CURRENT ISSUE

January 2009

Features

Samarra Rises

In 2006, sectarian violence engulfed Iraq after terrorists destroyed the mosque of the golden dome, built on a site sacred to Shiites for 1,100 years. Today, Sunnis and Shiites are working together to restore the shrine and the war-torn city

Joshua Hammer

President Lincoln with officers at the Battle of Antietam

Commander in Chief

A self-taught strategist with no combat experience, Lincoln saw the path to victory more clearly than his generals

James M. McPherson

a salt-making site at the village of Teguidda-n-Tessoumt in arid northern Niger

Winging It

Dangling from a paraglider with a propeller on his back, photographer George Steinmetz gets a new perspective on Africa

Abigail Tucker

Alisha Bacoccini is undergoing experimental gene therapy

Gene Therapy in a New Light

A husband-and-wife team's experimental genetic treatment for blindness is renewing hopes for a controversial field of medicine

Jocelyn Kaiser

The Spotted Owl's New Nemesis

An epic battle between environmentalists and loggers left much of the bird's habitat protected. Now the celebrity species faces a new threat—a tougher owl

Craig Welch

Night Visions

For Vincent Van Gogh, fantasy and reality merged after dark in some of his most enduring works, as a new exhibition reminds us

Paul Trachtman

80-square-mile Hobet 21 mine near Danville, West Virginia

Mining the Mountains

Explosives and giant machines are increasingly destroying Appalachian peaks to obtain coal. Opponents say the practice kills forests, threaten tourism and damages human health. One operation looms over a tiny West Virginia town, where residents and the industry are fighting over mining the mountain

John McQuaid