History

Keegan spent his life studying war, but he never fought in one and described himself as more or less a pacifist. The British military historian, who died last week at age 78, chronicled the history of warfare from Alexander the Great to the U.S. invasion of Iraq.

Ai Weiwei: Never Sorry follows the famous artist around the world as he repeatedly irks Chinese authorities with his art and political critiques. Fresh Air's John Powers says the documentary casts important light on the fight for greater freedom in China.

Reporter David Kirkpatrick, the Cairo bureau chief for The New York Times, reflects on his time reporting on the Arab Spring and discusses what the election of President Mohammed Morsi means for Egypt, the United States and Israel.

New Yorker reporter Dexter Filkins just returned from his latest reporting trip to Afghanistan. "The United States is leaving: mission not accomplished," he writes.

Brian Castner commanded two Explosive Ordnance Disposal units in Iraq, where his team disabled roadside IEDs and investigated the aftermath of roadside car bombings. He returned home a completely different man, which he details in his memoir, The Long Walk.

Summer is a trying time for introverts, what with the barbecues and the graduations and the picnics by the pool. If you'd always choose a good book over a good party, critic Maureen Corrigan has a list for you.

Pulitzer Prize-winning photojournalist Horst Faas, who captured iconic moments during the Vietnam War, has died. In 1997, he talked to Terry Gross about covering the conflict. "Being in Vietnam and being around a major story of the time was always a great shot of adrenaline," he said.

Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf was once the lead cleric associated with the proposed Islamic community center some critics called the "ground zero mosque." In his new book, Moving the Mountain, Rauf calls for moderate Muslims to step up and marginalize the voices of extremists.

Journalist Peter Bergen outlines the decade-long search for the al-Qaida leader in his new book Manhunt. Bergen is the only journalist to gain access to bin Laden's Abbottabad compound before it was razed by the Pakastani government.

Filmmaker Alastair Fothergill spent three years in Western Africa, following a group of wild chimps. His Disneynature film Chimpanzee showcases a baby chimp named Oscar and the relationships he develops within his clan.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, the New York City Police Department transformed itself into an aggressive domestic intelligence unit and monitored hundreds of Muslims in their mosques, workplaces and schools. Journalist Matt Apuzzo, who helped uncover the story, just won a Pulitzer Prize.

Nadine Gordimer has always incorporated political themes into her novels, but her latest work turns its sights toward the domestic sphere. In No Time Like the Present, a South African activist couple struggles to find happiness in a world of their own making.

Bitter debates about the national debt date back to the earliest days of the Republic, economist Simon Johnson says. Back then, the nation's failure to borrow was the problem. In White House Burning, Johnson and co-author James Kwack explore the meaning of the national debt and prospects for managing it.

Journalist Peter Beinart supports Israel but thinks the Jewish settlements in the West Bank are compromising Israel's commitment to democracy. He has proposed a boycott of goods made in those Jewish settlements.

Peter Beinart's new book, The Crisis of Zionism, argues that Israel cannot be a true democratic state as long as there are settlements in the West Bank and calls for a boycott of goods made in those settlements. Gary Rosenblatt, publisher of The Jewish Week of New York, disagrees with this argument.

The 1993 documentary The War Room, which offered a verity look behind the scenes of Bill Clinton's 1992 presidential campaign, has just been released on Criterion Blue-ray and DVD. Critic-at-large John Powers explains why the film was revelatory -- and why it could never be made today.

In his latest book, Pakistan on the Brink, journalist Ahmed Rashid writes that he fears Pakistan is on the verge of a "meltdown." Rashid explains some of the challenges facing the country, as well as the complicated relationship both Pakistan and Afghanistan have with the United States.

South African trumpeter and band leader Hugh Masakela has released more than 30 albums since his American debut in 1961. The concept behind his latest album, Jabulani, is deceptively simple. It's a collection of South African wedding songs with Masakela remembers vividly from his youth.

The Federal Reserve shrugged off warnings and let banks pay shareholders billions of dollars in dividends last years, despite warnings from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. ProPublica investigative reporter Jesse Eisinger says banks should have been forced to set aside the money as a rainy-day cushion.

Journalist Craig Timberg, the former Johannesburg bureau chief for The Washington Post, says international AIDS organizations working in Africa went off in the wrong direction in fighting the spread of HIV across the continent.