Reconstruction remains one of the most contentious topics in American history. For a number of years, historians argued that Reconstruction had been counterproductive and had negatively impacted black-white relations in the South. And... Read More

It was an unjust law that begged to be broken. The Fugitive Slave Law, passed in 1850, was an act of desperation on the part of Southern slave holders. They increasingly saw people, whom they considered their property, escaping to... Read More

On June 1, 1967, the pop music world was “turned upside-down, its resultant sounds proving to be the shape of all things to come,” with the release of the Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, the author writes. Often... Read More

The mysterious stranger with hypnotic eyes, the spooky, candlelit castle with strange nighttime sounds, the disturbing family secret, and the supernatural threat… all are part of the Gothic, the genre of romantic mystery that sparked... Read More

Alexander is obsessed with air—how to move it, heat it, cool it and clean it. In late twentieth-century South Africa, where millions crumble under weighty issues such as race, colonialism, revolution and AIDS, Alex clings to nothing.... Read More

“My skin crawls even to write about it,” says Malone’s protagonist, Terry Chagford. These words will ring true for all who delve into the mentally unhinging world of small town police chief Chagford in K. Patrick Malone’s... Read More

At its best (Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Salman Rushdie, Angela Carter), magical realism lures in its readers, making the impossible seem merely improbable. Antonio Muñoz Molina’s novella, "In Her Absence", is a supreme example of this... Read More

Travel writer Meg Parker appears to have a dream job living and working in the French countryside, but the reality of having to deal with an inattentive husband, two young children, and incompetent home remodelers is forcing a rude... Read More