Books & the Arts

Parasites of Plunder? Parasites of Plunder?

Hitler's Beneficiaries advances a controversial, deeply flawed argument that Germans failed to revolt against the Nazis because Hitler established a welfare state built on plunder.

Dec 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Richard J. Evans

And the Beat Goes On… And the Beat Goes On…

A new book examining civil rights coverage demonstrates that the best reporting sometimes requires journalists to toss objectivity out the window.

Dec 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Eric Alterman

The Last Lennon File The Last Lennon File

The controversy over newly released files on John Lennon is less about Lennon than about excessive government secrecy.

Dec 20, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Jon Wiener

Within the Context of No Context Within the Context of No Context

Reviews of Blood Diamond, Inland Empire, The Good German and The History Boys.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Stuart Klawans

Two Hayings Two Hayings

My grandfather and I, with Riley the horse, took four days to hay the acres of grass from the fields on both sides of the house. After Riley pulled the mowing machine

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Donald Hall

A Painter of Our Time A Painter of Our Time

Diego Velázquez was a restless innovator, a painter who slyly revealed the ordinariness of his exalted subjects--one is almost tempted to call him modern.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Barry Schwabsky

A View From the Bridge A View From the Bridge

Hart Crane, one of America's greatest poets, relished the extremes that eventually destroyed him.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Melanie Rehak

Waltzing With Warlords Waltzing With Warlords

Five years after the United States ousted the Taliban, optimism about Afghanistan's future is evaporating. Three new books shed light on what went wrong.

Dec 14, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Peter Bergen

The Soviet Union, R.I.P.? The Soviet Union, R.I.P.?

The collapse of the Soviet Union was far from inevitable: A historic opportunity to democratize and marketize Russia by more gradual means was lost--and the people paid the price.

Dec 13, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Stephen F. Cohen

Battleground Cinema Battleground Cinema

Video activists and independent filmmakers are on the ground in war zones from Iraq to Lebanon and Gaza, using documentaries as instruments of peacemaking.

Dec 8, 2006 / Books & the Arts / Joseph Huff-Hannon

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