From the archives

The Trust Spiral

Restoring faith in the media

Tara Henley

Dear Prudence

A life of exuberance and eccentricity

Liam Lacey

Who’s Afraid of Alice Munro?

A long-awaited biography gives the facts, but not the mystery, behind this writer’s genius

Magdalene Redekop

Challenge to the West

How the Chinese examination system created the modern world.

Michael Szonyi

Michael Szonyi is an associate professor of Chinese history at Harvard University. His forthcoming book is Island on the Frontlines: Quemoy in the Cold War, 1949–1992.