East 31

This issue sees east head south. Wojciech Jagielski traces the history of the windy prison island where Nelson Mandela was once held captive while Donata Columbrowrites about Burkina Faso,a laboratory racial and religious co-existence. This issue also marks an editorial turning point for the magazine. We’ll now be publishing six times a week instead of five. Time and your feedback will tell us if we did the right thing.

As a result of the change, we’ve decided to produce a somewhat unorthodox issue. We focus on special reports and travel pieces, maintaining only two of our regular features, namely “Out of This World” and “Recommended Reading.” We also purchased the rights to three reports we hope you’ll enjoy. The first one, by Robert Fisk of London’s “The Independent,” examines the secrets of Middle Eastern cuisine.The second is by William Butler of “The Guardian,” who takes a look at wild nights in otherwise virtuous Dubai.Finally, we publish period piece travelogue about Turkey written by Lady Mary Montagu, an English noblewoman who lived between the late 17th and early-18thcenturies.

Once again, you’ll be the judge about the wisdom of our choices One thing is certain: They’re interesting and easy-to-read, which makes them ideal for summer.
Credit is due to Monika Bulaj,aPolish anthropologist and photojournalist, for both our cover shot and an insider photo essay on Afghanistan. Monika just returned from that war-torn nation, where she lived for three months under extremely harsh conditions. Her photos, which reflect her unusually strong spiritual bent, give you insight into a country markedly different from the one offered up by television, daily newspapers, and even the web. Seeing is believing.