History

Sankofa Time
Abena Ampofoa Asare writes about teaching Black history....
Abena Ampofoa AsareNov 30
- Education
- History
Nightmares of Reason: On Benjamín Labatut’s “The MANIAC”
Ed Simon reviews Benjamín Labatut’s newest book “The MANIAC.”...
Ed SimonNov 25
Unpacking Women’s Language: On Jenni Nuttall’s “Mother Tongue”
Katherine Turk reviews Jenni Nuttall’s “Mother Tongue: The Surprising History of Women’s Words.”...
Katherine TurkNov 15
- History
Leaving Your Lane: A Conversation with Lydia Otero
Tom Zoellner talks to Lydia Otero about her new account of a young adulthood in Los Angeles, “L.A. Interchanges: A Brown & Queer Archival Memoir”...
Tom ZoellnerNov 13
- History
- Memoir
History’s Final Verdict on Vichy France? On Julian Jackson’s “France on Trial”
John Reeves considers Julian Jackson’s “France on Trial: The Case of Marshal Pétain.”...
John ReevesNov 12
- History
The Bulgarian Computer’s Global Reach: On Victor Petrov’s “Balkan Cyberia”
Alex Langstaff calls “Balkan Cyberia: Cold War Computing, Bulgarian Modernization, and the Information Age Behind the Iron Curtain” a must-read for anyone interested in how the Iron Curtain was circumvented in the digital age....
Alex LangstaffNov 10
Thinking Was for Later; Movement Was for Now: On the Vortex Group’s “George Floyd Uprising”
Jamie Peck reviews “The George Floyd Uprising” by Vortex Group....
Jamie PeckNov 6
Shopgirl Pride: On Kate Flannery’s “Strip Tees”
Mariella Rudi reviews Kate Flannery’s “Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles.”...
Mariella RudiNov 2
- History
- Memoir
Acid’s First Convert, Cary Grant: On Edward J. Delaney’s “The Acrobat"
James Penner on Edward J. Delaney’s 2022 novel “The Acrobat."...
James PennerNov 2
- Fiction
- History
No Fap: A Cultural History of Anti-Masturbation
Aya Labanieh analyzes the history of the anti-masturbation NoFap movement, which has historical roots far beyond contemporary internet culture....
Aya LabaniehNov 1
- History
Not Only in America: On Benjamin D. Weber’s “American Purgatory”
Spencer J. Weinreich reviews Benjamin D. Weber’s “American Purgatory: Prison Imperialism and the Rise of Mass Incarceration.”...
Spencer J. WeinreichOct 28
- History
- Politics and Economics
Empress Elisabeth and the Archives of Anorexia
In a preview of the new LARB Quarterly, no. 39: “Air,” Meghan Racklin considers the life and imperfectly rendered image of Empress Elisabeth of Austria....
Meghan RacklinOct 20
The Diasporic Worlds of Panama’s West Indian Women: On Joan Flores-Villalobos’s “The Silver Women”
Nicolle Alzamora reviews Joan Flores-Villalobos’s “The Silver Women: How Black Women’s Labor Made the Panama Canal.”...
Nicolle AlzamoraOct 19
- History
Who Gets to Set the Research Agenda for the Planet? On Lorraine Daston’s “Rivals”
Deborah Coen pushes back against one part of Lorraine Daston’s “Rivals: How Scientists Learned to Cooperate” by arguing that what constitutes “success” is a matter of who is part of the scientific conversation (and who is not)—and thus a matter of standpoint....
Deborah R. CoenOct 17
Where Sables Roam: On Vladimir Arsenyev’s “Dersu Uzala” Trilogy
Noah Sparkes writes about Valdimir Arsenyev’s “Dersu Uzala” trilogy....
Noah SparkesOct 15
- History
After the Party: A Walking Tour of Manchester with Andy Spinoza
Chandler Dandridge takes a tour of Manchester with Andy Spinoza, author of “Manchester Unspun: Pop, Property, and Power in the Original Modern City.”...
Chandler DandridgeOct 10
- History
- Music
Crony Capitalism, 16th-Century Style: On Philip J. Stern’s “Empire, Incorporated”
Dinyar Patel reviews Philip J. Stern’s “Empire, Incorporated: The Corporations That Built British Colonialism.”...
Dinyar PatelOct 7
- History
The Struggle Continues: On Vincent Bevins’s “If We Burn”
Tyler McBrien reviews Vincent Bevins’s “If We Burn: The Mass Protest Decade and the Missing Revolution.”...
Tyler McBrienOct 3
Ostalgie: Revisiting East Germany
Does nostalgia for the old East Berlin come from a deeper longing for socialism?...
Matthew LongoOct 1
The Law-Breaking Supreme Court: On Stephen Vladeck’s “The Shadow Docket”
Andrew Koppelman reviews Stephen Vladeck’s “The Shadow Docket: How the Supreme Court Uses Stealth Rulings to Amass Power and Undermine the Republic.”...
Andrew KoppelmanSep 27
The Chinese Restaurant on Main Street, USA: On Zai Liang’s “From Chinatown to Every Town”
Weiling Deng considers Zai Liang’s “From Chinatown to Every Town: How Chinese Immigrants Have Expanded the Restaurant Business in the United States.”...
Weiling DengSep 23
A Fireball in the Marshall Islands: How a Nuclear Test Changed the World
Émile P. Torres describes how it was not the dropping of the atom bombs in 1945 but the testing of a nuclear bomb is the Marshall Islands in 1954 that marked the moment when people became preoccupied with human extinction....
Émile P. TorresSep 20
Globalizing China or Sinicizing the Global? On Alexander Statman’s “A Global Enlightenment” and Ali Humayun Akhtar’s “1368”
Gianamar Giovannetti-Singh reviews Alexander Statman’s “A Global Enlightenment: Western Progress and Chinese Science” and Ali Humayun Akhtar’s “1368: China and the Making of the Modern World.”...
Gianamar Giovannetti-SinghSep 17
- History
Weaponized Plumbing: On Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman’s “Underground Empire”
Krzysztof Pelc mostly agrees with Henry Farrell and Abraham L. Newman’s “Underground Empire: How America Weaponized the World Economy” but quibbles that it’s hard to draw the line between the peculiarly 21st-century type of influence they describe—which flows from fiber-optic cables, data centers, and dollar clearinghouses—and more conventional types of power....
Krzysztof PelcSep 13