Historians in the News

Ann Lambton: Did the obits. overlook her great contributions?

Ann (Nancy) K.S. Lambton, the distinguished British historian of medieval and modern Iran, died on July 19 at the age of 96. Her obituaries tell some of her remarkable story as a pioneering scholar and a formidable personality. They are also interesting for what they omit, regarding her role in the idea of removing Mohammad Mossadegh from power in Iran.The Independent

Michael Baxandall: Influential art historian, dies at 74

Art historian Michael Baxandall died on August 12 at the age of 74. One of the most influential art historians of the latter half of the 20th century, Baxandall is largely credited with introducing ideas about language and rhetoric into and broadening the context for the study of works of art. He worked at the Warburg Institute for much of his life, beginning there in 1958 in the photographic collection. In 1961 he moved to the Victoria and Albert Museum as assistant keeper in the department of

Robert Dallek: Historian to offer short bio on Harry S Truman

Fans of Harry Truman might want to know that on Sept. 2 a new, short bio of the former Missourian will be published. The author is respected historian Robert Dallek and publisher Henry Holt says that “Harry S. Truman” is the “first critical re-evaluation” of the president since David McCullough’s book “Truman” (1992) The new book is a lot shorter (not necessarily a bad thing) as it’s part of the American Presidents Series. It is expected to be about 200 pages. Dallek,

Andrew Bacevich: His appearance on Bill Moyers's show draws darts as well as hearts

Andrew Bacevich, a Boston University professor and retired U.S. Army colonel, is a tremendously smart and accomplished scholar. Over the last several years, he has sustained a cogent critique of contemporary American militarism, and I've mostly agreed with his arguments about the politics of our own moment. But it seems to me that Bacevich has tended to build his arguments about our own troubling era on a fictionalized past. I'll give two

Gary Fink: Labor & political historian, dies

Gary Fink, who chaired the Department of History from 1984-1991, died on August 7, 2008. His contributions to the Department, Georgia State University and the history profession were immense. Born in 1936, Gary grew up on a farm in eastern Montana. After high school he entered the U.S. Army where he had his intellectual conversion experience hiding in a boiler room at Fort Whittier, Alaska while trying to escape KP duty. He overheard a conversation about American literature betw

Arthur Schlesinger, Jr.: FBI Probed For Communist Ties (but never found any)

Historian and Pulitzer Prize-winning author Arthur Schlesinger Jr., a key adviser to President John F. Kennedy, was investigated for his suspected links to communists, according to previously secret FBI documents obtained by Newsmax under the Freedom of Information Act. During the 1960s, there was so much hostility between Schlesinger and then-FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover that Hoover scribbled a note on a document calling Schlesinger a "jackass." Schlesinger,

Douglas Brinkley: His next book on TR cited by NYT columnist

... Around the same time that the McCain campaign was pocketing its oil industry windfall, the historian Douglas Brinkley was poring over letters in which Roosevelt, running for his first full term as president in 1904, was indignantly ordering his campaign to return a $100,000 contribution from the Standard Oil Company. In a letter to his campaign manager, dated Oct. 26, 1904, Roosevelt said: “I must ask you to direct that the money be returned to them forthwith.” As Roosevelt saw

Dane Kennedy & Wm. Roger Lewis: Deliver lectures on decolonization at the Library of Congress

As a part of the National History Center’s third International Seminar on Decolonization in the 20th Century, Dane Kennedy, the Elmer Louis Kayser Professor of History and International Affairs at George Washington University, gave a lecture entitled "Decolonization and Disorder" at the Kluge Center of

Virginia Page Fortna: In her new book she focuses on peacekeeping (HNN Interview)

Virginia Page Fortna is Associate Professor in Political Science at Columbia University. Her most recent book, Does Peacekeeping Work: Shaping Bellig

Scholar to investigate history of medicine in the Gulag

An academic has received a grant of £101,000 to investigate the history of medicine in Soviet Union leader Joseph Stalin's concentration camps. Dr Dan Healey from Swansea University is hoping to show how doctors and medicine were integral to the labour camps from the 1930s to the 1950s. The three-year project begins in October and will give Dr Dealey the chance to explore the camps' archives. Around 20 million people passed through the camps and countless numbers died.

Fredrick Toben: Revisionist Historian Living in Australia Could Be Jailed

Dr. Fredrick Toben of the Adelaide Institute, which espouses Holocaust denial viewpoints, allegedly defied a court order to purge Holocaust denial material from his Web site. Toben is awaiting the verdict of a contempt-of-court hearing in the Federal Court in Adelaide brought by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. The hearing ended Aug. 7. He pleaded not guilty this week to 28 charges alleging that he breached a 2002 Federal Court order to purge all Holocaust den

David McCullough Wins Chicago Tribune Literary Prize

David McCullough, who has brought American history—and democracy—to life in a string of wildly popular histories on subjects ranging from the Brooklyn Bridge to Harry Truman to the Panama Canal, has been awarded the 2008 Chicago Tribune Literary Prize for lifetime achievement. "David McCullough speaks with gentle but powerful authority about our past," said Tribune Editor Gerould W. Kern. "With his unique voice, he has breathed new life into his subjects, revealing th

Read Historical Discussion of Putin's Imperial Ambitions from 2008

by Isabella Ginor and Gideon Remez

Russian incursions into Georgia in 2008 gave strong clues to the playbook for the invasion of Ukraine and efforts to justify it.   

Denise Spellberg: She denies her critical comments put the kabash on a novel about Islam

To the Editor: Asra Q. Nomani's "You Still Can't Write About Muhammad" (op-ed, Aug. 6) falsely asserts that I am the "instigator" of the Random House Press decision not to publish a novel about the Prophet's wife titled, "The Jewel of Medina." I never had this power, nor did I single-handedly stop the book's publication. Random House made its final decision based on the advice of other scholars, conveniently not named in the article, and based ultimatel

Elizabeth De Wolfe: Wins Book Award

Elizabeth De Wolfe, a professor of history at the University of New England, won the annual Peter C. Rollins Book Award from the Northeast Popular Culture/American Culture Association for The Murder of Mary Bean and Other Stories (Kent State University Press). She will accept the award at the association's annual conference at the University of Massachusetts in Dartmouth on October 31.

History gets a lift from Congress

Before leaving for its summer recess, Congress passed and sent to the president a bill (H.R. 4137, H. Rept. 110-803) reauthorizing federal higher education programs. It marks the first time in over a decade that Congress had reauthorized the Higher Education Act. The bill includes a new “American History for Freedom” initiative to establish or strengthen postsecondary academic programs or centers that promote the teaching of “traditional American history, free institutions and the history and ac

Asaf Romirowski: Hiring Strategies in Middle East Studies Questioned

The Israeli-Palestinian conflict long ago spilled over into America's departments of Middle East studies. In an attempt to appear balanced in the face of charges of anti-Israel biases, some departments or programs of Middle East studies have added Israeli scholars to their ranks—a move that at first glance appears welcome. Yet many of these Israeli academics have built their reputation on scholarship that is harshly critical not only of Israeli policy, but of Israel's very existence

Bernard Lewis: Is he serious?

I am not one to have much restraint when it comes to Bernard Lewis. Even so, I am absolutely stunned by his Op-Ed in today's WSJ, August 22. The Iranians, claims Lewis, cannot be deterred by the usual mutually assured destruction mumbo-jumbo: There is a radical difference between the Islamic Republic of Iran and other governments with nuclear weapons. This diffe

Dolma Kyab: Appeal for Tibetan history teacher

Dear Colleagues, International PEN reports about the plight of a Tibetan history teacher, Dolma Kyab (pen-name Lobsang Kelsang Gyatso) (1976-), sentenced to ten years' imprisonment in March 2005. He wrote manuscripts covering topics such as democracy, the sovereignty of Tibet, Tibet under communism, colonialism, religion, and geography. He is in bad health. We hope that you can send the recommended urgent appeals immediately. Please remember to write in your professional cap

Alexander Solzhenitsyn: Dies at 89

Russian writer Alexander Solzhenitsyn, who exposed Stalin's prison system in his novels and spent 20 years in exile, has died near Moscow at the age of 89. The author of The Gulag Archipelago and One Day In The Life Of Ivan Denisovich, who returned to Russia in 1994, died of either a stroke or heart failure. The Nobel laureate had suffered from high blood pressure in recent years. After returning to Russia, Solzhenitsyn wrote several polemics on Russian