Essay Politics The Woman Who Would Be King By Kara Cooney The extraordinary rise and reign of Hatshepsut. More
Essay Arts & Letters Beauty Is Shoe By Wendy Steiner Is the model a subject, or is the subject a model? More
Essay Death Mournful Creatures By Virginia Morell Humans may be the only animals who understand our mortality, but when it comes to grieving, we are not so unique. More
Essay Communication Native Tongues By Simon Winchester The making of the Dictionary of American Regional English, a five-thousand-page, five-volume book documenting the history of American slang. More
Essay States of War The Persian Way of War By Tom Holland Unlike the Greeks, Xerxes viewed war as more than a simple matter of strategy. Rather, it was a means of flaunting global mastery. More
Essay Rivalry & Feud Parry and Thrust By Jim Holt After a series of television clashes during the 1968 election, Gore Vidal and William F. Buckley Jr. developed a warm hatred of each other. More
Essay Magic Shows Very Superstitious By Colin Dickey The science of sympathetic magic, and why it persists. More
Essay The City Urban Scrawl By Jamie James The city novel begins with a young person arriving from the provinces—and the world rising up to greet them. More
Essay Intoxication Last Testaments By Francine Prose What do artists and writers do when they are faced with the imminence of death? Francine Prose reviews the final works of historian Tony Judt. More
