The most crucial swing vote in the 2012 election may have been cast by the late Rachel Carson.

Each invention and new research into technological possibilities has its own story and we can now add to the best of them the latest and probably most compelling one of our time It is told in the book The Idea Factory by Jon Gertner a history of the Bell Telephone Laboratories mdash or Bell Labs

Peter Brown looks religious giving in early Christian society.

From Jill Lepore, historical excavations of our political traditions

The burqa makes the woman a wraith in our midst, depriving her of recognizable humanity.

Reinventing Bach is a curious and wonderful book delightful and challenging at the same time Among musicologists and classical music lovers Johann Sebastian Bach rsquo s place in the canon of western music is secure but what Paul Elie demonstrates is that Bach has a place much bigger than that