Almost heaven: the adaptable American suburb …

More Americans now live in suburbs than in cities and rural areas combined. And much as the character of the suburb has changed through the years, the dream remains the same: Rural Bliss, far from the city’s madding crowds. For this Americans have commuted by horse, steamboat, trolley car, railroad, and automobile for more than a century. Professor John R. Stilgoe tells the whole story.

The bitter triumph at Ia Drang …

It was here that American troops in 1965 fought the first major battle against regular North Vietnamese forces. They won this and every other battle; they won everything except the war. Harry G. Summers, Jr., of the Army War College explains how the seeds of our ultimate defeat in Vietnam were sown in the victory at Ia Drang.

Bravo Caruso! …

When he first came, the Met’s new manager wasn’t sure he wanted him, but the great tenor went on to a success unequaled to this day. He loved America and particularly New York. It was here that he lived, sang, ate enormously, dressed magnificently, and was arrested for molesting a woman at the zoo. John Kobler explains how he managed to do all this.

Plus …

George Orwell’s America … magnificent flower paintings… the rise of Rosie the Riveter, told by Herself … and, as ever, much more.