I stumbled on this more-than-a-decade-old amazing trove of essays. Just reading the authors’ names is impressive.
They are essays written by great thinkers, writers, etc on “best” things of the past thousand years. I’ll cut and paste most of the essay titles and links here. I’ve only read a few so far, but I’ve loved each.
Sorry I haven’t reformatted much, but you can always go to the original site for the full treatment.
Eyes Wide Open
By Richard Powers
Every Dictator’s Nightmare
By Wole Soyinka
When Tristram Met Isolde
By Joyce Carol Oates
Best Magic Trick
By Teller
Video
Best Feat of Engineering
By David Macaulay
Best Nuisance
By Penelope Fitzgerald
Best Innovation in Painting
By Michael Kimmelman
Slide Show
Best Vision
By James Gleick
Slide Show
Best Species
By Edward O. Wilson
Best Building
By Herbert Muschamp
Best Shot
By Charles McGrath
Best Punctuation
By Alberto Manguel
Best Utopia
By Margaret Atwood
Best Port
By Jan Morris
Slide Show
Best Leader
By Gail Collins
Best Escape
By David Fromkin
Best Treaty
By Fareed Zakaria
Best Clown
By Wendy Wasserstein
Best Lawyer
By Bernhard Schlink
Best Sermon
By Peter J. Gomes
Audio
Narrate or Die
By A.S. Byatt
Audio
The Book That Killed Colonialism
By Pramoedya Ananta Toer
Morality Bites
By Elmore Leonard
Best Love Song
By Lorrie Moore
Audio
Best Pope
By A.N. Wilson
Best Sex Scandal
By Josephine Hart
Best Trial
By Scott Turow
Best View of the World
By Charles Johnson
Map
Best Revolution
By Alan Brinkley
Best Toy
By Stephen Mihm
Best Land Deal
By Ron Chernow
Best Town Square
By Vincent Scully
Best Naval Battle
By Patrick O’Brian
Best Fable
By Marina Warner
Best Musical Instrument
By Leon Botstein
Audio
Best Poem
By Helen Vendler
Best Come-
By Keith Olbermann
Everything in Its Place
By Oliver Sacks
How the Bean Saved Civilization
By Umberto Eco
Invention Is the Mother of Necessity
By Jared Diamond
Best Piano Composition
By Charles Rosen
Audio
Best Ergonomic Design
By David Gelernter
Slide Show
Best Tool
By Witold Rybczynski
Best Stage Comedy
By David Lodge
Best Mistake
By John Lukacs
Best Medical Insight
By Jerome Groopman
Best of Breed
By Caroline Knapp
Best Meal
By Ruth Reichl
Best Deception
By John Julius Norwich
Best Garden
By W.S. Merwin
Best Battle
By R.W. Apple Jr.
Best Game
By Paul Auster
Best Fashion
By Alison Lurie
