COVER

The Death of French Culture (Europe | France)

The land of Proust, Monet, Piaf and Truffaut has lost its status as a cultural superpower. Can it regain its glory?

POSTCARD FROM

Postcard: Panama

A bitter dispute over a wealthy American's will has become a metaphor for this nation's big divide. Inside the fight for $50 million

LETTERS

Sibling Science (Inbox)

Marital Misery; An Expat's Lament; Green Crusaders

GLOBAL ADVISER

Stairway to Heaven (Diversions)

A tercentennial face-lift for London's fanciest retailer

The Spice of Hanoi (TIME Traveler)

Visit Vietnam's capital for a cosmopolitan mélange of Chinese temples, French colonial architecture and American consumerism

Tubular Belles (Tech Watch)

Reinvented tube amps give your audio equipment the fuller, smoother sounds of the past