From the Publisher: Sep 10 1990

Few tasks on a magazine are as important -- or difficult -- as choosing the image and words that appear on the cover. In a few seconds, they must interest the reader in the issue. The challenge is greatest when we deal with topics that are conceptual or, as is the case this week, when we return to a story , that has already been the subject of several covers. This is our fifth in a row on the crisis in the gulf, a record unmatched since the Korean War.

The responsibility for covers often falls on deputy art director Arthur...