History

"Hegel was right when he said that we learn from history that man can never learn anything from history." — George Bernard Shaw

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, 2023
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, 2023
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, 2023
- 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, 2023
Feeling Politics: On D. Berton Emerson and Gregory Laski’s “Democracies in America”
Mark Eaton reviews “Democracies in America: Keywords for the Nineteenth Century and Today,” edited by D. Berton Emerson and Gregory Laski.
Mark EatonSep 10, 2023
- History
- Politics
North Korea on the Hudson: On Alexander Stille’s “The Sullivanians”
The history of an Upper West Side sex therapy cult isn’t what you think it will be, according to Dave Mandl’s review of Alexander Stille’s “The Sullivanians.”
Dave MandlSep 9, 2023
The Country of the Apocalypse: On George Black’s “The Long Reckoning”
Elaine Elinson reviews George Black’s “The Long Reckoning: A Story of War, Peace, and Redemption in Vietnam.”
Elaine ElinsonSep 9, 2023
- History
- Nonfiction
Thin Ice: On Uwe Wittstock’s “February 1933”
Historian Daniela Blei beautifully captures the essence of Uwe Wittstock’s newly translated “February 1933: The Winter of Literature.”
Daniela BleiSep 6, 2023
Why the 17th Century (Still) Matters: On Jonathan Healey’s “The Blazing World”
Ed Simon reviews Jonathan Healey’s “The Blazing World: A New History of Revolutionary England, 1603–1689.”
Ed SimonAug 31, 2023
- History
- Religion
Fact, Fiction, and the Father of the Bomb: On Christopher Nolan’s “Oppenheimer”
Alex Wellerstein assesses the depiction of J. Robert Oppenheimer in Christopher Nolan’s 2023 film.
Alex WellersteinAug 30, 2023
Salvaging a Soviet Jewish Literary Culture: On Marat Grinberg’s “The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf”
Yelena Furman reviews Marat Grinberg’s “The Soviet Jewish Bookshelf: Jewish Culture and Identity Between the Lines.”
Yelena FurmanAug 29, 2023
Misunderstood Musical Genius: On Harvey Sachs’s “Schoenberg”
Musicologist Judith Finell reviews Harvey Sachs’s new biography of the influential and misunderstood 20th-century musical genius Arnold Schoenberg, titled “Schoenberg: Why He Matters.”
Judith FinellAug 29, 2023
- History
- Music