On the brink of nuclear war, America’s bold response to the Soviet Union depended on an unknown spy agency operative.

George von Bothmer reported a violent home invasion by two men wielding guns and shouting death threats. Things only got weirder from there.

Finland shares an 833-mile border with an aggressive and unpredictable neighbor––Russia. North of the Arctic Circle, the author trained with the elite soldiers who will be on the front lines if this cold feud ever gets hot.

On the eve of the Civil War, a nightmare at sea turned into one of the greatest rescues in maritime history. More than a century later, a rookie treasure hunter went looking for the lost ship—and found a different kind of ruin.

Relations between two ice cream vendors in Oregon turn nasty.

Magicians, mafiosos, a missing painting and the heist of a lifetime.

How seven Italian scientists came to be convicted of manslaughter following a catastrophic quake.

A painter’s dogged, doomed pursuit of the perfect $100 bill.

The impact, both on researchers and patients, of a radical treatment.

On riding China’s Qinghai-Tibet Railway just before it opened:

Staring out at the shimmering tracks and concrete-reinforced embankment extending to the horizon, I can’t help but think of the senior Chinese scientist who confessed to me that the rail line he helped build might not be safe for long.