Historians in the News

Historians still needed! (Where Big Data goes wrong)

by Gary Marcus and Ernest Davis

Was Francis Scott Key really the 19th most important poet in history?

How to get a gig as a TV historian? Wait for the phone to ring.

A University of Manchester academic from the School of Nursing has taken a journey back in time to help television producers recreate a 1915 field hospital for new BBC drama The Crimson Field.

Historian: Youth can be inspired to study history by visiting battlefields

“I went to a re-enactment in Ballston Centre when I was a kid in 1980 and I was hooked.”

Harvard's Richard N. Frye dies at 94

Richard N. Frye, the Aga Khan Professor of Iranian Studies Emeritus, who was sometimes called “dean of the world’s Iranists,” passed away on March 27.

Law professor: Christian revisionists do injustice to American founders

“The cherry-pickers have forced people into camps."

Hinduism Experts Fear Lasting Effects of Controversy Over Wendy Doniger’s Book

American scholars of Hindu religion and culture say recent efforts in India to suppress the work of a prominent academic are having a chilling effect on their field.

Diane Ravitch blasts Common Core

"It’s been estimated by people who study the Gates website that they spent $2.3 billion to create the Common Core.”

AHA sends up flare for help after Paul Ryan declares war on the NEH

Help defeat the Ryan Proposal today by urging your elected officials to join a bipartisan effort to support NEH.

OAH to publish a new history magazine

The American Historian will cover the broad variety of needs and interests of our members, including primary and secondary teaching, professional development, research, recent scholarship, public history, digital history, and contemporary debates about the past.

Historians Claim Holy Grail Sits In Spanish Museum

Historians admit that the goblet's first 400 years of history are unknown.

Prominent French historian Jacques Le Goff dies at 90

Jacques Le Goff, one of the most influential medieval historians of modern times, died on Tuesday in a Paris hospital at the age of 90.

Author Adam Goodheart Teaches Us About "1861"

Adam Goodheart is the author of the “New York Times” bestseller, “1861,” and the forthcoming “1865, two books that capture the stories that give us tremendous insight into the real people who fought and lived during the Civil War.

Ted Hughes estate withdraws biographer's access

No reasons were offered for this change of heart, but the Oxford University professor suggests that the family may be worried by the prospect of revelations about the poet's private life.

Russian Professor Fired for “Immoral Act” Offered Job by Czechs

Zubov’s offense was writing an op-ed for the nation’s No. 1 daily newspaper, comparing the actions of Russia’s leader President Vladimir Putin, who bloodlessly annexed Ukraine’s largely Russophone Crimea, with Adolph Hitler, who bloodlessly annexed Germanophone Sudetenland.

Simon Schama and His Suitcase Jews Dazzle on PBS Broadcast

“A Leap of Faith” is the third segment in the Jewish historian’s “The Story of the Jews,” a co-production with the BBC, which started last week on PBS.

Daniel Pipes sets the record straight — He believes moderate Islam can emerge

by Daniel Pipes

Nothing human is fixed; even a scripture believed to be written by God must be interpreted. Islam exists in history and changes over time.

“Not all First World War soldiers were heroes,” says historian

In a new book, Challenge of Battle: The Real Story of the British Army in 1914, Adrian Gilbert reexamines the opening campaigns in France and Belgium, and, amongst other things, notes instances where British troops broke and ran from the field of battle.

Simon Schama says 'the occupation' will end Israel

“I believe that the occupation must end. And if it doesn’t, it will end Israel. I’m not in favor of settlements."

Julian Zelizer takes students to see Cranston play LBJ

“There are different ways to learn about history; you could learn about it through textbooks, you could learn about it through lectures, you could learn about it through a senior thesis, but another way to learn about history is through popular culture.”

MIT Historian Sues U.S. Intelligence Agencies over Mandela Files

Shapiro said while it is generally accepted—though unproven—that U.S. spy agencies supported the apartheid regime in Africa and, specifically, were involved in the freedom fighter’s arrest, much of that remained unreported by the press, even in the torrent of coverage following Mandela’s death in December.