WSJ Books Section

The world in some ways has slowed down. More congestion means that cars travel less quickly through cities than they have in recent decades, writes Steven Poole wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Vincent Coppola lovingly recounts his youth in a neighborhood where violent conflict was the norm and the local waterway was toxic, writes Alex Belth wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Cold-water swimming enthusiasts say that the frigid temperatures bring mental clarity and other health benefits. The dangers are real too, writes Bill Heavey wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

What We’re Reading on America’s 250th Birthday: A selection of recent works of history and biography that chronicle the birth and youth of the American republic. wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Financial lessons from the nation’s history as the U.S. reaches 250 years: take risks, don’t be afraid of debt, take in boarders if things get tight, writes Roger Lowenstein wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

The Best Reviews of June: Thomas Jefferson at home, the British aristocrat who backed American rebels, a garbage collector’s view of life and more. wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

A Fictional History of the U.S.: A tour of America’s past through 26 works that captured the country’s character and contradictions. wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

A fifth-century A.D. anthology of Greek writing, originally collected by a father for his son, offers wisdom and insight into the human condition, writes Michael Patrick Brady wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Critics allege that capitalism causes spiritual poverty. They misunderstand the proper role of an economic system, writes Judge Glock wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

The former vice president sees little conservatism in President Trump’s second term, and is determined to bring it back, writes @tunkuv wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Sparta’s class of elite warriors were freed from ordinary work, their needs met by slaves. The system had a built-in weakness, writes James Romm wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Anthony and Grietje left the maelstrom of 17th-century Amsterdam to start over in the New World. Their lives didn’t get any easier, writes @tunkuv wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

How did Harlem Village Academies improve student performance? The charter network’s founder lays out her philosophy of education, writes Naomi Schaefer Riley wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Mary Todd Lincoln buried her husband as well as three of four sons. Grief of a different sort defined her relationship with her eldest child, writes Melanie Kirkpatrick wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

14 Books We Read This Week: Science in the age of machine learning, life in Ceaușescu’s Romania, remembering Audrey Hepburn and more. wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Eyeglasses are not neutral in literary works. Shakespeare sometimes scorned them. Harry Potter’s mark him as intelligent and vulnerable, writes Nuno Castel-Branco wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

Preston Brooks hailed from a South Carolina county where honor and manhood were judged by one’s willingness to use violence, writes Fergus M. Bordewich wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

The Soul of Golf: Selected by Gene Wojciechowski, a former ESPN golf reporter and the author of the novel "All Carry." wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

The Best Reviews of April: The truth of daily life under Stalin, keeping time in a world before clocks, how the Rolling Stones began and more. wsj.com/arts-culture/b…

13 Books We Read This Week: The traces of early human societies, an American painter of nature’s grandeur, an Istanbul neighborhood’s divides and more. wsj.com/arts-culture/b…