The Editors

Hmm. Parton was writing in 1873. If the campaign lie was already so tired—and if the practice of politics had grown as cynical and weary as Parton’s conclusions suggest—then what, beyond the earth-shaking ambitions of those few who aspire to the presidency, has sustained American politics through the subsequent 34 presidential cycles? And what explains the passions on all sides in 2008, in this very particular presidential year? … More »

Since the spring of last year Lévy has crossed the country twice, always traveling by land, following his curiosity to big cities and small towns and into the middle of nowhere. The result is neither a grand Cartesian synthesis nor a Gallic finger-wagging but the perceptive travelogue of a visitor who finds himself variously attracted and repelled, astonished and mystified, and both very much at home and very much a foreigner.… More »

Election day is now some two months behind us, and the worst excesses of partisan name-calling and public hand-wringing over unbridgeable divides in American society seem largely to have passed. But as President George W. Bush prepares to deliver his fourth State of the Union address, serious questions about the unity of our culture remain: Just how many Americas will the president in fact be addressing? Are the fissures in our society changing or deepening? What…… More »

Readers who know Mike Kelly's work mainly through his monthly column in these pages, or through his weekly newspaper column syndicated by The Washington Post, will be familiar with several of his sides—the principled pugilist, the brash comic, the family man. Things Worth Fighting For reflects all that and a great deal more. Mike was a superb portraitist; his full-length profiles of such figures as Edward Kennedy and Jesse Jackson deserve a permanent place in…… More »

In terms of personal prosperity most people are doing better than they think. But prospects for the unemployed are only getting worse. And two big storm clouds loom over everything… More »

atlantic monthly, history, oliver wendell holmes, james russell lowell, henry wadsworth longfellow, magazine, literature, boston … More »

The conflict between the "A student" and the "pol"… More »

An Atlantic atlas of America's communications companies… More »

THERE has never been a better opportunity for securing international copyright between England and America than the present moment offers. The renewal of cordial relations between the two governments renders a great many acts of justice practicable which have heretofore seemed visionary. And international copyright is a measure, too, no longer suggested by motives of justice only. The rapid increase in the value and importance of American books brings prudence to…… More »