Editor's Picks

This week, don’t miss a roadmap to saving America’s public high schools, a cartographer’s analysis of the Dark Ages, and a guide to coping with our most difficult emotions

By Jim Kelly

How do we go about making better citizens, Americans who know their history and the value of participating in our democracy? James Traub engagingly delivers the clear-eyed and persuasive answer: start with our high schools, and ideally by instilling a love of great books and the study of what constitutes character. To paraphrase Ralph Waldo Emerson, our goal should not be to be happy but to lead lives that are useful, honorable, and compassionate. Traub visits public schools across the country, interviewing teachers and students, most notably at what he calls the “classical school,” where Latin is taught and READ ON