The Master of Confessions

Thierry Cruvellier

An Eichmann in Jerusalem for the Khmer Rouge, Thierry Cruvellier’s The Master of Confessions is a harrowing account of the trial of Duch, director of the regime’s most brutal prison. Cruvellier paints…

About Time

Vahram Muratyan

Take it, make it, lose it, have it, kill it, spend it, save it, forget it, break it, set it, repeat it, keep it. Time flies like never before, yet time crawls.This may be your first time, your last, o…

The Billions of Dollars of Léon Robillard

Vincent Malone

We’ve all received spam from an obscure African prince promising us a million dollars if we can just wire him some money for a visa, or a banker informing us we inherited a fortune from a long lost co…

The Incredible Journey of Childhood

Philippe Presles

At the age of five or six, something incredible happens: a transition wherein children become aware of themselves, of the passage of time and their own mortality. This moment is what psychologist Phil…

Wise Quacks

Jean-Christophe Royer

Wise Quacks is a photo album of rural scenes with captions. The author attributes thoughts and dialogue not only to the men and women in the photos, but also to the animals and plants. The contrast be…

How Iceland Bounced Back

Pascal Riche

Iceland’s incredible and improbable economic turnaround has become the stuff of legend. Many attribute the country’s success to its adoption of draconian reforms: rejection of capitalism, nationalizat…

Goya: The Dark Side of the Enlightenment

Tzvetan Todorov

In an erudite, clear, and concise essay, Todorov paints the portrait of eighteenth century Spanish artist Francisco Goya. He highlights his impact within his own era, while underscoring how the artist…

Three Days in Nepal

JeanDavid Blanc

As a child, JeanDavid Blanc always dreamt of flying. A successful entrepreneur, he took up powered paragliding as soon as he had the means; at the drop of a hat, he would head off to experience the un…

Thomas Ades: Full of Noises

Tom Service

A Woman’s Heart

Danièle Hermann

Heart attacks, strokes, and high cholesterol are thought to be predominantly male health issues. But the statistics show that in the past decade heart disease has become the primary cause of death for…