OCTOBER 1999 \| Volume 284 No. 4
	Beyond the Information Revolution The Industrial Revolution altered our mental maps, gave rise to industries that could not have been predicted, and created a new class of technological workers whom wise societies took pains to nurture. Are we about to go through this process again? A renowned social analyst and management philosopher looks to history for insights. by Peter F. Drucker
Poetry and American Memory The nation's poet laureate argues that the "supposed American lack of historical sense" is itself part of a national myth -- a myth exposed by America's most characteristic poetry. by Robert Pinsky
Lulu, Queen of the Camels The competitive ardor of Middle Eastern camel racing has made the camel an improbable focus of scientific investment. A young Englishwoman leads the field. by Cullen Murphy

Reports

Notes & Comment:
Four-Star Generalists
In a lackluster age for many of the liberal arts, the discipline of military history retains exceptional relevance.
by Robert D. Kaplan

Education:
The Rise of Jewish Schools
Support for public education used to be "a cornerstone of American Jewish ideology," the author observes. That cornerstone is beginning to crumble.
by Peter Beinart

Americana:
On the Big Road
A young truck driver displays a taste both for semiotics and for life in the hammer lane.
by Matthew Doherty

Fiction & Poetry

The Net
A poem
by Peter Harris

Morning
A poem
by Andreas Karavis
translated by David Solway

Closure and Roadkill on the Life's Highway
A short story
by William Gay

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Arts & Leisure

Travel:
Worth the Trip
"Good value" can have many meanings, depending on the circumstances and the eye of the beholder. Nine Atlantic contributors venture anecdotal definitions.

Music:
Old-New Bluegrass
Don't call it "newgrass" or "groovegrass." In his most recent work Steve Earle taps a style of bluegrass neither experimental nor frozen in the past.
by William Hogeland

Food:
The Sweet of the Sour
When it comes to vinegar, balsamic gets all the attention. It shouldn't.
by Corby Kummer

Radio:
Listening to Lydon
Christopher Lydon's The Connection shows just how intelligent talk radio can be.
by Bill McKibben

Books

The Holocaust and the Catholic Church
Hitler's Pope: The Secret History of Pius XII, by John Cornwell
by James Carroll

Brief Reviews
by Phoebe-Lou Adams

Other Departments

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Contributors

Letters
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The October Almanac

The Puzzler
by Emily Cox & Henry Rathvon

Word Improvisation
by J. E. Lighter