Historians/History

Damon Runyon’s World War I

by Edward G. Lengel

What the famed newspaperman learned about his own country when he went abroad to cover the war.

The Great War’s Unfinished Agenda

by David Del Testa

We went to war to resist threats to democracy. Once again democracy is threatened today.

100 Years Ago Woodrow Wilson Made Several Disastrous Decisions

by Robert Brent Toplin

These suggest that his near-great ranking among the American presidents should be a matter of debate.

The Tragic Mistake the Diplomats at Versailles Made After the End of World War I 100 Years Ago

by Christine Haynes

They forgot to heed the lessons of the 19th century round of peace talks that ended the Napoleonic wars.

FDR Gets Credit for His Response to Kristallnacht. He Shouldn’t.

by Rafael Medoff

80 years after the horrific events of Kristallnacht it’s time to acknowledge his inadequate response.

This Makes Us Susceptible to Demagoguery

by Joseph Kelly

How the “we’re the chosen people” narrative makes us susceptible to demagogues.

Christianity Is to Blame for the Bigoted Purposes to Which It’s Being Put, but ...

by Steve Patterson

There's evidence this was Christianity's original creed: "There is no Jew or Greek; there is no slave or free; there is no male and female, for you are all one.”

What It Was Like to Work for Richard Nixon

by Stephen Hess

Excerpts from the author’s new memoir.

The Sudden Death of a Democracy: Historian Benjamin Carter Hett on the Fall of the Weimar Republic

by Robin Lindley

And the rise of Hitler. (Interview)

This Is Where Antisemitism Leads

by Robert Scott Kellner

What a German diary from the Nazi era teaches us.

Czechs Are Celebrating Their Country’s Centennial. We Should, Too.

by Daniel E. Miller

Democracy prevailed there while it’s been dying elsewhere.

What Happened When Aaron Burr, Late in Life, Encountered this Statue of Alexander Hamilton

by Donald Yacovone

When memory and history meet, sometimes irony is the result.

Can an Amateur Historian Rewrite History?

by Will Soper

The author found out the truth about an infamous incident in 1854 involving the Navy. But getting the story changed in official government accounts hasn’t been easy.

Remember When the Dodgers and Giants Moved West?

by Lincoln Mitchell

This was one of the consequences.

Even “Good Statues” Have Their Problems

by Alan Singer

A case in point.

One Thing that Einstein Got Wrong

by Greg Bailey

In the 1920s he fell for the hoopla about a strange new ship that was supposed to revolutionize transportation. It didn’t.

What Was Life Like in a 19th Century Fishing Village in Massachusetts?

by Robin Lindley

That’s the story maritime attorney Bradley Bagshaw tells in a novel. (Interview)

Why Did Women Win the Right to Vote in Colorado in the 19th Century?

by Jennifer Frost

They did it by organizing. There’s a lesson for us today in the 21st century.

Is Islam a Western Religion?

by Juan Cole

It doesn’t hate us. It is us.

Imagination. Bipartisanship. Bureaucratic Competence. Yes, My Children, We Once Lived in Such a Place.

by David L. O'Connor

It was America in 1947, as Benn Steil shows in his new book about the Marshall Plan. (Interview)