Harper's Finest

The Town-Ho’s Story

From “THE WHALE.” The title of a new work by Mr. Melville, in the press of Harper and Brothers, and now publishing in London by Mr. Bentley. THE Cape of…

A nightly scene in London

by Charles Dickens,

O n the fifth of last November, I, accompanied by a friend well known to the public, accidently strayed into Whitechapel. It was a miserable evening; very dark, very muddy, and…

Two Christmas Mornings of the Great War

by Wilfrid Ewart,

Personal accounts of the Christmas frontline truces

In Praise of Idleness

by Bertrand Russell,

LIKE most of my generation, I was brought up on the saying “Satan finds some mischief still for idle hands to do.” Being a highly virtuous child, I believed all…

What the Young Man Should Know

by Robert Littell,

GLANCING out of the window, I can see the subject — and eventual victim — of this inquiry, dangerously perched in the crotch of an old chestnut tree, about fifteen feet above…

Who Goes Nazi?

by Dorothy Thompson,

It is an interesting and somewhat macabre parlor game to play at a large gathering of one’s acquaintances: to speculate who in a showdown would go Nazi. By now, I…

The Master of the Murder Castle

by John Bartlow Martin,

A classic of Chicago crime

Subways Are for Sleeping

by Edmund G. Love,

This article by Edmund G. Love (obituary), published in the March 1956 issue, was subsequently turned into a production by the CBS Radio Workshop (7.3 Mb MP3), a book, and…

The Coming Ice Age

by Betty Friedan,

A true scientific detective story

The Decline of Book Reviewing

by Elizabeth Hardwick,

The fates of authors and publishers — not to mention the reading public — depend on book reviews — but who reviews the reviewers? Miss Hardwich undertakes one of the few thorough critiques…

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

by Richard Hofstadter,

It had been around a long time before the Radical Right discovered it—and its targets have ranged from “the international bankers” to Masons, Jesuits, and munitions makers. American politics has…

The Old Man

by Larry L. King,

While we digested our suppers on The Old Man’s front porch, his grandchildren chased fireflies in the summer dusk and, in turn, were playfully chased by neighborhood dogs. As always,…

Young Minds at Play

by Maurice Sendak,

These images, part of a Collection called The Child’s Mind that ran in the April 1978 issue of Harper’s Magazine, accompanied an essay by Brian Sutton-Smith. listening to small stories We…

The Tedium Twins

by Alexander Cockburn,

Tonight: Are there two sides to every question? Back to you, Jim.

Written in the Big Wind

by Bob Shacochis,

Hurricanes spell doom for coastal development

Driving Mr. Albert

by Michael Paterniti,

A trip across America with Einstein

Scent of a Woman’s Ink

by Francine Prose,

Are women writers really inferior?

The Radioactive Boy Scout

by Ken Silverstein,

When a teenager attempts to build a breeder reactor

The Road to Babylon

by Lewis H. Lapham,

Searching for targets in Iraq

Jesus Plus Nothing

by Jeff Sharlet,

Undercover among America’s secret theocrats

Harper’s Finest

The Town-Ho’s Story

A nightly scene in London

Two Christmas Mornings of the Great War

In Praise of Idleness

What the Young Man Should Know

Who Goes Nazi?

The Master of the Murder Castle

Subways Are for Sleeping

The Coming Ice Age

The Decline of Book Reviewing

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

The Old Man

Young Minds at Play

The Tedium Twins

Written in the Big Wind

Driving Mr. Albert

Scent of a Woman’s Ink

The Radioactive Boy Scout

The Road to Babylon

Jesus Plus Nothing

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Harper’s Finest

From the Archive

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The Town-Ho’s Story

A nightly scene in London

Two Christmas Mornings of the Great War

In Praise of Idleness

What the Young Man Should Know

Who Goes Nazi?

The Master of the Murder Castle

Subways Are for Sleeping

The Coming Ice Age

The Decline of Book Reviewing

The Paranoid Style in American Politics

The Old Man

Young Minds at Play

The Tedium Twins

Written in the Big Wind

Driving Mr. Albert

Scent of a Woman’s Ink

The Radioactive Boy Scout

The Road to Babylon

Jesus Plus Nothing

March 2003

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