Historians in the News

John B. Boles wants students to know more about Jefferson than that he was a slaveholder

In a new biography he says the Virginian was a leading liberal who eased the path of manumission.

Bill O’Reilly – America’s best-selling “historian” – ridiculed in Harper’s for writing bad history

by Matthew Stevenson

The prose seldom rises above a high school paper.

Harvard's Moshik Temkin pens op ed in the NYT warning historians not to use analogies

by Moshik Temkin

Historians have a role as pundits, he argues, but they have to resist the impulse to oversimplify the news.

Largest history festival in the UK criticized for being white and male

Of the 148 speakers at the Chalke Valley History Festival there are only 32 women, and just one non-white historian.

Historian Daniel K. Williams says Democrats have a religion problem

by Daniel K. Williams

They won’t win elections until they are able once again to establish a bond with voters with a religious bent.

Eric Foner doesn’t think much of a book that claims Lincoln moved slowly to emancipate blacks because he was a racist

by Eric Foner

The book is by English professor Fred Kaplan and was reviewed by Foner in the NYT.

Lonnie Bunch says the nooses found at the Smithsonian recently show why black people cannot get over the past

by Lonnie G. Bunch

"I see the nooses as evidence that … the struggle for the soul of America continues to this very day."

Andrew Bacevich bemoans the loss of authority of historians

by Andrew J. Bacevich

The bestselling historian today is Bill O'Reilly?  We are a far cry from the days of Carl Becker, the Beards, and Henry Adams.

Researcher: "Actually, Yes It Is a Discovery If You Find Something in an Archive That No One Knew Was There."

by Helena Iles Papaioannou

A critic chided me for claiming I'd made a discovery in the archives.  Here's why I think it's fair to say it was indeed a discovery. 

The Trump team is obsessing over Thucydides, the ancient historian who wrote a seminal tract on war

Steve Bannon, H.R. McMaster, James Mattis – they all love Thucydides.

Historians defend scholar who studies Poland and Holocaust

Dozens of international historians have come to the defense of a Holocaust scholar who is accused of slandering Poland’s reputation with research that focuses on the participation of some Poles in the killing of Jews during World War II.

Historians called on to write books that impact the public

by Keisha N. Blain and Ibram X. Kendi

The public appears to be experiencing a vacuum of expertise. Perhaps people will now bestow more trust on the expertise of America’s notoriously and proudly independent academics.

Is Mark Moyar right that the US could have prevailed in Vietnam?

by Robert Farley

This analysis suggests in the end it wasn’t worth the cost.

Newsweek asks if Kim Phillips-Fein is right to argue that NYC committed civic suicide in the 1970s

Yes, social programs were cut back, but wasn’t this necessary to save the city’s financial base?

Max Boot Says "Donald Trump Is Proving Too Stupid to Be President"

by Max Boot

A smart person wouldn't act like he's acting, says Boot.

Historians urged to fight budget cuts to key humanities programs

"Never before have federal history and archival programs been under attack to this extent."  –  The Organization of American Historians

David Fromkin, Professor and Author on Mideast, Dies at 84

His definitive book on the Middle East warned the West against nation-building by partitioning antagonistic religious groups behind arbitrary boundaries.

Harvard's Drew Gilpin Faust to step down as president next year

The first woman to serve as Harvard’s president, she announced Wednesday that she would step down next year after 11 years of service.

Is E.P. Thompson still relevant?

The latest book by Christos Efstathiou  –  in E.P. Thompson: A Twentieth-Century Romantic  –  makes the case he is.

French historian accused of stealing American war heroes’ dog tags to sell on eBay

Antonin Dehays holds a doctorate in contemporary history from the University of Caen Normandy.