History

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

The Quiet Mysticism of Almanacs
Jess McHugh celebrates the “wonderfully freeing randomness” of the almanac.
Jess McHughJul 11, 2021
- History
Billy Wilder Longs for American Kitsch
Billy Wilder imagined America in writing before he ever set foot in Hollywood.
Parker RichardsJul 10, 2021
- History
The Thief Cannot Prescribe: On Barnaby Phillips’s “Loot: Britain and the Benin Bronzes”
What does art stolen from Africa say about continuing Western attitudes toward the continent?
Nii Ayikwei ParkesJul 7, 2021
- History
The WPA Guides as a Literary School
An engaging history of the nation’s most unlikely travel series.
Tom ZoellnerJul 4, 2021
- History
Our Commerce and Our Freedom, or Why I’m Leaving (for) New York
Events in a city as grand and grotesque as New York owe less to individual actors than to intractable tides.
Travis DiehlJun 25, 2021
- History
How Schemers Built a State
Mark Massaro reviews Jason Vuic’s “The Swamp Peddlers: How Lot Sellers, Land Scammers, and Retirees Built Modern Florida and Transformed the American Dream.”
Mark MassaroJun 21, 2021
- History
When Pop History Bombs: A Response to Malcolm Gladwell’s Love Letter to American Air Power
A grossly simplified view of the United States bombing campaign over Japan in World War II favors dramatic personalities over the reality.
Cary Karacas, David FedmanJun 12, 2021
- History
The Fallacy of Religious Freedom: On Spencer W. McBride’s “Joseph Smith for President”
When the Mormon prophet Joseph Smith ran for president, he wasn’t seeking further glory but a policy change in religious liberty.
Tamarra KemsleyJun 11, 2021
- History
Dark Night Rises: Ed Simon’s Alternative History of Pittsburgh
Phillip Maciak reviews Ed Simon's An Alternative History of Pittsburgh, a panoramic narrative of the city from Belt Publishing
Phillip MaciakJun 5, 2021
- History
Alchemy Under the Hood
Joe Stadolnik reviews Jennifer M. Rampling's history of alchemy, "The Experimental Fire: Inventing English Alchemy, 1300–1700."
Joe StadolnikMay 12, 2021
- History
The Cold War Industry: On Louis Menand’s “The Free World” and Anne Searcy’s “Ballet in the Cold War”
Harlow Robinson weighs “The Free World” by Louis Menand against “Ballet in the Cold War” by Anne Searcy.
Harlow RobinsonMay 7, 2021
- History
Epidemics in History: Of Vaccines and Saints
John H. Arnold argues that 14th-century voices can help us understand and respond to COVID-19.
John H. ArnoldMay 3, 2021
- History