FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Anne Applebaum’s Autocracy, Inc.

From the Pulitzer-prize winning author, an alarming account of how autocracies work together to undermine the democratic world, and how we should organize to defeat them.   i The Greed That Binds In the summer of 1967, Austrian and West German capitalists from the gas and steel industries met a group of Soviet communists in

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FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Elizabeth Kolbert’s Life on a Little-Known Planet

“To be a well-informed citizen of Planet Earth,” Rolling Stone has advised, “you need to read Elizabeth Kolbert.” From her National Magazine Award-winning series The Climate of Man to her Pulitzer Prize-winning book The Sixth Extinction, Kolbert’s work has shaped the way we think about the environment in the twenty-first century. Collected in Life on a Little-Known Planet are her most

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Video Games Are a Playful Way to Guide Students to Unlock Meaning in Literature

By approaching games as texts, teachers can foster the mindset students need to appreciate great literature. By Matthew Farber   Teachers have long embraced the power of books to spark curiosity, empathy, and critical thinking in young readers. From picture books to novels, literature invites students to make meaning, form personal connections, and explore complex ideas.

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FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Ha Jin’s Looking for Tank Man

A Harvard student from China discovers the fraught, hidden history of the Tiananmen Square massacre in this powerful novel of protest and suppression from the National Book Award–winning author.   1 In the fall of 2008, my sophomore year at Harvard, China’s premier came to visit and gave a speech. Urged by the officials of

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Our 76th National Book Awards Winner: Omar El Akkad’s One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This, and Finalists

On the night of November 19, 2025, the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization, announced the winners of the 76th National Book Awards, which celebrate the best literature published in the United States. Presented from Cipriani Wall Street in New York City, and livestreamed for readers everywhere, the ceremony was hosted by Jeff Hiller, Emmy Award–winning actor, comedian,

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FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from J. Malcolm Garcia’s Alabama Village

From the celebrated writer J. Malcolm Garcia, a narrative nonfiction account of a forgotten Alabama neighborhood through intimate, tender, and gritty profiles of its people as they navigate immense loss and an unassailable determination to overcome their circumstances.   Overture December 2020. A friend calls and tells me about a feature story he saw on PBS about

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FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Colin Woodard’s Nations Apart

The bestselling author of American Nations reveals how centuries-old regional differences have brought American democracy to the brink of collapse and presents a powerful story that can bridge our cultural divisions and save the republic.   Introduction Democratic collapses, like bankruptcies, happen gradually and then all at once. So do collapses of countries. Americans are experienc­ing what

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FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Daniel Stone’s American Poison

From the national bestselling author of The Food Explorer comes the untold story of Alice Hamilton, a trailblazing doctor and public health activist who took on the booming auto industry—and the deadly invention of leaded gasoline, which would poison millions of people across America.   1 Alice Hamilton in 1915. Cambridge, Massachusetts, 1919 For as long as

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FROM THE PAGE: An excerpt from Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor’s Solidarity

From renowned organizers and activists Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, comes the first in-depth examination of Solidarity—not just as a rallying cry, but as potent political movement with potential to effect lasting change. A Dayton Literary Peace Prize Finalist   Introduction In 1969, an ambitious and zealous political operative named Kevin Phillips published a book

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Do You Teach Comparative Literature?

You can search for books across this discipline through our course lists, which include Environmental Literature, Disability Literature, Immigrant and Refugee Literature, Native American Fiction, Graphic Non-fiction, and Science Fiction.   Environmental Literature Disability Literature   Immigrant and Refugee Literature   Native American Fiction   Graphic Non-fiction Science Fiction  

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