This article is part of our Summer reads series. Visit the full collection for book lists, guest essays and more seasonal distractions. IN 1786 WILLIAM JONES, a British civil servant in Calcutta, told ...

Columnist, author, and linguist Richard Lederer spent about six months writing his latest book, “American History for Everyone.” That was a lot longer than it’s typically taken him to write his dozens ...

A key human characteristic is our ability to communicate through complex languages — about 7,000 of which are spoken around the world today. Understanding the origin and development of past and ...

Nearly a century ago, the historian Carter G. Woodson started a movement to teach Black history in America’s schools. First called Negro History Week and now Black History Month, it has been an oasis ...

Rachael Attwood does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond ...

A creative reset of modern African history, including a volume focused on the diaspora, has been released in three books to ...