Staff Picks
This week, don’t miss the case for slow societal change, a look at the murder of Nelson Mandela’s heir apparent, and the story of how the I.R.A. nearly assassinated Margaret Thatcher
Articles of War
How an author discovered W. E. B. Du Bois’s definitive history of Black participation in W.W. I, and why it remained unfinished—and largely forgotten
The Felicity Factor
With an army of star authors under her wing, Felicity Blunt, a London literary agent and the wife of the actor Stanley Tucci, is having her moment
Mutiny on the Wager
The Lost City of Z and Killers of the Flower Moon author David Grann discusses his latest book, the 18th-century mutiny-and-shipwreck story The Wager
The King’s English
To write about King George VI, Sally Bedell Smith was granted exclusive access to royal archives that included his World War II–era diaries and love letters to Queen Elizabeth
Susanna Moore Isn’t Done Running Away
The author has never been one to stay put. Her new book is no exception
You Mess with the Buller, You Get the Horns
With its dedication to gluttony and vandalism, and its inclusion of two disgraced British P.M.’s, Oxford’s Bullingdon Club has a deservedly bad reputation. But it’s not going anywhere
Staying Gold
A new book of rare and previously unseen photos marks the 40th anniversary of Francis Ford Coppola’s The Outsiders, based on the 1967 novel and starring Hollywood stars in their early years, from Tom Cruise to Diane Lane to Patrick Swayze
Dial “Midwife” for Murder
The little-known story of a 1920s midwife who supplied women with arsenic to kill their abusive husbands
Catherine Lacey
The author discusses her latest novel, a fictionalized biography of a “Frankenstein’s monster of 20 artists and 20 writers” whom she admires, from Kathy Acker to Susan Sontag
Rudy Then and Rudy Now
Rudy Giuliani’s fall from respected New York mayor to Trump consigliere is well documented. But the cracks in his moral makeup were there from the outset
An Amusement Park of Dreams
The first-ever art amusement park—launched in 1987 in Hamburg, and featuring art by everyone from Basquiat to Baselitz to Lichtenstein—has since been all but forgotten. Ahead of Luna Luna’s reopening, next year, a new book surveys this feat of the imagination
From The Glass Castle to Prohibition
Jeannette Walls looks back at her tumultuous upbringing and her days as a gossip columnist in New York, and discusses her latest book, a novel set in the 1920s
We’ll Always Have Paris
In Paris Hilton’s new memoir, the socialite seems disingenuous and her ghostwriter’s touch is too obvious. And yet, we’re still captivated
Staff Picks
Don’t miss an epic catalogue of Edward Hopper’s paintings, a tale of walking from Washington D.C. to New York City, and an appreciation of the architect Shigeru Ban
How Mel Brooks Got Smart
Over a seven-decade career, the actor and filmmaker behind some of the most successful TV comedies of all time achieved success by becoming a poet of failure
Mona Simpson’s Guide to Writing
In an interview, the novelist discusses her new book, her early days working at The Paris Review, and finding inspiration
