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As US-China relations deteriorate, Barry Gewen offers an unsparing biography of a man still at the center of events The Chinese foreign minister, Wang Yi, shakes hands with the former US secretary of state Henry Kissinger at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing in November. Photograph: Jason Lee/Pool/EPA Only two of America’s secretaries […] More
Jared Kushner is a Know Nothing – not just because he has failed on so many fronts Sidney Blumenthal Trump’s son-in-law wants a miniature Republican platform. It is a move with strong parallels – but not to the party of Lincoln Jared Kushner attends a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House. Photograph: […] More
A life of the fifth president makes interesting reading, not least for his warnings about foreign influence in the White House James Monroe, circa 1816. The last of the founding generation to be president, he bridged the Revolution with the first sectional conflicts of the Antebellum era. Photograph: Buyenlarge/Getty Images Why read a biography of […] More
Active Measures review: how Trump gave Russia its richest target yet In divided, chaotic and fearful times, Thomas Rid’s ‘secret history of disinformation and political warfare’ is a must-read Donald Trump stands with Gen Michael Flynn at Mar-a-Lago in Palm Beach, Florida in December 2016. Photograph: Jim Watson/AFP via Getty Images The president-elect arrived in […] More
‘What it means to be an American’: Abraham Lincoln and a nation divided Amid a new crisis, Ted Widmer’s book on the 16th president’s journey to Washington in 1861 may prove timely indeed Abraham Lincoln in a portrait by Matthew Brady, taken in December 1861. Photograph: Bettmann Archive Ted Widmer has published a book about […] More
A timely, clever analysis of why Shakespeare continues to cast a spell over American politics The readiness is all. Ever since president John Adams rewrote a passage from Henry V to demonstrate how a foreign power might conspire to place a more pliable president in the White House, Shakespeare’s plays have been at the heart […] More
A century after the 19th amendment, Ellen Carol DuBois makes the familiar new and sheds light on a fight against injustice It was a decidedly anticlimactic end to a life-changing campaign. The document was sent by train to Washington in the middle of the night. A government employee met the train and rushed it to […] More
As disregard for the ‘actual truth of the matter’ spreads, what can the author of The Prince tell us about The Donald? “Real power is – I don’t even want to use the word – fear.” Related: How to dump Trump: Rick Wilson on Running Against the Devil Continue reading… More
