DNA: A Classic Tale in Context James D.WatsonAlexanderGannJanWitkowskiThe Annotated and Illustrated Double Helix2012Simon & SchusterNew York, NY, USA368 pp. $30.00

Is there ever a good reason to reissue a good story? In the case of The Double Helix, the answer is emphatically yes. Forty-four years after JamesWatson published his scientific memoir of the story behind the discovery of the structure of DNA, his voice is still vibrant. And now there is more context to enjoy. The new edition, The Annotated and Illustrated Double Helix by James D. Watson, edited by Alexander Gann and Jan Witkowski and published this month by Simon & Schuster, celebrates the 60th anniversary of one of the most important scientific moments of the 20th century in real style. If, like me, you last read Watson’s tale as a freshman in college, when the 1968 book was new, you can now read it again, this time accompanied by the excellent historical, scientific, and personal notes provided by the editors. The production values of the new edition are gorgeous, which adds to the fun of fully understanding the world of the protagonists and their professional and personal quests. The 1968 story, which is reproduced in full in the new edition, is told by Watson from his youthful perspective as a 23to 25-year-old American researcher in Cambridge, England, in the early 1950s. He makes no bones about telling the story as he experienced it, and as such, it reads almost like a thriller; although we know in advance who ‘‘did’’ it, we want to know just how it happened. The book has a novelistic punch, a great first sentence (‘‘I have never seen Francis Crick in a modest mood’’), and a twistsand-turns narrative that illustrates just how indirect the path to scientific revelation usually is. It’s a high-wire and lively story—great reading in itself and well worth the effort of a refresher reading. What makes this new edition so rich is the treasure of notes and photos that accompany the original story and set it into a retrospective context. The new edition is two books in one: the original brash and uncensored voice of Jim Watson and themeasured, documented, and illustrated voice of history. This latter voice places the energy and vigor of the original author and his story in the perspective of