Historians in the News

It's 2018 and the UK is just now getting its first black female history professor?

Yes, that's right.  Her name is Olivette Otele and she studies the history of the slave trade.

William Astore says the Pentagon may not be able to win foreign wars but it's won one here at home

by William Astore

Nowadays everybody lionizes the military.  This is problematic, says Astore. 

The Duke history department wants to rename the Carr Building for him

So who was Raymond Gavins?

Max Boot: Trump finally gets something right

by Max Boot

The longtime critic says Trump was right to withdraw from the INF Treaty.

Eric Foner raves about David Blight’s new biography of Frederick Douglass

Foner begins his review with a personal note.

When Churchill Dissed America

by Andrew Roberts

Andrew Roberts reports in his new Churchill biography that the Prime Minister harbored a secret hostility to the United States.

How History Class Divides Us

Americans are increasingly polarized and public distrust in government is at record levels. What if the inability of Americans to agree on our shared history—and the right way to teach it—is a cause of our current polarization rather than a symptom?

Jonathan Zimmerman says colleges are failing young Trump supporters

by Jonathan Zimmerman

Students who back the president are afraid to speak up. Professors should encourage them to break their silence.

Mary Beard: I refuse shows that feature B-list actors in costume

Cambridge classicist and TV presenter finds re-enactment scenes "excruciating to watch."

Niall Ferguson says the fracas over Elizabeth Warren reveals a deep flaw in liberal politics

by Niall Ferguson

Identity politics is devouring itself.

One-time history professor and Neo-Nazi charged with setting gas station on fire

Jacques A. Pluss, 65, was charged with a felony count of second-degree arson when he was arrested this month.

The Godfather of Gay Studies

Nearing his 90s, Martin Duberman argues that the movement for equality has faltered.

Doris Kearns Goodwin warns Trump is leading America to fascism

“When the Mueller investigation comes out, we may well see the rule of law being denied, and then we have to go after him.”

Daniel Pipes has an answer to a question a Hungarian historian asked

by Daniel Pipes

The question: Why Do You American Conservatives Keep Losing?

Anti-Semitism and the Birth of Jewish Studies

by Robert Rockaway

A memoir of discomfort—and progress—as a graduate student at the University of Michigan in the 1960s.

Historian Christopher Browning on the Trump regime: We’re “close to the point of no return”

A scholar of the Nazi period explains why fake news may be a more powerful authoritarian tool than secret police.

Should scholars become activists?

by Marley-Vincent Lindsey

Yes, says this history grad student in an editorial for the Activist History Review.

Republican Sen. Ben Sasse Roasts Sean Hannity in New Book

In a new book, the Nebraska lawmaker—known for his unease with Trump-era conservative rhetoric—donned his media hat and went after right-wing media's biggest star.

Jonathan Zimmerman says scholars need to broaden their audience

by Jonathan Zimmerman

"When we insulate ourselves from others, we narrow our minds."

Cindy R. Lobel, Who Studied New York’s History Through Food, Dies at 48

She used "food as a prism to explore social and cultural trends that, perhaps surprisingly, resonate in debates of today."