History

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

The Berliner Pipeman: Yiddish Writers in Weimar Berlin
Madeleine Cohen uncovers Yiddish Berlin with the help of Marc Caplan’s and Samuel J. Spinner’s new studies and Robert Adler Peckerar’s translation of Moyshe Kulbak.
Madeleine CohenFeb 20, 2022
- History
Viral Stories: On Guobin Yang’s “The Wuhan Lockdown”
Yangyang Cheng reviews Guobin Yang's new book on China's COVID-19 response, "The Wuhan Lockdown."
Yangyang ChengFeb 9, 2022
- History
Crossing the Blood Meridian: Cormac McCarthy and American History
McCarthy imagined a vast border region where colonial empires clashed, tribes went to war, and bounty hunters roamed.
Bennett PartenFeb 9, 2022
- Fiction
- History
Protected Children, Regulated Mothers: A Conversation with Eszter Varsa
A social historian of gender on child protection policy in Stalinist Hungary.
M. BunaFeb 6, 2022
- History
How to Tell Africa’s History?
The saga of a continent, told by a longtime journalist.
Randal Maurice JelksJan 29, 2022
- History
A Political Garden of Eden
Matthew Porges reviews “The Dawn of Everything,” the new book by David Wengrow and David Graeber.
Matthew PorgesJan 19, 2022
- History
No One Knows Roe like Joshua Prager
A new history of Roe v. Wade.
Vesper NorthJan 12, 2022
- History
Color and Class: A Conversation with Joe William Trotter Jr.
Jeffrey J. Williams talks to Joe William Trotter Jr. about the history of the African American working class.
Jeffrey J. WilliamsDec 30, 2021
- History
The Bloody Spectacle: On Vladimir Alexandrov’s “To Break Russia’s Chains”
Douglas Smith reads “To Break Russia’s Chains” by Vladimir Alexandrov and ponders the legacy of notorious terrorist Boris Savinkov.
Douglas SmithDec 18, 2021
- History
What Did Dallas Learn from Rediscovering a Suppressed Book?
If there’s one subject Dallas will do almost anything to avoid, it’s how the city is drawn along racial lines.
Rob MadoleDec 17, 2021
- History
Filling the Gaps: Soviet Life in Battle and on the Home Front in World War II
Maria Bloshteyn tackles two books that cover Soviet life on the battlefield and on the home front during World War II.
Maria BloshteynDec 10, 2021
- History
A Rising or Setting Sun
The Framers of the Constitution might have been shocked that their experiment lasted.
Kenly StewartDec 9, 2021
- History