Spring 2011

Articles

Civil Warfare in the Streets

After Fort Sumter, German immigrants in St. Louis flocked to the Union cause and in bloody confrontations overthrew the local secessionists

by Adam Goodheart

How Longfellow Woke the Dead

When first published 150 years ago, his famous poem about Paul Revere was read as a bold statement of his opposition to slavery

by Jill Lepore

Interview with a Neandertal

What I always wanted to ask our distant cousins about love and death and sorrow and dinner

by Priscilla Long

‘I Tried to Stop the Bloody Thing’

In World War I, nearly as many British men refused the draft—20,000—as were killed on the Somme's first day. Why were those who fought for peace forgotten?

by Adam Hochschild

The View from 90

Even when those in my generation have reached a state of serenity, wisdom, and relative comfort, what we face can hardly be called the golden years

by Doris Grumbach

Baseball’s Loss of Innocence

When the 1919 Black Sox scandal shattered Ring Lardner’s reverence for the game, the great sportswriter took a permanent walk

by Diana Goetsch

Departments

Letters

Response to our Winter 2011 Issue

Our Readers

Tuning Up

Street Scenes

Ann Hood

Book Essay

An Italian Tragedy

Discovering a World War II tale that mesmerizes, then horrifies

Janna Malamud Smith

Book Reviews

Terrorist in Chief

Can anything keep Zimbabwe from slipping back into despotism?

Paul Salopek

Aping Us

Beasts behaving badly

Clive D. L. Wynne

Patriot Games

Hollywood's Red Scare

Elbert Ventura

Harlem Notes

A writer goes uptown

Thomas Chatterton Williams

Bard Justice

Shakespeare and the law

Jacob A. Stein

Math & Magic

The roots of Western science

Sam Kean