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Classic Essays from Our Archives
“Perdicaris Alive or Raisuli Dead” | August 1959, Vol 70, No 3
By Barbara W. TuchmanJohn Hay’s ringing phrase helped nominate T. R., but it covered an embarrassing secret that remained concealed for thirty years.
The Hawthornes In Paradise | December 1958, Vol 10, No 1
By Malcolm CowleyNathaniel was poor and sunk in his solitude; Sophia seemed a hopeless invalid, but a late-flower love gave them at last “a perfect Eden.”
The Hawthornes In Paradise | December 1958, Vol 70, No 3
By Malcolm CowleyNathaniel was poor and sunk in his solitude; Sophia seemed a hopeless invalid, but a late-flower love gave them at last “a perfect Eden.”
"The Sparck of Rebellion" | Winter 2010, Vol 59, No 4
By Douglas BrinkleyBadly disguised as Indians, a rowdy group of patriotic vandals kicked a revolution into motion.
1619: The Year That Shaped America | Winter 2019, Vol 64, No 1
By James HornFour hundred years ago this year, two momentous events happened in Britain’s fledgling colony in Virginia: the New World’s first democratic assembly convened, and an English privateer brought kidnapped Africans to sell as slaves. Such were the conflicted origins of modern America.
America: Experiment or Destiny? | June 1977, Vol 70, No 3
By Arthur Schlesinger Jr.We can take pride in our nation, not as we pretend to a commission from God and a sacred destiny, but as we struggle to fulfill our deepest values in an inscrutable world.
Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other? | Fall 2008, Vol 70, No 3
By Annette Gordon-ReedTo call it loaded question does not begin to do justice to the matter, given America’s tortured racial history and its haunting legacy.
“The Tide is Setting Strongly Against Us” | Winter 2010, Vol 59, No 4
By Edward L. AyersLincoln’s bid for reelection in 1864 faced serious challenges from a popular opponent and a nation weary of war.
“The Miraculous Care Of Providence” | February/March 1982, Vol 33, No 2
By James Thomas FlexnerGeorge Washington’s Narrow Escapes
"The Sparck of Rebellion" | Winter 2010, Vol 70, No 3
By Douglas BrinkleyBadly disguised as Indians, a rowdy group of patriotic vandals kicked a revolution into motion.
Who Invented Scalping? | April 1977, Vol 28, No 3
By James AxtellIn recent years many voices—both Native-American and white—have questioned whether Indians did in fact invent scalping. What is the evidence?
Lincoln and Presidential Character | October 2020, Vol 65, No 6
By David S. ReynoldsAbraham Lincoln learned much of what made him a great president — honesty, sincerity, toughness, and humility — from his early reading and from studying the lives of Washington and Franklin.
Did Castro Okay the Kennedy Assassination? | Winter 2009, Vol 58, No 6
By Gus RussoIncriminating new evidence has come to light in KGB files and the authors' interviews of former Cuban intelligence officers which indicates that Fidel Castro probably knew in advance of Oswald's intent to kill JFK.
How My Father and President Kennedy Saved The World | October 2002, Vol 53, No 5
By Sergei KhrushchevThe Cuban Missile Crisis as seen from the Kremlin
The Meaning of 1918 | Fall 2018 - World War I Special Issue, Vol 63, No 3
By John LukacsA century after the guns fell silent along the Western Front, the work they did there remains of incalculable importance to the age we inhabit and the people we are.
America: Experiment or Destiny? | June 1977, Vol 28, No 4
By Arthur Schlesinger Jr.We can take pride in our nation, not as we pretend to a commission from God and a sacred destiny, but as we struggle to fulfill our deepest values in an inscrutable world.
Did Sally Hemings and Thomas Jefferson Love Each Other? | Fall 2008, Vol 58, No 5
By Annette Gordon-ReedTo call it loaded question does not begin to do justice to the matter, given America’s tortured racial history and its haunting legacy.