In the 19th century, an unlikely man ignited a movement to protect animals from mistreatment

'Traitor to His Species" tells the story of Henry Bergh, who believed that when we abuse animals, we also harm ourselves. He was accused of 'benevolent balderdash,' but his ideas live on.

When the sun never set on the British Empire and London never slept

Simon Heffer's encyclopedic book about Victorian and Edwardian England offers a fascinating perspective on the present.

Bedside table: The classic novel, and its author, reimagined

In helping her daughter bloom, a mother changed perceptions of autism

Clara Park successfully challenged the idea that "refrigerator" moms caused the condition.

Bedside Table: New friendships in the Scottish countryside, depicted with gentleness and warmth

In ‘Margreete’s Harbor,’ midcentury America’s social upheavals reach coastal Maine

Major social and political movements of the 1950s and ’60s steer Eleanor Morse’s minutely observed multigenerational family saga.

Bedside Table: A 100-plus-year-old book proves illuminating

A grandmother, mother and daughter are trapped in a cabin by a violent sociopath

In Jen Waite's first novel, the scary setup allows many family secrets to be revealed. And the tension ratchets up and up.

Wrestling with the strategy – and morality – of the firebombing of Japan

A single raid on Tokyo on a March 1945 night, led to a fire that killed 100,000 people.

A hotel for ambitious women and their New York dreams

Immortalized by Sylvia Plath, the Barbizon offered liberation, writes Paulina Bren.