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
Paranoia Strikes Deep
What are we hiding from in our policed and gated communities?
By Jill Leovy Monday, December 4, 2017
Fortress America: How We Embraced Fear and Abandoned Democracyby Elaine Tyler May
A Dream of a Writer
Peter Taylor’s stories reveal an artist immersed in the quotidian who rose to the complexities of the heart and psyche
By Ann Beattie Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Wave of Anguish
Could disobedience have saved a group of Japanese students?
By Adam Hochschild Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Ghosts of the Tsunami: Death and Life in Japan’s Disaster Zone by Richard Lloyd Parry
A Bronx Tale
Photographing the story beyond stereotypes and headline news
By Sarah Blesener Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Opioids and Paternalism
To help end the crisis, both doctors and patients need to find a new way to think about pain
By David Brown Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Listen Up
Five questions about the future of communication
By Celeste Headlee Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Metropolis Rising
How the Big Apple took its place among the world’s great cities
By Brooke Kroeger Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Greater Gotham: A History of New York City From 1898 to 1919 by Mike Wallace
Glimpses of Home
Intimate films from two late Chicago directors
By Nathalie Lagerfeld Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Antiquarian Dreams
Sometimes it’s okay to judge history by its cover
By Helen Hazen Tuesday, September 5, 2017
Meetings With Remarkable Manuscripts: Twelve Journeys into the Medieval World by Christopher de Hamel
