A controversial new history of Communism suggests that most everything we think we know about it is wrong
By Andrew O'Hehir Jul 3, 2009
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This weekend marks the 40th anniversary of the riots. We spoke to some of the people who were there
By Jacqueline Linge
June 27, 2009
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What is the deal with Western men's erotic obsession with the East?
By Laura Miller
June 16, 2009
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In an era of wealth and excess, 19th century French anarchists introduced terrorism as we know it. Can a fascinating new history help us understand our own violent times?
By Andrew O'Hehir
February 27, 2009
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The trend in sports books is to claim that a single contest changed the course of history. Sure it did.
By King Kaufman
February 26, 2009
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We write and we write and we write on the Net, dispensing thoughts and advice. For what?
By Cary Tennis
February 4, 2009
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In "The Invention of Air," Steven Johnson creates a fascinating portrait of Joseph Priestley, a friend of Franklin and Jefferson and a freethinker who changed history.
By Andrew O'Hehir
January 9, 2009
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Our picks for the 10 most pleasurable fiction and nonfiction reading experiences of the year.
By Laura Miller
December 8, 2008
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The billion-dollar scrapbooking industry may be cheesy, but as author Jessica Helfand explains, there's rich history in that glitter and glue.
By Joy Press
December 4, 2008
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From Jim Crow laws to workplace discrimination, the history of race and the American courtroom is incendiary.
By Laura Miller
November 10, 2008
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"Sea of Poppies," set in Calcutta, is a swashbuckling saga full of sadists, weaklings and tyrants -- and, thankfully, there are two more volumes to come.
By Laura Miller
October 14, 2008
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News item: 1755 diary mentions baseball in England. That's nice, but we already had a 1744 reference. Not to mention David Wells.
By King Kaufman
September 17, 2008
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Peter Trachtenberg took a tour around the world in his quest to understand why some people are crushed by suffering and others are transformed by it.
By Louis Bayard
September 5, 2008
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How do we know what we know? A new book takes a long view of knowledge, from ancient oral traditions to the rise of universities and the Internet.
By Laura Miller
August 28, 2008
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Giordano Bruno has been called a martyr to science and an occultist, but a new book argues that the brilliant philosopher's unconventional behavior did him in.
By Laura Miller
August 25, 2008
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Can great art spring from a lie? Two new books about forgers raise provocative questions about the links between authenticity and genius.
By Louis Bayard
August 14, 2008
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The 9-year-old narrator of the heartbreaking "When We Were Romans" flees family chaos through literature.
By Laura Miller
July 24, 2008
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Who invented jokes, and why do we laugh at them? Jim Holt discusses the history of funny.
By James Hannaham
July 21, 2008
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I hit the wall in my dead-end job, I'm sleeping on a friend's floor, but I have a dream!
By Cary Tennis
July 7, 2008
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In Salman Rushdie's satisfying fairy tale "The Enchantress of Florence," magic and history entwine -- and so do a middle-aged emperor and a sexy princess.
By Laura Miller
June 13, 2008
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For years America has desperately tried to outlaw sodomy and other sex acts like fellatio and cunnilingus. What are we so scared of?
By Louis Bayard
June 12, 2008
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Eccentric scholar Joseph Needham devoted his life to documenting the brilliant innovations of Chinese civilization -- and the mystery of why the West eclipsed it.
By Andrew Leonard
May 19, 2008
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Forget the Pilgrims. America's roots are older and more twisted, what Tony Horwitz calls a "primordial slime of false starts and mutations."
By Louis Bayard
May 9, 2008
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An infamous 1976 photo captured a violent encounter between white Bostonians and a black lawyer during an anti-busing rally. A new book explains why this image continues to haunt and define us.
By Louis Bayard
April 28, 2008
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A new book argues that the '60s counterculture achieved nothing of lasting importance. So why does the era continue to fascinate us?
By Gary Kamiya
April 9, 2008