Historians/History

Harry Truman to Donald Trump: "If You Want a Friend in Washington, Get a Dog!"

by Suzy Evans

Pets humanize presidents.

What I’m Reading: An Interview with Allen C. Guelzo

by Erik Moshe

“I caught the history bug very early on, starting in the summer of 1960, when I got tossed unwillingly into a remedial reading program.”

The Real Reason LBJ Didn’t Run for Re-Election in 1968

by Vaughn Davis Bornet

No, it wasn’t because he thought he’d lose. He thought he could win.

What I’m Reading: An Interview with Catherine Merridale

by Erik Moshe

Her worst teacher? The one who would hit her over the head with a hard textbook because she asked a lot of questions.  “Insolent puppy,” he would snarl.

What I’m Reading: An Interview with Alexander Rose

by Erik Moshe

Rose is the author of “Washington's Spies: The Story of America's First Spy Ring,” which served as the basis for the AMC drama series, “Turn: Washington's Spies.”

What We’re Learning Now About the Hidden Lives of Tudor Women

by Elizabeth Norton

A fresh perspective is giving us insight into the challenges they faced.

Think “Dunkirk” Is Epic? Check Out the Soviet War Memorial in Berlin’s Treptower Park.

by Peter Cole

It just might be the most impressive and important war memorial Americans never have heard of.

Now We Know What the State Department Was Hiding

by Ervand Abrahamian

A new collection of documents shows why the US resisted for decades releasing documents on the Mossadeq coup in 1953 in Iran.

Fake Facts Have Creeped into the Narrative of the Election of 2000

by Sheldon Stern

It’s simply not true that the “effect of the two third-party candidates on the electoral vote was essentially a wash.”

America in Crisis: Donald Trump Ascribes to His Victims What He Does to Them

by Richard Striner

Psychologists call this projection. It’s helping kill our democracy.

Why on Earth Do We Plant Lawns?

by Erik Moshe

An interview with Ted Steinberg, author of “American Green: The Obsessive Quest for the Perfect Lawn.”

The Coal Industry Killed My Book

by Greg Bailey

Southern Illinois University Press in Carbondale was going to publish my book about an infamous massacre of strikebreakers in 1922. Then the head of the Illinois Coal Association was asked to review the manuscript.

Why We Remember Nathan Hale (And Nobody’s Heard of Moses Dunbar)

by Virginia DeJohn Anderson

What, you don’t know who Moses Dunbar was? There’s a reason for that.

Dark Days in the City of Light: An Interview with Holly Tucker

by Robin Lindley

On magic, murder and the first police chief of Paris and the reason it's called the City of Light.

20 Years Ago the British Handed over Hong Kong

by Tom Clifford

But it didn’t go as planned, thanks to the British governor, who insisted on establishing democracy before he left.

The Myth that Hobbles Our Understanding of the Six Day War

by Yoav J. Tenembaum

The myth? The fiftieth anniversary marks fifty years of occupation.

Not Until the Loving Decision Legalizing Interracial Marriage Did the Supreme Court Denounce White Supremacy

by Sheryll Cashin

What does that tell you?

A Key Turning Point in Darwin’s Thinking – And It Didn’t Happen in the Galapagos Islands

by Isobel Charman

It happened in a London zoo.

Why There’s Plenty to Celebrate on JFK’s 100th Birthday

by Michael McQuillan

“My children ask why I still admire Kennedy since he betrayed his marriage vows. He matured as a leader, I say.”

An Outrageous Claim About Jefferson Made to Make a Point

by M. Andrew Holowchak

On the “sloppiness of much of Jeffersonian scholarship.”