History

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

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
Territorial Taxonomy: On Melissa L. Sevigny’s “Brave the Wild River”
Mary L. Holden considers Melissa Sevigny’s “Brave the Wild River: The Untold Story of Two Women Who Mapped the Botany of the Grand Canyon.”
Mary L. HoldenJun 25, 2023
- History
- Science & Technology
All but Appeared: On Douglas Ober’s “Dust on the Throne”
Liesl Schwabe reviews Douglas Ober’s “Dust on the Throne: The Search for Buddhism in Modern India.”
Liesl SchwabeJun 22, 2023
- History
- Philosophy & Religion
The Divine City: On J. T. Roane’s “Dark Agoras”
Charles McKinney reviews J. T. Roane’s “Dark Agoras: Insurgent Black Social Life and the Politics of Place.”
Charles W. McKinneyJun 15, 2023
- History
Sleepwalking to Madness in Mid-Century America: On Audrey Clare Farley’s “Girls and Their Monsters”
Ellen Wayland-Smith is haunted by Audrey Clare Farley’s exposé, in “Girls and Their Monsters: The Genain Quadruplets and the Making of Madness in America,” of white American mid-century pathologies.
Ellen Wayland-SmithJun 13, 2023