A new history should show how closely civilization and the environment are linked—and urge us to respond to today’s crisis.

The district pulled the book after one parent complained.

Separating the artist from the art is not the hard part.

Outbreaks of disease may have had a greater effect on the course of events than the actions and plans of humans.

The decline in his fiction over his lifetime was understandable. The mystery is why his worst journalism ever received such lavish praise.

“The Wager” is a story of resentment, insurrection, and a battle over the truth. Sound familiar?

Cars have made American cities uglier and more dangerous. Here’s the solution.

A writer of haunting, uncategorizable songs, she once seemed poised for runaway fame. But only decades after she disappeared has her music found an audience.

Jeff Sharlet saw close up how the far right has used grief and bitterness to grow its ranks.

A former dancer reckons with the rigors and ordeals of life in ballet.

What makes a mother stay and her estranged daughter leave Appalachia?

Matthew Dallek’s “Birchers” traces how conspiracy theories went from being a fringe pastime to the right’s defining feature.

The Polish Jewish writer was forced to decorate the home of his Nazi captor with fairytale murals. Where does the art belong?

The Foreign Policy Association tried to get ordinary people involved in foreign affairs. Why did they fail?

“Nights of Plague” is the story of an epidemic entwined with nationalism, unrest, and reaction.

Erica Berry’s book dissects the cultural fascination with wolves as symbols of everything that terrifies us.

Naomi Oreskes and Erik M. Conway explain how industry groups foisted free-market fundamentalism on the American public and demonized the alternatives.

In an era of hacks and breaches, the game of spy vs. spy has changed.

Two new books ask us to shift our attention away from the white vigilantes of Jim Crow and instead focus on what it meant for the survivors.

In her journalism, Malcolm offered devastating portraits of artists, analysts, and frauds. She dreaded receiving the same treatment.