Like most people, I rarely take the time to compliment what I enjoy, waiting instead until there is something to complain of. But today I break with a long-standing tradition to say how thrilled I am to see the return of “The Time Machine” in the September issue.

For years it was the first thing I turned to when the latest American Heritage arrived—short little “exercise” pieces to get my brain ready for the feature articles. The latter teach me about the “important stuff” in history; “The Time Machine” and “American Characters” tell me about what mattered to people.