Books

Is There Anything Left to Learn about Hitler?

by James Thornton Harris

Volker Ullrich presents a picture of a leader whose "egocentrism... inability to self-criticize…tendency to overestimate himself... contempt for others and lack of empathy" made him willing to destroy his nation along with himself, but warns that the Third Reich was "a dictatorship of consent." 

How Two French Introverts Quietly Fought the Nazis

by Jeffrey H. Jackson

Two introverted French Lesbian artists conducted a campaign of subversion against the Nazis occupying the Island of Jersey that a trial judge called "more dangerous than soldiers." A new book explains how.

An Interview with Ian W. Toll, author of "Twilight of the Gods: War in the Western Pacific, 1944-1945"

by James Thornton Harris

"Military histories have tended to take a “stay in your lane” approach, adhering to accounts of battles and operations. I prefer to weave the strands of politics and foreign policy into the fabric of the narrative."

Where In The World Are You? How My Great-Grandmother’s Letters Helped Me Locate My Great-Uncle after 78 Years

by Hazel Gaynor

"Disaster and tragedy are often where we find our strongest bonds, and as we find ourselves separated from family and distanced from loved ones, stories of community and shared hope are, arguably, more important than ever."

"The Silent Guns of Two Octobers" Reviewing a New History of the Cuban Missile Crisis

by Sheldon M. Stern

Longtime JFK Library historian Sheldon Stern offers a review of a new book on the diplomatic resolution of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 

Paris, City of Dreams: Napoleon III, Baron Haussmann and the Creation of Paris

by Jeff Roquen

Nothing can compare to a visit to Paris, but until international travel resumes, readers can learn how the modern city was built through Mary McAulliffe's book. 

Andrew Rotter's "Sensual Empires: Britain and America in India and the Philippines"

by Shannon Bontrager

Andrew Rotter extends recent work in sensory history to the study of imperialism, documenting how British and American colonialism depended on the connection between sensory experience and racial and nationalist ideology.

Was Charles Lindbergh a Man Who Got Away?

by Lise Pearlman

A new book reexamines the possible role of Charles Lindbergh himself in the 1932 kidnapping of his son, once the "crime of the century."  

The Troubling History of a Black Man's Heart

by Chip Jones

What Virginia doctors saw as a triumphant achievement was a devastating indictment of medical racism and institutional disregard for the dignity of a Black man and his family.

Rick Perlstein’s Reaganland: America’s Right Turn, 1976-1980

by James Thornton Harris

Rick Perlstein's latest volume in his study of the rise of the conservative movement focuses on the coming of Reaganism, but sheds light on how we got Trump.

“We Are Ourselves”: Review of For Workers’ Power: The Selected Writings of Maurice Brinton

by Eric Laursen

Maurice Brinton--the pseudonym of a British neurologist--authored an influential series of works of radical political thought that urged the British left to move away from rigid party structures and doctrinal disputes toward social movements. 

Jim Cullen, Review of Tom Perrotta's "The Leftovers" (St. Martins, 2011)

[Jim Cullen, who teaches at the Ethical Culture Fieldston School in New York, is a book review editor at HNN. He is the author of The American Dream: A Short History of an Idea that Shaped a Nation (Oxford, 2003), among other books. He is also the author of the recently published Kindle Single e-book President Hanks. Cullen blogs at American History Now.]

Native Actors Outside the Frame

by Liza Black

Liza Black's new book traces the lives of prominent and anonymous Native actors, examinng the way that Hollywood films exploited their labor and images while spinning narratives that justified the historical conquest of Native lands.

Richard Haass on the Need for Historically Informed Policy in a Changing World

by David O'Connor

"A democracy requires that its citizens be informed, and it was evident far too many citizens in the United States and other countries could not be described as globally literate."

A Coup of "Clerqs"?: Anne Applebaum's "Twilight of Democracy" Reviewed

by David O'Connor

Anne Applebaum's new book looks with concern at the rise of right-wing populism in Europe and the loyal party functionaries who enable its march. 

The Proud City: Patrick Abercrombie's Unfulfilled Plan for Rebuilding London

by Simon Jenkins

In 1942, the British government endorsed a plan that turned the Blitz into an opportunity for massive centrally-planned rebuilding of London. This was a break from the previous anarchic pattern of development, and, for better or worse, today's eclectic metropolis owes its form to the failure of the plan. 

Sorting Myth and History in Jackie Kennedy's Marriage to Aristotle Onassis

by Gill Paul

Novelist Gill Paul argues that Jackie Kennedy's current status as an icon of female empowerment conflicts with the reality of her life as a woman who grew up and was educated in a slowly changing society.

The Other Western Front

by Aimee Liu

Historical novelist Aimee Liu uncovered the history of the Andaman Islands in the Bay of Bengal, the western front of the Pacific theater in World War II, in the course of plotting her new novel "Glorious Boy."

Reflections from "That Further Shore": A Constitutional Lawyer's Immigrant Family History

by John Feerick

John Feerick's work in constitutional law helped create the 25th Amendment, and an unadopted amendment to abolish the Electoral College. His recent family history and memoir shows how his immigrant parents laid a foundation for this success. 

Who Opened the Door to Trumpism? David Frum's "Trumpocalypse" Reviewed

by David O'Connor

Through his long analysis of Trump’s follies, Frum never develops his contention that twenty-first-century conservatism helped open the door for Trump. Without a full accounting, his political mea culpa is hollow and fails to offer guidance on how to avoid mistakes in the future.