Two ambitious new books—one on the Saudi-Iranian rivalry since 1979, another on the cleric who mentored Osama bin Laden—trace the upheavals that have shaped the modern Middle East.

A new book by Zena Hitz argues that the pursuit of truth is necessarily a social affair.

Is the highest court in the land prone to judicial activism, or antidemocratic overreach? Not so, says Keith Whittington, in a useful new history that confounds partisan narratives on both sides.

From Moscow and Budapest to Brasília and Washington, a network of far-right cranks is attempting to remake the global order. They haven’t gotten very far.

A new memoir by George Scialabba, an unsung giant of criticism, is a gripping portrait of life under the spell of depression—and also a model of true intellectual inquiry.

Is China a rising threat to be confronted boldly, or a manageable problem to be handled patiently? Four new studies offer ammunition for both sides of the debate.

A new book by Monika Zgustova brings the harrowing, heartbreaking history of the Soviet Gulag’s female prisoners to life.

The 1950 classic All About Eve vividly showcases both what Hollywood pretends to be and what it actually is—a contrast that couldn’t be timelier.

For Jews, this is the perennial question. A new book explores how Jewish communities around the world are navigating it.

Miles Davis’s classic jazz-rock hybrid, now celebrating its 50^th anniversary, still has the capacity to astound—and to remind us what real artistic risk-taking looks like.