Reza Aslan,"How To Read the Quran," Slate, 20 November, reviews a new English translation of the Quran by Tarif Khalidi of the American University of Beirut.

Roberta Smith,"Eternal Objects of Desire," NYT, 20 November, reviews"Art and Love in Renaissance Italy," an exhibit at the Metropolitan Museum in New York City.

peacay,"Five Centuries of Board Games," BibliOdyssey, 19 November, is the latest offering by the winner of the first Cliopatria Award for Best New Blog.

Martin Vander Weyer reviews Niall Ferguson's The Ascent of Money: A Financial History of the World for the Telegraph, 20 November.

Geoffrey Wheatcroft,"Little Britain," NYT, 21 November, reviews Piers Brendon's The Decline and Fall of the British Empire, 1781-1997.

Charles McGrath,"Looking at Lincoln Through a Prism of War," NYT, 21 November, reviews James McPherson's Tried by War: Abraham Lincoln as Commander in Chief.

Thomas Sugrue,"It's not the bus: it's us," LRB, 20 November, reviews Louis Masur's The Soiling of Old Glory: The Story of a Photograph that Shocked America.