History

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

The Banality of Heroism: Marek Edelman and the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
Samuel Tchorek-Bentall explores the career of Marek Edelman, hero of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.
Samuel Tchorek-BentallJul 24, 2023
- History
- Memoir & Essay
Close Ranks: On Three New Books Exploring African Americans, Patriotism, and the US Armed Forces
Randal Maurice Jelks reviews three books about the African American experience in war: Beth Bailey’s “An Army Afire: How the US Army Confronted Its Racial Crisis in the Vietnam Era,” Matthew F. Delmont’s “Half American: The Epic Story of African Americans Fighting World War II at Home and Abroad,“ and Chad L. Williams’s “The Wounded World: W. E. B. Du Bois and the First World War.”
Randal Maurice JelksJul 17, 2023
- History
L.A. and the Birth of Car Culture: On Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee’s “Driving Force”
Gary Cross reviews Darryl Holter and Stephen Gee’s “Driving Force: Automobiles and the New American City, 1900–1930.”
Gary CrossJul 15, 2023
- History
- Science & Technology
A Medieval Age of Disruption: On Nicholas Morton’s “The Mongol Storm”
Nile Green reviews Nicholas Morton’s “The Mongol Storm: Making and Breaking Empires in the Medieval Near East.”
Nile GreenJul 15, 2023
- History
- Religion
Impossible Systems: On Carly Goodman’s “Dreamland”
Tim Hirschel-Burns reviews Carly Goodman’s “Dreamland: America’s Immigration Lottery in an Age of Restriction.”
Tim Hirschel-BurnsJul 13, 2023
Monica’s Garden: Notes Towards “A People’s History of Theology”
Ed Simon argues for the necessity of a theoretical “People’s History of Theology.”
Ed SimonJul 12, 2023
- History
- Religion
Pirates + Madagascar = Egalitarian Utopia? On David Graeber’s “Pirate Enlightenment, or The Real Libertalia”
The late David Graeber’s final book aims to decolonize the Enlightenment.
Edward CarverJul 11, 2023
- History
- Politics
A Century of Frustration and Failure: On Philip Bowring’s “The Making of the Modern Philippines”
Luisita Lopez Torregrosa reviews Philip Bowring’s “The Making of the Modern Philippines: Pieces of the Jigsaw State.”
Luisita Lopez TorregrosaJul 11, 2023
- History
There’s Always Tomorrow: On Ursula Parrott and Marsha Gordon’s “Becoming the Ex-Wife”
Adam Sobsey reviews Marsha Gordon’s “Becoming the Ex-Wife: The Unconventional Life & Forgotten Writings of Ursula Parrott,” a biography of the writer and celebrity.
Adam SobseyJul 10, 2023
Violence Within: On Peter Irons’s “White Men’s Law”
Gabriel J. Chin reviews Peter Irons’s “White Men’s Law: The Roots of Systemic Racism,” a study of the history of racism in the laws of the United States.
Gabriel J. ChinJul 4, 2023
Guns and Grammar, or How to Read the Second Amendment
Frank Bergon argues that bad grammar is driving our gun problem, via the Supreme Court’s reading of the Second Amendment.
Frank BergonJul 2, 2023
Death by Northern White Hands: On Philip Dray’s “A Lynching at Port Jervis”
Adolf Azulphar reviews Philip Dray's "A Lynching at Port Jervis: Race and Reckoning in the Gilded Age."
Adolf AlzupharJun 26, 2023
- History