Grand Illusion Grand Illusion
André Malraux incarnated a certain ideal of "the French intellectual." A writer of international renown, he distinguished himself as a man of action before going on to bec...
Feb 10, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Stefan Collini
Men in Dark Times Men in Dark Times
"I am very happy to see so many flowers here and that is why I want to remind you that flowers, by themselves, have no power whatsoever, other than the power of men and women who...
Jan 20, 2005 / Books & the Arts / Russell Jacoby
Learning to Love the Bomb Learning to Love the Bomb
While I saw Edward Teller at several scientific conferences and heard him lecture, I met him only once. It left an indelible memory. It was at the end of April 1954.
Oct 14, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Jeremy Bernstein
The Human Stain The Human Stain
The question has been asked: Was Franz Kafka human? He seems to have had doubts himself.
Sep 30, 2004 / Books & the Arts / John Banville
In the Bedroom (With Stalin) In the Bedroom (With Stalin)
Stalin continues to fascinate--the central mystery within the riddle inside the enigma that was the Soviet Union. If you Google "Stalin, biography," 166,000 websites come up.
Sep 9, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Ronald Grigor Suny
The Anti-Warrior The Anti-Warrior
Christianity in this country has become almost synonymous with right-wing fanaticism, conservative politics and--courtesy of Mel Gibson--a brutally sadistic version of religious ...
Jun 24, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Dan Wakefield
Top Gun Top Gun
Of the making of many books about Abraham Lincoln there is no end.
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / James M. McPherson
Wild at Heart Wild at Heart
In 1947 Saul Bellow published a novel called The Victim in which a derelict character named Kirby Allbee haunts another named Asa Leventhal, claiming that Leventhal is responsibl...
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Vivian Gornick
Truly, Madly, Deeply Truly, Madly, Deeply
It's only a little fughetta in C minor, a piece J.S. Bach wrote into a notebook he was keeping for the purpose of teaching his eldest son.
May 27, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Paul Griffiths
The Last Emperors The Last Emperors
If Winston Churchill is today the icon of an American right that denounced the "appeasement" of Iraq, Charles de Gaulle is the inspiration for some of those who continue to urge ...
Feb 19, 2004 / Books & the Arts / Richard Vinen