The Reading Room

The Communist Manifesto, a Reading Room essay

On The Communist Manifesto

Michael Fowler

The Communist Manifesto is the most consequential pamphlet of the modern era after Common Sense, and it belongs on any honest shelf about the political idea, whatever you make of...

On The Communist Manifesto

Michael Fowler

The Communist Manifesto is the most consequential pamphlet of the modern era after Common Sense, and it belongs on any honest shelf about the political idea, whatever you make of...

Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant, a Reading Room essay

On Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant

Michael Fowler

It is the best memoir any American president has left, and it was written by a dying man against the clock. Ulysses S.

On Personal Memoirs of U. S. Grant

Michael Fowler

It is the best memoir any American president has left, and it was written by a dying man against the clock. Ulysses S.

The Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural, a Reading Room essay

On The Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural

Michael Fowler

The republic's purpose stated in 272 words, and then its conscience in 700.

On The Gettysburg Address and Second Inaugural

Michael Fowler

The republic's purpose stated in 272 words, and then its conscience in 700.

Team of Rivals, a Reading Room essay

On Team of Rivals

Michael Fowler

Doris Kearns Goodwin found a fresh way into the most written-about figure in American history by looking at the men around him.

On Team of Rivals

Michael Fowler

Doris Kearns Goodwin found a fresh way into the most written-about figure in American history by looking at the men around him.

The Broken Constitution, a Reading Room essay

On The Broken Constitution

Michael Fowler

Noah Feldman's The Broken Constitution, published in 2021, tells the story of how Abraham Lincoln broke the Constitution in order to save the country, and in doing so remade what...

On The Broken Constitution

Michael Fowler

Noah Feldman's The Broken Constitution, published in 2021, tells the story of how Abraham Lincoln broke the Constitution in order to save the country, and in doing so remade what...

Imagined Communities, a Reading Room essay

On Imagined Communities

Michael Fowler

Why are people willing to die for a nation, a thing they cannot see, made up overwhelmingly of strangers they will never meet? Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities, published in 1983,...

On Imagined Communities

Michael Fowler

Why are people willing to die for a nation, a thing they cannot see, made up overwhelmingly of strangers they will never meet? Benedict Anderson's Imagined Communities, published in 1983,...