History

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

If Anything Can Happen, It Certainly Will
Matthew Cobb reports from the Spirit of Asilomar, an event celebrating the 50th anniversary of the legendary biotechnology conference.
Matthew CobbSep 12
- Science & Technology
- History
Microdoses of Power on the Eastern Front
Alan Barenberg considers Michael David-Fox’s “Crucibles of Power: Smolensk Under Stalinist and Nazi Rule.”
Alan BarenbergSep 12
- History
- Politics
The Will to Power in China
Anne Stevenson-Yang reviews Robert L. Suettinger’s “The Conscience of the Party” and Joseph Torigian’s “The Party’s Interests Come First.”
Anne Stevenson-YangSep 10
In Hitler’s Shadow
Gavriel D. Rosenfeld reviews Alec Ryrie’s “The Age of Hitler and How We Will Survive It.”
Gavriel D. RosenfeldSep 10
The Sound of Our World Resurging
David Palumbo-Liu considers Linda Quiquivix’s “Palestine 1492: A Report Back.”
David Palumbo-LiuSep 8
- Politics
- History
A Higher Thing than History
Zach Gibson reviews Hayden White’s second volume of “The Ethics of Narrative: Essays on History, Literature, and Theory.”
Zach GibsonSep 2
In the Late Ming, Literature Is Survival
Mahika Dhar reviews two classics of Chinese literature: Kong Shangren’s “The Peach Blossom Fan” and Zhang Yingyu’s “More Swindles from the Late Ming.”
Mahika DharAug 30
- History
- Fiction
A History That Needs to Be Retold
Vivien Chang reviews Howard W. French’s “The Second Emancipation: Nkrumah, Pan-Africanism, and Global Blackness at High Tide.”
Vivien ChangAug 29
- History
- Biography & Autobiography
One Island, Many Histories
Michelle T. King reviews Catherine Lila Chou and Mark Harrison’s “Revolutionary Taiwan” and Anna Beth Keim’s “Heaven Does Not Block All Roads.”
Michelle T. KingAug 27
- History
- Biography & Autobiography
Howling Memories
Rhoda Kwan reviews two newly translated novels reckoning with China’s bloody past, Fang Fang’s “Soft Burial” and Tsering Döndrup’s “The Red Wind Howls.”
Rhoda KwanAug 20
- History
- Politics
A Child in the State of Nature
Mitchell Abidor reviews the reprint edition of Roger Shattuck’s “The Forbidden Experiment: The Story of the Wild Boy of Aveyron.”
Mitchell AbidorAug 19
- History
- Cultural Studies
The Best Troll Rome Ever Knew
Edward Watts reviews Josiah Osgood’s “Lawless Republic: The Rise of Cicero and the Decline of Rome.”
Edward WattsAug 19
- History
- Law