The Shot Heard Round Russia
The little-known story of how Catherine the Great conquered her fear of doctors to inoculate herself and her country against smallpox
What Women Want
In an interview with Three Women’s Lisa Taddeo, the author discusses grief, vengeance, her new story collection, and, of course, women
Staff Picks
Don’t miss a timely look at the men who invented guns, a romp through the origins of modern feminism, and a thriller set on a cross-country train ride
Out with a Bang
It’s common knowledge that an asteroid wiped out the dinosaurs. But the way it did is surprising
Spies Fall Out
Howard Hunt imagined himself the Ian Fleming of the C.I.A. Then came Watergate
From Slush Pile to Pulitzer
Joshua Cohen couldn’t find a publisher for his novel about Harold Bloom and the Netanyahus. Now it’s a heralded prizewinner
A Study in Scarlet
Joel Meyerowitz’s study of the many shades and styles of red hair is an ode to the world’s natural redheads
Staff Picks
Don’t miss a journalist’s memoir about re-invention; an appeal for readers to start writing; and the story of two men’s search for the source of the Nile River
In Putin’s Shadow
In an interview with the lieutenant turned military historian Antony Beevor about his newest book on a pre-U.S.S.R. Russia, it all goes back to Ukraine
Women on a Mission
Just after World War II, six nuns from Kentucky moved to India to set up a missionary hospital. Their letters home offer insight into life on the ward
Gen Z Finds Its Wise Man
How did Ryan Holiday, a former marketing executive in rural Texas, become the go-to philosopher for these times?
Murder, They Wrote
Actresses and other deceptive women dominate this month’s new thrillers. Plus, a look back at a true original: Agatha Christie’s Miss Marple
A Legacy of Spies
The case of the Russian spy Robert Hanssen has been called the “worst intelligence disaster in U.S. history.” Many years on, the risk of espionage is just as high
Risky Business
Pulitzer Prize–winning war correspondent Ray Bonner always had a taste for trouble, but he just took on his most dangerous assignment yet: he bought a bookstore in Australia
