Ben Bernanke will take over next week as Chairman of the Federal Reserve for Alan Greenspan, who is stepping down on Tuesday after more than 18 years on the job. “An extraordinary act to follow,” says Princeton Professor Alan Blinder, the Fed’s Vice Chairman under Greenspan in the mid-1990s, on
This day marks the 300th anniversary of the birth of Benjamin Franklin. Franklin is perhaps the most remarkable figure in American history: the greatest statesman of his age, he played a pivotal role in the formation of the American republic. He was also a pioneering scientist, a bestselling author, the
Back when spies were spies, they spied by the rules—with the exception perhaps of those who did their spying for totalitarian regimes. The Constitution of the Soviet Union, for example, guaranteed the privacy of correspondence, but the government still read people’s private mail. By the end of the twentieth century,
“An enthralling new book,” says the Boston Globe in its recent review of Composers’ Voices From Ives to Ellington: An Oral History of American Music, by Vivian Perlis and Libby Van Cleve. The book and the two-CD set that accompanies it present a host of interviews with and about the
Imagining America: Icons of 20th Century American Art, will air on PBS this Wednesday, December 28, 2005, from 9:00-11:00 p.m. ET. The film is a journey through the transformations that took place in 20th-century America, told through the words and work of some of the century’s most significant artists. “Anybody
“If Franklin were to mount a museum exhibition about himself,” writes Edward Rothstein in the New York Times, “it might very well resemble – in its variety, intelligence and pleasures – Benjamin Franklin: In Search of a Better World.” The exhibition, which just opened, will be on display at the
A Little History of the World continues to receive praise in publications across the country. The Los Angeles Times Book Review counts A Little History among the 20 titles in its Favorite Nonfiction Books of 2005 in its holiday roundup. The Raleigh News & Observer also names A Little History
“The Unknown Battle of Midway is a memoir and more,” writes Robert Messenger in the Wall Street Journal. “Mr. Kernan brings this maritime battle superbly to life. He explains the whole history of the U.S. carriers and their arsenal and the commanders and pilots who were trying to learn on
Four Yale University Press titles appear in the New York Times Book Review Holiday Books issue. Stephen Heller calls Masters of American Comics, “a smartly designed, comprehensive history of 20th-century comics.” Read the full review. Looking at Atget is included in a selection of recent books evoking a romantic vision