The See-and-Be-Seen Hotel
London’s Savoy hotel welcomed glamorous Hollywood actors, top-brass politicians, and its fair share of intrigue. Who was behind it all?
The Not-So-Secret Garden
Buckingham Palace’s royal garden, home to the Queen’s famed garden parties as well as thousands of species of flower and tree, is ready for its close-up
Short List
What to read this week, from the latest in Henry Porter’s captivating Paul Samson series to books revisiting the pandemic’s early days and the myth of the Alamo
The Hypocritical Oath
Studies show Black patients react better to having Black doctors. So why is our whole medical system geared toward white doctors?
A Real-Life Benjamin Button?
Brendan Bracken, founder of the Financial Times and friend of Churchill’s, faked a premature-aging condition to satisfy his taste for being caned by teenage boys
Animal Instinct
Marsel van Oosten’s photographs offer a tantalizingly close-up look at the world’s rarest wildlife
The Really Right Stuff
John Glenn, the first American to orbit the Earth, was the picture of calm during meetings with J.F.K. ahead of his journey. His archives reveal a human side
Helene Hanff’s Diary
The story of Helene Hanff, the Bridget Jones of the postwar literary set, whose uproarious 84, Charing Cross Road has never been out of print
Short List
Books to read this week, including fresh looks at Norman Jewison and Stephen Hawking, and an enlightened guide to parenting
Floral Tribute
The pioneering photographer Anna Atkins is not nearly as well known as her contemporaries, such as Henry Fox Talbot. Her work reveals photography’s transition from science to art
Street Cars Named Desire
Citroëns, Corvettes, and a bright-blue Fiat 500 get their due in a new book collecting the coolest classic cars
The Real Deal
As cultural workers have had their livelihoods crushed by the pandemic, the New Deal’s arts projects are suddenly relevant again
Hopping Around
Coming of age in the Roaring Twenties, the heirs to the Guinness-beer fortune favored dance and drink over careers and philanthropy
Background Check
The story of Hercule Poirot, Agatha Christie’s greatest detective, goes well beyond Christie’s own
