"If I give you a copy of my book," I said to Henry Kissinger two months ago, "which chapter will you read first?" "I will look myself up in the index," he replied in that voice that sounded like a cement mixer on the blink, "and start there."

Everything happens faster in the future, it’s been said. Lately that feels true: It’s as if we’re speed-running through chapters of European antisemitism.

Elon Musk celebrated his 44th birthday in July 2015 at a three-day party thrown by his wife at a California wine country resort dotted with cabins.