Island Royalty
A new biography of a Caribbean revolutionary
By Madison Smartt Bell Monday, January 13, 2025
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christophe by Marlene L. Daut
The Writer in the Family
The fiction of E. L. Doctorow gave a young man hope of connecting his father and his literary hero
By Jonathan Liebson Wednesday, January 8, 2025
The Weight of a Stone
Searching for stability in an erratic world led Oliver Sacks and other writers to the realms of geology
By Megan Craig Thursday, January 2, 2025
Verde
Learning a foreign language isn’t just about improving cognitive function—it can teach us to sense the world anew
By Jesse Lee Kercheval Thursday, December 12, 2024
Aging Out
Many of us do not go gentle into that good night
By Anne Matthews Thursday, December 5, 2024
Golden Years: How Americans Invented and Reinvented Old Age by James Chappel
Under a Spell Everlasting
Thomas Mann’s Magic Mountain, published a century ago, tells of a world unable to free itself from the cataclysm of war
By Samantha Rose Hill Monday, December 2, 2024
Divided Providence
Faith’s pivotal role in the outcome of the Civil War
By Robert Wilson Monday, December 2, 2024
Righteous Strife: How Warring Religious Nationalists Forged Lincoln’s Union by Richard Carwardine
The Fair Fields 
Only rarely did the outside world intrude on an idyllic Connecticut childhood, but in the tumultuous 1960s, that intrusion included an encounter with evil
By Rosanna Warren Monday, December 2, 2024
The End of Driving
Yes, autonomous autos will make roads safer and more efficient, but what wonders will be lost?
By Steve Lagerfeld Monday, June 3, 2019
Myths of Memory
Our ability to recall is not an undiluted gift
By Henry Allen Monday, June 3, 2019
A Primer for Forgetting: Getting Past the Pastby Lewis Hyde
Paying to Be Locked Up
Private prison companies treat immigrant detainees like convicted criminals—and reap huge profits from the people they hold
By Keramet Reiter Monday, December 3, 2018
New Zealand: Beauty and the Beef
Will the nation’s identity continue to be pastoral, or will its urbanites create a hip young image of environmental awareness?
By Gwyneth Kelly Monday, December 3, 2018
The Delta Blues
A photographer documents former boomtowns in the South
By Naomi Shavin Monday, December 3, 2018
A Pleasure to Read You
Shouldn’t literature enchant, surprise, and teach us? And to make this happen, shouldn’t we be the most expert readers we can be?
By Arthur Krystal Monday, December 3, 2018
Fighting the Endless War
Four questions about the future of the U.S. military
By Andrew J. Bacevich Monday, December 3, 2018
Where the Sun Finally Set
A new look at the island empire’s prize possession
By Nisid Hajari Monday, December 3, 2018
The British in Indiaby David Gilmour
