Europe's most civilised institution was, the story goes, founded on what an army left behind when it ran. Picture the scene the legend insists upon: it is September 1683, the Ottoman host that had spent two months at the gates of Vienna has just been broken on the...
Right before an election, every government discovers a sudden, heartfelt passion for spending money. Roads that languished for a decade are paved in a month. Clinics announced years ago are suddenly opened with ribbon, scissors, and a camera crew. Wages are nudged up,...
Before America could fall for great coffee, someone had to walk into the country and tell it, plainly, that the coffee it loved was bad. That someone was a Dutch immigrant with a roaster's nose and a low tolerance for nonsense, and the line history keeps attributing...