History

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

Tap Dancing: Reports of Our Death Have Been Grossly Exaggerated
Margaret Morrison reviews “What the Eye Hears: A History of Tap Dancing” by Brian Seibert.
Margaret MorrisonSep 18, 2016
- History
- Nonfiction
Biography of a Book: Zaretsky on Kaplan on Camus
Robert Zaretsky on Alice Kaplan's "Looking For 'The Stranger'."
Robert ZaretskySep 15, 2016
- Fiction
- History
Flowers and All: Rockhaven Sanitarium and Women’s Mental Health
Tiffancy Hearsey witnesses the "arrested decay" of Rockhaven Sanitarium in Glendale and reconsiders our approach to women’s mental health.
Tiffany HearseySep 15, 2016
- Gender & Sexuality
- History
Too Much and Too Little: A History of David Foster Wallace’s “The Pale King”
David Hering offers an excerpt from his new book "David Foster Wallace: Fiction and Form."
David HeringSep 14, 2016
- Fiction
- History
How Japan Invented Los Angeles — and Reinvented American Style
Colin Marshall takes the measure of “Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style” by W. David Marx.
Colin MarshallSep 12, 2016
Writing Like a State: Wendy Griswold’s “American Guides”
Donal Harris reviews Wendy Griswold’s “American Guides: The Federal Writers’ Project and the Casting of American Culture.”
Donal HarrisSep 4, 2016
- History
- Literary Criticism
Red Clowns of the Avant-Garde: On Owen Hatherley’s “The Chaplin Machine”
Tom Kohut appreciates “The Chaplin Machine” by Owen Hatherley, which offers a reevaluation of the Soviet avant-garde.
Tom KohutSep 3, 2016
Was the Black Prince Black? And Other Historical Questions
What can a biographer do when their subject is elusive? John T. Scott finds out in his review of Catherine Fletcher's "The Black Prince of Florence."
John T. ScottAug 31, 2016
- Biography & Autobiography
- History
Civil Religion for a Diverse Nation
John T. McGreevy on "The Origins of American Religious Nationalism" by Sam Haselby.
John T. McGreevyAug 25, 2016
- History
- Religion
Putting Japan on the Map
“Cartographic Japan” gives a history of the mapping of Japan.
Miriam KingsbergAug 17, 2016
- History
Cloudy With a Chance of Dystopia: Tung-Hui Hu’s “A Prehistory of the Cloud”
Kevin Driscoll on Tung-Hui Hu's "A Prehistory of the Cloud".
Kevin DriscollAug 14, 2016
Oneida: The Christian Utopia Where Contraception Was King
Ellen Wayland-Smith examines her ancestors' history in the Oneida Community, a 19th-century religious commune.
Ellen Wayland-SmithAug 9, 2016
- History
- Religion