Books and Ideas

The Life of the Mind The Life of the Mind

Isaiah Berlin once told his biographer, Michael Ignatieff, that "I have a natural tendency to gossip, to describing things, to noticing things, to interest in human beings and th...

Aug 26, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Sunil Khilnani

The Middle Man The Middle Man

Over the century that followed the Napoleonic wars, the Ottoman Empire contracted and eventually disappeared from the map.

Aug 12, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Mark Mazower

The Lost Steps The Lost Steps

American policy-makers may be divided into two schools of thought on the Arab-Israeli conflict: the evenhanded and the Israel-first.

Aug 12, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Avi Shlaim

Holy Water Holy Water

Walden Pond is America's environmental holy land, the naturalist's sacred site and Concord's local swimming pool.

Jul 29, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Jane Holtz Kay

Latin America’s Longest War Latin America’s Longest War

In May, Jan Egeland, the United Nations Undersecretary for Humanitarian Affairs, called a news conference in New York to declare publicly what he had been warning people about fo...

Jul 29, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Peter Canby

Laughter in the Dark Laughter in the Dark

Stalin has had a rough time at the hands of Russian novelists in recent years.

Jul 15, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Boris Fishman

Living to Tell the Tale Living to Tell the Tale

Former Presidents have a difficult, even awkward, role. They cope in different ways, but if the past half-century is any guide, we can be certain of one thing: They write their m...

Jul 15, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Stanley I. Kutler

The Foregone Convention The Foregone Convention

George McGovern carried the day, but the passion was provided by Ted Kennedy.

Jul 13, 2004 / Feature / Robert Sherrill

Requiem for a Dream Requiem for a Dream

In a cluster of beach bungalows in Ghana in December 2000, my wife and I encountered the Peace Corps dream.

Jul 1, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Matt Steinglass

What Are They Reading? What Are They Reading?

It's the first three chapters of Yuri Olesha's Envy that really bite, that really get across the impotent sting of the emotion.

Jul 1, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Nicholas Jahr

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