Matisse vs. the Nazis
Despite a teaching post in San Francisco and a visa to Rio de Janeiro, the artist chose to stay in France and pursue his “degenerate” art during W.W. II
Agitrons,Waftaroms, and Neoflects, Oh My!
Beetle Bailey creator Mort Walker’s Lexicon of Comicana—a lovingly ironic send-up of comic-strip conventions—remains the gold standard, 50 years on
Deadly Pleasures to Read and Watch
Two mystery books unfolding on either side of the Atlantic, and a new Maigret TV show set in present-day Paris
On the Basis of Sexuality
The little-known story of the gay Black Korean War veteran who sued the state of Florida in 1961 for firing him due to his sexuality—and won
Editor’s Picks
This week, don’t miss a look into the year that defined World War II, a children’s book about Indian cuisine, and a biography of an American nature writer
The Bard of Britain
At 77, Ian McEwan hopes to be remembered for more than Atonement
Still More Mitford-Mania
Mimi Pond has written and illustrated a graphic novel about her own lifelong fascination with the infamous sisters
Ken Follett’s World Without End
The Welsh thriller author on producing such a vast archive—and the lure of Stonehenge, the subject of his latest book
Spark of Genius
Muriel Spark, one of the most admired British novelists of the 20th century, led a mystically charged life that uncannily melded fact and fiction
Mrs. Dalloway at 100
A century on, Virginia Woolf’s breakthrough novel remains modern
Where Homer Simpson Meets Osama bin Laden
Lock Books stocks and publishes the world’s strangest collection of ephemera—from masks used by bank robbers to 9/11-themed video games
The Pride and Prejudice That Almost Was
Duets on horseback, Philadelphia nightlife … Inside an unmade Hollywood-musical version of the Austen classic, starring Judy Garland and Peter Lawford
London Confidential
Boodle’s, Blacks, Buck’s, Brooks’s … A new coffee-table book takes readers on a tour of the city’s private members’ clubs
Mick Herron’s Horse Sense
The Slow Horses author on the inspiration for Jackson Lamb, taking a page out of Stephen King’s book, and what his third act would look like
The Hippie Mafia
Fifteen years after the publication of my book on the Brotherhood of Eternal Love, here’s how I infiltrated the infamous Laguna Beach LSD cartel that supplied everyone from John Lennon to Steve Jobs
The Carat Confessions
The longtime jewelry editor at British Vogue recalls some of the dicier moments in her career—including when a stalker made off with a haul of precious gems
Don’t Believe Everything You Read About Amelia Earhart
Silk slippers, a fake license, and the branding of an American icon
Who’s Afraid of the Big Bad Wolf?
A new book traces the tumultuous history of man and wolf—and debunks the myth of the “alpha” once and for all
Inspired by a Double Bagel
How the most one-sided defeat of Carlos Alcaraz’s life paved the way for his ascent to the top of the tennis world—and his moneymaking drop shot
R. F. Kuang
At 29 years old, the Chinese-American author of the best-selling novel Yellowface is getting ready to publish her sixth book—and complete her fourth degree
Picture This
A new coffee-table book collects Martyn Goddard’s photographs of Blondie, capturing the pop-punk band at their peak in the hot New York summer of 1978
