Web Reads: How historical figures really looked, abortion stories, and the best books

This week’s selection of interesting reads from around the web:

In living color. Does colorizing historical photographs help modern viewers connect to them? Dana Keller thinks so. The graduate student meticulously adds color to photos of Winston Churchill, Abraham Lincoln, and others.

One nation, divisible. Using historical migration patterns and other cultural factors, Colin Woodard describes the 11 nations that make up the United States, including Yankeedom, Greater Appalachia, and the Deep South, and shows how those divisions continue to define attitudes toward issues like guns and size of government.

Must-reads. Readers and fans of lists will enjoy The Observer’s list of the 100 best novels written in English. The list, which rolls out over 100 weeks, is an update of a 2003 list compiled by critic Robert McCrum. He includes an essay on each novel. Here is his essay on Gulliver’s Travels.

First-hand accounts. Twenty-six women tell their abortion stories. Pro-lifers are unsympathetic characters in most of these accounts, but so are many boyfriends and abortion clinic staff members.