Skip Navigation

Books of the Year

Fifteen additional picks

By Benjamin Schwarz

See the top five here

The Bradshaw Variations: A Novel, by Rachel Cusk (FSG)

Elizabethan Architecture, by Mark Girouard (Yale)

Apollo’s Angels: A History of Ballet, by Jennifer Homans (Random House)

The Fruit, the Tree and the Serpent: Why We See So Well, by Lynne A. Isbell (Harvard)

Family Britain: 1951-1957, byDavid Kynaston (Walker)

Holocaust: The Nazi Persecution and Murder of the Jews, by Peter Longerich (Oxford)

The Complete Architecture of Adler and Sullivan, by Richard Nickel and Aaron Siskind with John Vinci and Ward Miller (Chicago)

Rethinking France: Le Lieux de memoire (a four-volume work, concluded this year) edited by Pierre Nora (Chicago)

Adam Smith: An Enlightened Life, by Nicholas Phillipson (Yale)

My Hollywood: A Novel, by Mona Simpson (Knopf)

Bloodlands: Europe Between Hitler and Stalin, by Timothy Snyder (Basic)

Muriel Spark: The Biography, by Martin Stannard (Norton)

Showtime: A History of the Broadway Musical Theater, by Larry Stempel (Norton)

Freedom Bound: Law, Labor, and Civic Identity in Colonizing English America, 1580–1865, by Christopher Tomlins (Cambridge)

Trespass: A Novel, by Rose Tremain (Norton)

Presented by

More at The Atlantic

For the St. Louis Art Museum, a Legal Victory Raises Ethical Questions St. Louis Museum's Legal Victory Raises Ethical Questions
Why Are Democrats Losing the Wisconsin Recall? Why Are Democrats Losing the Wisconsin Recall?
Why Do Asian Americans Have the Worst Long-Term Unemployment? Why Asian-Americans Have the Worst Long-Term Joblessness
How 'Natural' Is Stevia? How 'Natural' Is Stevia?
The Edwards Trial: A Bad Idea From Before the Start The Edwards Trial: A Massive Waste of Time

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus

The Biggest Story in Photos

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 2012
The Design Essentials of the Perfect Pair of Pointe Shoes
Watch More Video

On Newsstands Now

Subscribe and SAVE 59%
10 issues JUST $2.45/COPY

The Atlantic Monthly

David H. Freedman on smartphone apps and the perfected self, Mark Bowden on being in the dumb kids' class, James Parker on Glenn Beck, Isaac Chotiner on P. G. Wodehouse, and more

Browse back issues of The Atlantic that have appeared on the Web. From September 1995 to the present, the archive is essentially complete, with the exception of a few articles, the online rights to which are held exclusively by the authors.

See All Back Issues: September 1995
To The Present »

Premium Archive

For a small fee you can now access more than a century of Atlantic Monthly articles in our online archive. The archive includes articles from 1857 to the present.

Prices » | Login for Saved Items » | Help »

Sort by:
Dates:
From: 
To: 
Author:  (optional)
Title:  (optional)

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)