Milan Kundera's new collection of essays is a passionate defense of art in an era that, he argues, no longer values art or beauty. Art is what we possess in the face of evil and the darker side of human nature. With the same mix of emotion and idea that characterizes his novels, Kundera revisits the artists who remain important to him and whose works help us better understand the world we live in and what it means to be human. An astute reader of...

A collection of poems by award-winning author Marie Ponsot, including new poems, previously unpublished work, and selections from four earlier books.

"A captivating study of US state secrecy that examines how officials use it to hoard power and prevent meaningful public oversight. The United States was founded on the promise of a transparent government, but time and again we have abandoned the ideals of our open republic. In recent history, we have permitted ourselves to engage in costly wars, opened ourselves to preventable attacks, and ceded unaccountable power to officials both elected and unelected....