The Cost of Custer’s Last Stand
A new book reveals the breathtaking toll of the bloody 1876 battle between the U.S. military and the Sioux-Cheyenne coalition, which devastated families on both sides
Gaslit, Gatekept Girlbosses
The biographer of cosmetics titan Mary Kay reveals how the other female inventors and entrepreneurs of her time were foiled and forgotten
The Sport of All Sports
“A game of the people, by the people”: as the World Cup comes to a close, a coffee-table book—and a devoted fan—pays tribute to the elegance and grandeur of soccer
The Poet’s Premiums
Wallace Stevens was a successful insurance executive by day and a Pulitzer Prize–winning poet by night—but his letters reveal he had existential doubts about the trade-off
The Pleasure Gardens of London
Forget the candlelit ballrooms of Jane Austen novels—partying in 18th-century London meant water taxis, drunken aristocrats, and enough pyrotechnics to level Pompeii
Some Like It Sleek
Clean lines, open plans, boxy silhouettes … a new coffee-table book traces how the eastern tip of Long Island became the proving ground for American modernism
Grand Lutetia Hotel
How a Paris hotel that once hosted Hemingway and Picasso became a home for anti-Nazi exiles, German intelligence officers, and, finally, concentration-camp survivors
An Unhealthy Dose of Skepticism
How a handful of housewives dedicated to debunking the official account of the J.F.K. assassination unwittingly ushered in the age of the conspiracy theorist—from 9/11 truthers to One Direction’s “Larry” stans
The Revolutionary Spirits
America’s Founding Fathers were fueled by a belief in liberty, democracy, and self-determination—and, as a new book points out, extraordinary amounts of rum
Murder, They Wrote
Three psychological thrillers show how a life in the arts can get more brutal than a U.F.C. match—especially when a love triangle is involved
Hitchcock’s Right-Hand Woman
How costume designer Edith Head brought to life the director’s motif-rich visual universe, from Kim Novak’s opposing personas in Vertigo to Ingrid Bergman’s black dress in Notorious
The AIR MAIL Summer Reading List
From Ann Patchett’s tender tale of reconciliation to Jenny Jackson’s juicy seaside romp, here are the 10 books our editors are taking with them on their travels this summer
These Boots Were Made for Walking
In an excerpt from Too L.A., Lili Anolik’s new collection of the novelist’s letters, Eve Babitz unleashes a fiery tirade against an unidentified boyfriend who dared to insult her shoes
The Missing Miracle Worker
In 1950, Joe Gaetjens helped the U.S. pull off the greatest upset in World Cup history. Fourteen years later, a Haitian death squad came for him
Diamond in the Rough
A new edition of Dawn Powell’s 1942 novel, A Time to Be Born, seeks to rehabilitate its author, whose society tales skewered the New York milieu and earned the admiration of Hemingway and Vidal
All You Need Is George Martin
The genteel record producer did not look the part of a revolutionary. But as a commemorative new book makes clear, his wildly innovative work with the Beatles changed pop music forever
Rebecca Ressler
The owner of Hollywood Books has turned her small, finely curated bookstore into a Los Angeles literary hot spot, drawing guests such as Kaia Gerber and Petra Collins
The Tweet Escape
San Francisco gave away $70 million in tax revenue to lure the nascent social-media company to its bleakest neighborhood. Was it worth it?
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss: the five Cambridge grads who spied for Stalin, how birds evolved from dinosaurs, and a W.W.II novel following two Black U.S. soldiers and a Jewish boy
