6 p.m. Encore Booknotes. For a segment that first aired in 2000, Joyce Appleby, author of Inheriting the Revolution: The First Generation of Americans (Belknap Press, $19.95, 9780674006638/0674006631), talked about the legacy of Americans who lived between 1776 and 1830.
   
7 p.m. For an event hosted by the Tattered Cover Book Store, Denver, Colo., Lily Burana, author of I Love a Man in Uniform: A Memoir of Love, War, and Other Battles (Weinstein Books, $23.95, 9781602860834/1602860831), talks about her life as the wife of a military intelligence officer who served in Iraq.

10 p.m. After Words. Nicole Lee interviews 2004 Nobel Peace Prize recipient Wangari Maathai, founder of the Green Belt Movement and author of The Challenge for Africa (Pantheon, $25, 9780307377401/0307377407). (Re-airs Sunday at 9 p.m. and 11 p.m., and Monday at 3 a.m.)

Sunday, July 5

12 p.m. In Depth. John Ferling, author of The Ascent of George Washington: The Hidden Political Genius of an American Icon (Bloomsbury, $30, 9781596914650/1596914653), joins Book TV for a live interview from George Washington's Mount Vernon estate. Viewers can participate in the discussion by calling in during the program or e-mailing questions to booktv@c-span.org. (Re-airs Monday at 12 a.m.)