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
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
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
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
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
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
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?
Letting It Loose
On the 50th anniversary of the Rolling Stones’ Exile on Main St., and the legendary tour that followed, the unlikely story of how a rock ’n’ roll masterpiece came to be
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
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
Guardian Angel
In the 19th century, Caroline Norton campaigned for mothers to have legal rights to their own children. She secured them for others—but not for herself
Staff Picks
Don’t miss the history behind the Kentucky Derby anthem; a biography of the philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville; and a dazzling look at Renaissance altarpieces