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Essays

How Two 19th-Century Books Paved the Way for Modernism

Making It New

The common concerns of two 1855 works, Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” and Shidyaq’s “Leg Over Leg” — in particular, language, equality, freedom, paradox and multiplicity — illustrate the international nature of how the 19th century wrestled with modernity.

The Little-Known Story of Afghanistan’s Last Jew

Afghanistan’s Last Jew

Despite her frailty, 83-year-old Tova Moradi was a prized target because she was Jewish and had misled the Taliban during its previous rule in the 1990s by sheltering a rabbi in her house. She needed to escape, and Israelis were helping her flee.

Revisiting the Adams Colony Affair in Palestine

Revisiting the Adams Colony Affair in Palestine

The story involves a hard-drinking lapsed actor and former Mormon abolitionist who sets off from Maine in 1866 to build a colony in Palestine. He fails spectacularly and his followers, after facing disease, bandits and financial ruin, end up on a ship home with a highly amused Mark Twain.

How the UK’s Propaganda Won Cold War Allies in Kenya

How the UK’s Propaganda Won Cold War Allies in Kenya

As King Charles’ recent visit to Kenya suggests, the U.K. is beginning to acknowledge the violence of its actions during decolonization. But a focus on successful nationalist heroes over campaigns for wider social change continues a long-standing policy of allying with moderate elites.

How the Queens of Crime Fiction Developed a Modern Myth

How the Queens of Crime Fiction Developed a Modern Myth

Between World War I and the Great Depression, the murder mystery was perfected by four women writers, gaining stratospheric popularity. Amid unparalleled social change, fictional detectives offered to symbolically restore traditional values, in a new myth for a rational age.

The 1873 World’s Fair and Turkey’s European Aspirations

The 1873 World’s Fair and Turkey’s European Aspirations

At the 1873 World’s Fair, the Ottomans presented themselves as a European power, governing an empire whose diverse peoples were united by a single cohesive identity. Yet while the fair’s Ottoman exhibits made an impression, Ottoman identity foundered, and Istanbul continued to be seen as peripheral to European diplomacy.

How Broadway Helped the Zionist Revolt Against Britain

How Broadway Helped the Zionist Revolt Against Britain

In the 1940s, the Irgun and the League for a Free Palestine, with the support of leading cultural figures in the U.S., led an impressive public relations campaign that had Broadway theater at its heart, fundraising for a violent Zionist revolt against British rule.