CURRENT ISSUE

November 2008

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Features

Giraffes

Looking Up

In desolate Niger, wild giraffes are making a comeback despite having to compete for resources with some of the world's poorest people

Gobekli Tepe

The World's First Temple?

Predating Stonehenge by 6,000 years, Turkey's stunning Gobekli Tepe upends the conventional view of the rise of civilization

Children in Seoul in the winter of 1950-1951

One Man's Korean War

Reporter John Rich's color photographs, seen for the first time after more than half a century, offer a vivid glimpse of the "forgotten" conflict

Star-Spangled Banner

Banner Days

The flag that Francis Scott Key saw flying over Fort McHenry was loved almost to death. Now, after a decade's conservation, the Star-Spangled Banner returns to its place of honor on the National Mall

Medieval wall gate

Munich at 850

The livable, culture-crazy, beer-loving capital of Bavaria is coming to terms with its history

Departments

Indelible Images

Curious Perspective

Robert Frank's book The Americans changed photography. Fifty years on, it still unsettles

From the Editor

Standing Tall

Niger's giraffes and our 16th president

Letters to the Editor

Letters

Readers Respond to the September Issue

Points of Interest

Points of Interest

Notable American Destinations and Happenings

Wild Things: Life as We Know It

Bats' barotrauma, fallow deer, Tahitian vanilla, lucky dinosaurs

From the Castle

History Ahead

A renovated National Museum of American History opens up American history and culture to millions of visitors

Around the Mall

Pieces of Our Past

History sleuths probe meaning of telltale American objects

Around the Mall

A Choir of Turkeys

Q&A

Q&A: Wanda Jackson

In the 1950s, Wanda Jackson was one of the first women to record rock 'n' roll.

Around the Mall

Silent Witness

What's Up

What's Up

Photographic keepsakes, garden paintings from the maharajahs and Fritz Scholder’s Indian identity on canvas

This Month in History

November Anniversaries

Momentous or Merely Memorable

The Last Page

Just Follow the Signs

Politicians made more sense when they relied on oracles and omens