History

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

Does Collective Violence Demand Collective Punishment?
Mark Ellis reviews "The Ratline: The Exalted Life and Mysterious Death of a Nazi Fugitive," the new book by Philippe Sands.
Mark EllisFeb 2, 2021
In Kafka’s Prague
Kafka transformed his native city into a psychic topography of constant anxiety.
Jared Marcel PollenJan 31, 2021
Controversial Contest
America’s signature women’s pageant changes –– slowly –– with the rest of the country.
Elwood WatsonJan 30, 2021
Lying with Numbers
At the end of the 19th century social scientists embraced statistics that “proved” Black criminality. Therein lies a tale.
Mary F. CoreyJan 29, 2021
- History
- Politics
Still Arab
Reflections on the 10th anniversary of the Arab uprisings: language, identity, and the politics of despair.
Rayan FakhouryJan 29, 2021
The Great White Reunion: On Duncan Bell’s “Dreamworlds of Race”
Could the separation of the Revolutionary War have been patched in the late 19th century? Some powerful men tried.
Bassam SidikiJan 26, 2021
This Unhallowed Ground
Winthrop Rodgers travels to Kurdistan’s historic battlefields and reflects on our relationship to these conflict zones.
Winthrop RodgersJan 24, 2021
Gritty and Glittery
A juicy, jaunty book about Broadway in the 1990s.
Harrison HillJan 23, 2021
- Art & Architecture
- History
A Combustible Compound: On Paul Hanebrink’s “A Specter Haunting Europe” and Elissa Bemporad’s “Legacy of Blood”
On “A Specter Haunting Europe: The Myth of Judeo-Bolshevism” and “Legacy of Blood: Jews, Pogroms, and Ritual Murder in the Lands of the Soviets.”
David N. MyersJan 20, 2021
Travelogue of the Exodus
Charles Dunst reviews Anne Goldman's "Stargazing in the Atomic Age," her search for modern Jewish identity.
Charles DunstJan 15, 2021
Cultural Fronts
A well-researched and very useful study of the Soviet Union’s cultural diplomacy.
B. Amarilis Lugo de FabritzJan 14, 2021
A Show Trial Gets Its Show
A film about the marquee trial of the 1960s counterculture fails to explain its enduring relevance.
Andrew GumbelJan 9, 2021