History

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

Queer History Uncovered: A Conversation with Matthew Riemer
Michael Valinksy interviews queer historian Matthew Riemer about his new labor of love, “We Are Everywhere,” co-written with Leighton Brown.
Michael ValinskyJun 26, 2019
- Gender & Sexuality
- History
Enter Paul: On Paula Fredriksen’s “Paul: The Pagans’ Apostle” and “When Christians Were Jews”
Brad East reviews two recent books by Paula Fredriksen.
Brad EastJun 23, 2019
- History
- Religion
The Enlightenment’s Venereal Imagination
A new book about how 18th-century writers and artists grappled with the reality of STIs.
Norbert SchürerJun 21, 2019
- Gender & Sexuality
- History
The Thief: On the Rediscovery of Luis de Carvajal the Younger’s Memoir
Ilan Stavans narrates the rediscovery of Luis de Carvajal the Younger’s long-lost memoir.
Ilan StavansJun 20, 2019
The Vanishing Black Woman Spy Reappears
What a newly discovered letter from “Mary Bowser,” a slave turned Civil War spy, reveals about race in postbellum America.
Lois LeveenJun 19, 2019
- History
- Nonfiction
An Endless Crusade
Giuliana Chamedes's "A Twentieth-Century Crusade" is a work of tremendous ambitions and impressive panoramic scope.
Udi GreenbergJun 17, 2019
- History
- Religion
The Search for What Makes Us Human: The Killer Ape Account of the Mid-20th Century
Does violence make humans unique? Melinda Baldwin reviews Erika Lorraine Milam’s “Creatures of Cain: The Hunt for Human Nature in Cold War America.”
Melinda BaldwinJun 16, 2019
Cruising for Sex, Cruising the Political: Alex Espinoza’s “Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime”
Michael Nava reviews Alex Espinoza’s “Cruising: An Intimate History of a Radical Pastime.”
Michael NavaJun 12, 2019
One Feels a Malady: On Robert N. Watson’s “Cultural Evolution and its Discontents”
William Flesch reviews "Cultural Evolution and its Discontents: Cognitive Overload, Parasitic Cultures, and the Humanistic Cure."
William FleschJun 7, 2019
Are Human Rights History?
Human rights were once seen as full of promise. Now they’re seen by many as a troubling neoliberal project.
Stefan-Ludwig HoffmannJun 2, 2019
Five Years Gone: What Bowe Bergdahl’s Odyssey Tells Us About the United States’s Endless War in Afghanistan
Nicholas Utzig reviews "American Cipher: Bowe Bergdahl and the U.S. Tragedy in Afghanistan" by Matt Farwell and Michael Ames.
Nicholas UtzigMay 30, 2019
The Department of Everything Else
Dexter Fergie reviews Megan Black’s “The Global Interior: Mineral Frontiers and American Power.”
Dexter FergieMay 21, 2019
- History
- Politics