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Open Letters Review

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Open Letters Review

Open Letters Review

An Arts & Literature Review

Open Letters Review

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May 17, 2025

Boccaccio by Marco Santagata

May 17, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Boccaccio by Marco Santagata

An authoritative biography of the author of The Decameron

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May 17, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Boccaccio, Marco Santagata, Emlyn Eisenach, biography, literary biography
May 16, 2025

Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

May 16, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Mark Twain by Ron Chernow

The celebrated biographer publishes an enormous book about Mark Twain

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May 16, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Mark Twain, Ron Chernow, biography, American biography, literary biography
May 15, 2025

Horace: Poet on a Volcano by Peter Stothard

May 15, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Horace: Poet on a Volcano by Peter Stothard

An invigorating new biography of the great Roman poet Horace

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May 15, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Horacde, Horace, ancient Rome, Horace: Poet on a Volcano, Peter Stothard, biography, ancient biography
May 14, 2025

The Price of Victory by N. A. M. Rodger

May 14, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Price of Victory by N. A. M. Rodger

The author’s monumental three-volume history of the British Navy concludes

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May 14, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
N. A. M. Rodger, The Price of Victory, history, British hisory, Naval history, WWII
May 12, 2025

The Queen's Musician by Martha Jean Johnson

May 12, 2025/ Janet Wertman
The Queen's Musician by Martha Jean Johnson

A novel about the doomed musician caught up in the downfall of Anne Boleyn

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May 12, 2025/ Janet Wertman/
The Queen's Muscian, Martha Jean Johnson, Mark Smeaton, Tudor fiction, Tudor history, Tudor England, historical fiction
May 11, 2025

Twist by Colum McCann

May 11, 2025/ Tom LeClair
Twist by Colum McCann

A review of the new book from novelist Colum McCann

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May 11, 2025/ Tom LeClair/
Twist, Colum McCann, fiction, contemporary fiction
May 10, 2025

Scorched Earth by Paul Thomas Chamberlin

May 10, 2025/ David Murphy
Scorched Earth by Paul Thomas Chamberlin

A gripping and iconoclastic new history of the Second World War

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May 10, 2025/ David Murphy/
Scorched Earth, Paul Thomas Chamberlin, Second World War history, WWII, WWII history
May 03, 2025

King Tyrant by Mark Witton

May 03, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
King Tyrant by Mark Witton

A wonderfully-illustrated book on the most famous dinosaur of them all

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May 03, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
King Tyrant, Tyrannosaurus Rex, Mark Witton, dinosaurs, paleobiology, T rex, nature, natural history
May 02, 2025

Dickens the Enchanter by Peter Conrad

May 02, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Dickens the Enchanter by Peter Conrad

A worshipful new account of the genius of Charles Dickens

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May 02, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Dickens the Enchanter, Peter Conrad, Charles Dickens, literary criticism, literary biography
May 01, 2025

Pompey the Great by Lee Frantanuono

May 01, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Pompey the Great by Lee Frantanuono

A new biography of ancient Rome’s famed military wunderkind

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May 01, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Lee Frantanuono, Pompey the Great, Pompey the Great: The Roman Alexander, Alexander the Great, history, Roman history, ancient Rome
April 27, 2025

The Einstein Vendetta

April 27, 2025/ Joe Spivey
The Einstein Vendetta

The true story of a Nazi-era murder

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April 27, 2025/ Joe Spivey/
The Einstein Vendetta, Thomas Harding, WWII history, history
April 24, 2025

Forgotten Vikings by Alex Harvey

April 24, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Forgotten Vikings by Alex Harvey

A new book excavates the kinder, gentler side of Vikings

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April 24, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Forgotten Vikings, Alex Harvey, Vikings, Viking history, history
April 17, 2025

The Cherokees in War and Peace by David Narrett

April 17, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Cherokees in War and Peace by David Narrett

A magisterial new history of the destruction of the great Cherokee nations

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April 17, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
The Cherokees in War and Peace, Cherokees, Native American history, US history, David Narrett
April 12, 2025

Lower than the Angels by Diarmaid MacCulloch

April 12, 2025/ Aaron Kyereh-Mireku
Lower than the Angels by Diarmaid MacCulloch

A great historian of Christianity explores the intersections of faith and sex

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April 12, 2025/ Aaron Kyereh-Mireku/
Diarmaid MacCulloch, Lower than the Angels, Christianity, sex, Christian history, European history, religion
April 10, 2025

Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor

April 10, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Turning to Birds by Lili Taylor

Actress Lili Taylor recounts some of her adventures with birds

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April 10, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Turning to Birds, Lili Taylor, nature, nature writing, birds
April 06, 2025

Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake

April 06, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Gifted & Talented by Olivie Blake

The new novel from the author of “The Atlas Six”

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April 06, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Gifted & Talented, Olivie Blake, fiction, contemporary fiction
April 02, 2025

The Scientist and the Serial Killer by Lise Olsen

April 02, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
The Scientist and the Serial Killer by Lise Olsen

The quest to identify the last victims of one of America’s worst serial killers

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April 02, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
The Scientist and the Serial Killer, Lise Olsen, Dean Corll, Candyman, serial killer, crime, true crime, American history
April 01, 2025

Swept Away by Beth O'Leary

April 01, 2025/ Joe Spivey
Swept Away by Beth O'Leary

A review of Beth O’Leary’s new romance novel

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April 01, 2025/ Joe Spivey/
Swept Away, Beth O'Leary, fiction
March 29, 2025

Speeches & Writing of John Quincy Adams in Library of America

March 29, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Speeches & Writing of John Quincy Adams in Library of America

A well-annotated new collection of the writings of John Quincy Adams

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March 29, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
David Waldstreicher, Library of America, John Quincy Adams, American literature
March 28, 2025

Birds, Sex, and Beauty by Matt Ridley

March 28, 2025/ Steve Donoghue
Birds, Sex, and Beauty by Matt Ridley

Darwin’s “Descent of Man” goes to the hottest bird-dating spots in the world

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March 28, 2025/ Steve Donoghue/
Birds Sex & Beauty, birdsd, Birds, nature, nature writing, Matt Ridley, Darwin
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Editors:

Steve Donoghue
Sam Sacks
Britta Böhler
____________________

Eric Karl Anderson
Olive Fellows
Jack Hanson
Jennifer Helinek
Justin Hickey
Hannah Joyner
Zach Rabiroff
Jessica Tvordi

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