Roberto Abraham Scaruffi

Sunday reading on nybooks.com: William Dalrymple on the great spread of Indian civilization,Elizabeth Drew on three big threats to democratic elections, Priyamvada Natarajan on astronomical images and scientific discovery, Quentin Skinner on Machiavelli and political morality, Garry Wills on why the rich are scared of Pope Francis, and Michael Gorra on The House of Mirth.   THIS ISSUE SPONSORED BY DUKE UNIVERSITY PRESS

The Great and Beautiful Lost Kingdoms William Dalrymple From about 400 AD to 1200 AD, India was a large-scale and confident exporter of its civilization in all its forms, and the rest of Asia was the willing recipient.   ADVERTISEMENT   Big Dangers for the Next Election Elizabeth Drew While people are wasting time speculating about who will win the presidency in 2016, growing dangers to a democratic election, ones that could decide the outcome, are being essentially overlooked.   Revelations from Outer Space Priyamvada Natarajan Photographic images of the night sky taken from the earth and satellite images taken from space, looking back at earth as well as looking outward into the solar system and beyond, continue to be an important source of the public’s knowledge about the cosmos.   ADVERTISEMENT   What Should You Learn from Machiavelli? Quentin Skinner On this day in 1469, Niccolò Machiavelli was born in Florence. Here Quentin Skinner reviews Philip Bobbitt’s book The Garments of Court and Palace.   Who’s Afraid of Pope Francis? Garry Wills Something is looming that has billionaires shaking in their boots, and when Catholic billionaires shake, Catholic bishops get sympathetic shudders.   The Portrait of Miss Bart Michael Gorra One of the things that makes The House of Mirth so rewarding to read and to think about is that it touches in so many ways upon the intellectual currents of its day.