Very Short Introductions: Brilliant, Sharp, Inspiring Hannah Arendt (1906-1975) was one of the major intellectual figures of the twentieth century. Born in Konigsberg to secular Jewish parents, she was a student of the two major exponents of Existenz...

Taking the legends surrounding King Arthur and weaving in new psychological elements of personal desire and courtly manner, Chrétien de Troyes fashioned a new form of medieval Romance. The Knight of the Cart is the first telling of the adulterous...

What happens when children become investment projects and child-rearing becomes exhausting laborParents are exhausted. When did raising children become such all-consuming, never-ending, incredibly expensive, and emotionally absorbing effort? In this...

How the world broke--and how we can still save it The liberal world order that emerged after World War II--and expanded triumphantly following the Cold War--is unraveling. Multilateral cooperation is giving way to multipolar rivalry and conflict. Global...

The memoir of a young diplomat’s wife who must reinvent her dream of living in Paris—one dish at a timeWhen journalist Ann Mah’s diplomat husband is given a three-year assignment in Paris, Ann is overjoyed. A lifelong foodie and Francophile, she...

A kaleidoscopic and original new history of urbanization—from Lisbon to New York, Paris to Rio de Janeiro, and Buenos Aires to LagosFor the past three centuries, urban dwellers and planners have imagined future cities that would be radically different...