Sheri Berman, "The Conservative as Elitist," NYT, 7 October, reviews Corey Robin's The Reactionary Mind: Conservatism From Edmund Burke to Sarah Palin. Robin replies to Berman's negative review at his blog.

Justin Fox, "How the Dismal Science Stopped Being Dismal," NYT, 7 October, reviews Sylvia Nasar's Grand Pursuit: The Story of Economic Genius.

Howard Brick reviews Michael Kazin's American Dreamers: How the Left Changed a Nation for the Washington Post, 7 October.

"The Nudes of Degas," Daily Beast, 8 October, is a slide show from "Degas and the Nude," an exhibit at Boston's Museum of Fine Arts.

Dave Gilson, "Octopi Wall Street!" Mother Jones, 6 October, tracks the cartoonists' use of the cephalopod imagery. See also: "Vulgar Army: Octopus in Propaganda and Political Cartoons"

Gene Santoro, "The Mysterious Serial Killer Who Terrified Nazi-Occupied Paris," NYT, 7 October, reviews David King's Death in the City of Light: The Serial Killer of Nazi-Occupied Paris.

In the 50th anniversary year of the book's publication, The American Conservative convenes a symposium on Jane Jacobs's The Death and Life of Great American Cities.

Max Boot, "The War Over the Vietnam War," WSJ, 4 October, reviews Lewis Sorley's Westmoreland: The General Who Lost Vietnam.

Gerard DeGroot reviews Steven Pinker's The Better Angels of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined for the Washington Post, 7 October. Daisy Banks interviews "Steven Pinker on the Decline of Violence," The Browser, 7 October, for his recommendation of five crucial books on the subject.