The Feminine Arts
A writer explores the elation and difficulty of making art while female
By Sierra Bellows Saturday, May 15, 2021
Art for the Ladylike: An Autobiography Through Other Lives Whitney Otto
The Geography of Neglect
A complex tale of belonging
By Allison Blakely Monday, May 10, 2021
African Europeans: An Untold History by Olivette Otele
When Ideas Mattered
How “freedom from” became “freedom to”
By Michael Sherry Tuesday, April 20, 2021
THE FREE WORLD: Art and Thought in the Cold War by Louis Menand
Seconds from Midnight
Busting the myth that skilled diplomacy saved the world
By Gregg Herken Friday, April 16, 2021
Nuclear Folly: A History of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Serhii Plokhy
Swimming the River of Song
How a young scholar demystified the ancient oral tradition
By A. E. Stallings Tuesday, April 13, 2021
Hearing Homer’s Song: The Brief Life and Big Idea of Milman Parry by Robert Kanigel
Surviving the Anthropocene
Can we reverse-engineer our way out of catastrophe?
By Stephen J. Pyne Monday, April 12, 2021
Under a White Sky: The Nature of the Future by Elizabeth Kolbert
TV’s Founding Mothers
The women who turned the small screen into a cultural phenomenon
By Jayne Ross Monday, April 5, 2021
When Women Invented Television: The Untold Story of the Female Powerhouses Who Pioneered the Way We Watch Today by Jennifer Keishin Armstrong
What A Long, Strange Trip It’s Been
The celebrated depiction of a miracle is, by its very survival, a miracle in itself
By Meryle Secrest Thursday, March 18, 2021
Plunder: Napoleon’s Theft of Veronese’s Feast by Cynthia Saltzman
Artist of Excess
The man who painted his century’s nightmare
By Sierra Bellows Tuesday, March 16, 2021
Francis Bacon: Revelations by Mark Stevens and Annalyn Swan
Order Amid Chaos
A poet-scientist considers the imponderables of existence
By Sam Kean Monday, February 15, 2021
Probable Impossibilities: Musings on Beginnings and Endings by Alan Lightman
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 Ageby James Chappel
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 Unionby Richard Carwardine
Ideology as Anatomy
How shifting ideas about women’s bodies have affected their lives
By Sierra Bellows Monday, December 2, 2024
Immaculate Forms: A History of the Female Body in Four Partsby Helen King
Island Royalty
A new biography of a Caribbean revolutionary
By Madison Smartt Bell Monday, December 2, 2024
The First and Last King of Haiti: The Rise and Fall of Henry Christopheby Marlene L. Daut
The Creator’s Code
Are humans alone in their ability to make art?
By Evelyn McDonnell Monday, December 2, 2024
The Uncanny Muse: Music, Art, and Machines From Automata to AIby David Hajdu
Barbarity at the Bataclan
A chilling account of darkness in the City of Light
By Charles Trueheart Monday, December 2, 2024
V13: Chronicle of a Trial by Emmanuel Carrère, translated from the Frenchby John Lambert
Heart of Semi-Darkness
A writer’s delectable quest for rare flavors
By Tim Carman Thursday, November 7, 2024
Masters of Horror and Magic
The German folklorists who helped build a nation
By Anne Matthews Friday, November 1, 2024
For Want of Touch
The astonishing breadth of our passions