History

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

• 

  Remembering Slavery, Again

  On two cases of national amnesia about slavery — one British, one American.

  Susan GillmanFeb 7, 2016

  • History

• The Art of Administration: On Greg Barnhisel’s “Cold War Modernists”

  Cold War modernists of the title do not seem to be the painters, sculptors, poets, and novelists who produced the original works.

  Donal HarrisFeb 2, 2016

  • Art & Architecture

  • History

• Space Jew, or, Walter Benjamin Among the Stars

  If Walter Benjamin had been quicker to flee the Nazis, he might have stood in India during the twilight years of the Raj and experienced the stars anew.

  Benjamin Aldes WurgaftFeb 1, 2016

  • History

  • Memoir & Essay

• 

  The Scale of the Beast

  The story of Jumbo the elephant, the first circus elephant to become a celebrity.

  Rebecca ChaceJan 20, 2016

  • History

• Mechanical Spectacles

  The prehistory of the robot.

  Kanishk TharoorJan 19, 2016

  • History

• 

  Dawn MacKeen on “The Hundred-Year Walk”

  Vanessa Hua interviews Dawn MacKeen.

  Vanessa HuaJan 18, 2016

  • History

  • Nonfiction

• Reading the Middle East

  How to satisfy both the Middle East mavens and the curious readers who are so intimidated by the history that they avoid books about the region altogether?

  N. S. MorrisJan 8, 2016

  • History

  • Politics

• 

  The Case of the Missing Detective: William Gillette’s Sherlock Holmes Rediscovered and Restored

  Only recently rediscovered in the dusty recesses of the Cinémathèque Française, the 1916 film offers a rare glimpse back through performance history.

  Christopher GrobeJan 4, 2016

  • History

• 

  Magritte in Koreatown

  Bonnie Johnson on the history and legacy of LA's iconic Brown Derby restaurants.

  Bonnie JohnsonJan 3, 2016

  • History

  • Memoir & Essay

• 

  The Endless War

  Photography and the glamorization of battle, from the Greeks to modern-day journalism.

  John TytellDec 25, 2015

  • History

• 

  The Changing Face of Anti-Semitism

  Anti-Semitism is always being updated.

  David WolpeDec 21, 2015

  • History

  • Religion

• 

  Paris: A Tale of Two Cities

  "What strikes us today as terrifyingly new would in 1914 strike many Parisians, mutatis mutandis, as little more than déjà vu."

  Robert ZaretskyDec 7, 2015

  • Cultural Studies

  • History