Historians/History

The Birth of Eurasia

by Barry Cunliffe

Why people migrated to Eurasia.

Is Nature in the National Parks a White Thing?

by Colin Fisher

History suggests that the whiteness of the national parks has little to do with visitors and almost everything to do with the parks themselves.

After 100 Years, the National Parks Still Define Us as Americans

by Heather Fryer

Even in summers of divisiveness that have escalated to disheartening hostility and violence, the parks reflect America’s ideal of inclusivity.

It’s Time to Rethink Our Reliance on Standard Textbooks Put Out by Big Name Publishers

by Dan Allosso

Self-published textbooks are better in several ways.

Assassinate an SS German Leader? Sure. But There Were Consequences.

by James Stejskal

The moral question at the heart of a new movie about the assassination of SS General Reinhard Heydrich.

How Should Historians Write about the Anthropocene -- And Why Is It Important?

by Frank Palmeri

If we have the imagination to borrow an approach from 250 years ago, we might be better able to understand climate change.

What Would JFK Have Done in Vietnam After 1963?

by Sheldon M. Stern

By examining what he did in the Congo we can make an educated guess.

No One Lived in SoHo. Then the Artists Moved in.

by David O’Connor

How this remarkable development took place is explained in a new book by Aaron Shkuda. (Interview.)

Why Have Jefferson’s Biographers Largely Overlooked His Love Affair with the Work of Laurence Sterne?

by M. Andrew Holowchak and Amy J. Barbee

Here’s what they’ve been missing.

Why Historians Need Imagination

by Yoav Tenembaum

Without it writing history would be impossible.

Why Adam Hochschild Decided to Write about the Spanish Civil War (Interview)

by Robin Lindley

"Ever since the authors who wrote the Bible, people have been writing about good and evil. To me there’s nothing more interesting than trying to evoke moments when men and women risked their lives to battle horrendous injustice."

The Making of a Politician: Sidney Blumenthal on His New Biography of Abe Lincoln (Interview)

by Robin Lindley

Blumenthal dispels the notion of a Lincoln too noble for politics in the first volume of his planned four-volume work on the sixteenth president.

Meet the Self-Described Historian Responsible for Helping Donald Trump Win the Florida Primary

by Danielle Dougall

His name is Derek Boyd Hankerson. He’s an African American who makes controversial claims about the Civil War.

Never Again? Reflections on Interviewing Elie Wiesel in 2007

by Alyssa Goldstein Sepinwall

“He was both more philosophical and sadder than I expected.”

Alexander Hamilton, History Superstar

by Bruce W. Dearstyne

How can this one man be a hero to both liberals and conservatives? He’s complicated – like America.

The Spy Who Saved Israel

by Uri Bar-Joseph

His name was Ashraf Marwan and he changed the course of history.

The 1968 Police Shoot-out with African Americans that America Forgot

by James D. Robenalt

It happened just 5.6 miles from where Donald Trump will accept the Republican Party’s nomination for president.

Nixon Could Keep A Secret

by Diana Klebanow

Nixon knew George McGovern had fathered a child out of wedlock. He never revealed it.

Edwin Black’s Response

by Edwin Black

A reply to Jeremy Best’s critique of Edwin Black’s “Before Germans Slaughtered Jews They Slaughtered Africans,” which was featured on HNN two months ago.

Germans Slaughtered Blacks Before they Slaughtered Jews, but You Shouldn’t Draw a Line between both Genocides

by Jeremy Best

A critique of Edwin Black’s article, “Before Germans Slaughtered Jews They Slaughtered Africans.”