History

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

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
Beyond the Counterculture: Rethinking College in the ’60s
Mark Garrett Cooper and John Marx review John Thelin’s “Going to College in the Sixties.”
John Marx, Mark Garrett CooperMay 13, 2019
To the Heart of the Heart
Suzanne Koven turns her ear to “Heart: A History” by Sandeep Jauhar.
Suzanne KovenMay 13, 2019
- History
- Science & Technology
“Working”: A Brief History of History
Robert Caro is still asking questions, and asking his readers to do the same.
John SchneiderMay 13, 2019
The Monster Within: On Two New Books About Chernobyl
Two new books trace the chilling story of the Chernobyl reactor.
Bathsheba DemuthMay 12, 2019