Inventing sex

The sexual revolution seems a part of the gale that blew through the country in the 1960s, but in fact all its catalysts were in place by the end of the fifties. Like every revolution, it tapped into great historical tides, but also like every revolution, it was the work of individual men and women. And so when David Halberstam came to chart its course in his big new book on the 1950s, he chose to do so through the biographies of some of those who brought it about. We offer a preview.

Ruffian

“There was a miraculous and all-conquering horse,” writes Gene Smith, “a filly, not a colt, who in nine out of ten races broke or equaled speed records that had stood for years and decades.” What made her great destroyed her, and millions saw her brought down at the peak of her glory. “She had done what no horse had ever done and was buried where no horse was ever buried.” Smith recalls the heartbreaking epic of the greatest filly—and perhaps the greatest horse—that ever lived.

Friends at twilight

Thomas Jefferson and John Adams were bitter enemies for years after the Revolution. But then in their last years they began an extraordinary reconciliatory correspondence that defined them—and us—as Americans.

Plus…

Comics that were good for you: the rise and fall of Classics Illustrated … 150 years of the Oregon Trail… and, with a vernal generosity that matches nature’s own, more.