Historians in the News

Iceland: How a scholar of the nation’s Presidency swiftly became its Presidential front-runner.

by Adam Gopnik

"When I heard that the historian Guðni Jóhannesson was running for President of Iceland—not only running but entering the final weeks of the campaign as the clear favorite—I was intently curious to be present when and if he won."

Ken Burns's Nighttime Routine Inspires His First Children's Book

Burns looked for the details in each president’s life that revealed the most telling aspect of their character.

Jill Lepore explains why she wrote a book about a man who’s unbearable

It’s about Joe Gould (1889-1957), a racist, anti-Semite Harvard graduate who claimed to have written the longest book.

What Nancy Isenberg shows in her history of “White Trash” is how prominent a role the white poor have played in American history

"Our very identity as a nation, no matter what we tell ourselves, is intimately tied up with the dispossessed."

Henry Kissinger in the 1950s backed the use of tactiical nukes

It’s now becoming a reality. Alas.

Nick Turse denounces celebrity generals who cash in on their fame

by Nick Turse

In an article in TomDispatch Turse reminds us that contemporary generals like David Petraeus have taken a markedly different path than Ike and George Marshall.

Jean Edward Smith bio of Bush II lauded

Smith takes an almost unrelentingly negative view, calling Bush one of the worst presidents in US history.

Historian Gerald Horne says the resolute insistence upon the Pledge of Allegiance plays into a racist narrative

The narrative is based on the collective denial that the American Republic was founded on the enslavement of people of African descent along with the expropriation of the land and property of the Native Americans, he said in an interview.

Nancy Isenberg shows how class shaped American history in her new book, “White Trash"

In an interview she says class is often overlooked because Americans prefer myth to reality.

Holocaust historian Elie Wiesel has died

More than anyone else, he seared the memory of the Holocaust on the world’s conscience.

Historian calls to an end of the boycott of Iraqi and Syrian academics

by Zainab Bahrani

Because of visa restrictions Iraqi and Syrian scholars have been unable to attend international conferences on heritage preservation that concern their own countries.

Somme 'myth': British troops were NOT inexperienced and should have won, says historian

"This was a seriously mismanaged battle and the tale of heroic sacrifice obscures that.” — Alexander Watson

UCLA Professor Accused Of Sexually Harassing Grad Students Is Returning

History professor Gabriel Piterberg took a European fellowship while he was serving a suspension.

Alison Winter, University of Chicago historian, dies at 50

She died of a brain tumor.

Ellen Schrecker says professors should be worried about a New McCarthyism

by Ellen Schrecker

Linking the campaign against PC to the threat of terrorism could start a new academic witch hunt, she warns.

Malcolm Gladwell, historian

In his new podcast on history Gladwell uses history to illuminate lessons about human behavior.

Jim Green, activist and historian, has died at age 71

He believed in pursuing history “with a purpose.”

New president of Iceland? A historian.

Guðni Johannesson, who teaches at the University of Iceland, is a political novice.

George Chauncy, the historian as expert witness

How his work as a historian helped his side win case after case against gay bigotry.

Historians complain that a Trump Syllabus is as white as the man himself

The syllabus was featured on the website of the Chronicle of Higher Ed, which has apologized for its white bias.