USA

John Spiller surveys race relations in the United States during Reconstruction and constructs a balance sheet.

The careers of the three Kennedy brothers defined the politics of America in the 1960s, a decade that began amid vigour and optimism and ended in scandal and cynicism. Yet still they fascinate, writes Tim Stanley.

Richard Cavendish recalls the slave liberation movement in 19th-century Kansas.

Andrew Boxer traces the assimilation policies, indigenous rights, and the changing relationship between the US government and Native Americans.

Richard Cavendish explains how, on September 12th, 1959, the Soviet Union launched Luna 2, the first spacecraft to successfully reach the Moon.

In 1969 men set foot on the Moon for the first time. The Apollo space programme that put them there was the product of an age of optimism and daring very different from our own, argues André Balogh.

Richard Cavendish remembers the capture and slaying of the definitive American gangster on July 22nd 1934.

Mark Bryant looks at the lampooning of two hugely unpopular measures imposed during the administrations of two of the United States’ most distinguished presidents.

John Swift examines a vital element of the Cold War and assesses the motives of the Superpowers.

Richard Cavendish remembers the first Native American hero, who died on 17 February 1909.