Recently Published

The Year They Cancelled St. Patrick's Day

by Gillian O’Brien

It happened in Chicago in 1890. The reason was murder.

Let’s talk about Hillary Clinton for the Historical Record

by Nomi Prins

Hillary Clinton didn't just exercise shady judgment, she disrespected American history and the few rules the government has put in place to preserve it.

Things Shakespeare Got Wrong About the Ides of March

by Barry Strauss

Why he erred is simple: The dramatist was thinking about the footlights, not the footnotes.

More than 80,000 People Died and Hardly Anyone Paid Attention?

by Saotome Katsumoto

How Japan finally came to terms with the Great Tokyo Air Raid, which took place 70 years ago this month.

The Historical Roots of Fraternity Racism

by Robert Cohen

The coupling of lynching metaphors with the chanting of segregationist “never” pledge is not accidental.

Bombing Iran: What Would Happen If the Hawks Got Their Way?

by Juan Cole

A US bombing raid on Iran would essentially be a rescue of ISIL in Iraq.

This Is What Right-to-Work Means

by Elizabeth Tandy Shermer

“Right to work” sounds benign, if not all-American. It is in fact malignant, not just for organized labor, but also a state’s economic health.

New York's 200-Year Conspiracy for Peace

by Lawrence S. Wittner

Why has New York played a central role in the American peace movement?

The Dred Scott Case Said Blacks Had No Rights the “White Man Was Bound to Respect.” But in the West Things Turned Out Differently.

by Adam Arenson

In the West, many Americans expanded their citizenship rights in ways Roger Taney never anticipated.

Obama’s Not the First President to Make Immigration Policy

by Brian Gratton

Ronald Reagan and George H.W. Bush did it. So did Warren Harding, Calvin Coolidge, and Herbert Hoover.

Our First Unwashington President

by Thomas Fleming

A fresh review of Jefferson’s presidency shows that a guiding principle was to do the opposite of what Washington did.

This Is What Bipartisanship Looks Like – In Case You’ve Forgotten

by Sheldon M. Stern

What Republican hardliner Charlie Halleck told JFK during the Cuban Missile Crisis.

Jonathan Zimmerman: What I’m Reading

by Tiffany April Griffin

His 3 favorite historians? Frederick Jackson Turner, Richard Hofstadter, and John Hope Franklin.

Guess What? There Are Truly Great Banks in the US

by Robert E. Wright

Here are the stories of several of them.

Wellington Doesn’t Deserve the Credit for Winning Waterloo

by Brendan Simms

Here are the 400 men who do.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s Ideologically Dictated Worldview

by Lawrence Davidson

Think of the Israeli prime minister as a Pied Piper, playing the hypnotic tunes of anti-Semitism, Islamophobia and clash of civilizations down a dark and dismal road to war.

Obama and Netanyahu Differ on History, Not Just Iran

by John Dickson

Both leaders take a long view of history, but while Netanyahu’s view goes backward, Obama’s looks forward.

What Netanyahu’s Speech to Congress Will Mean for Israel and US Politics

by James Stocker

On March 3 Bibi Netanyahu ties Winston Churchill for the title of the foreign leader who has given the most speeches to the Congress. Is his address of long-lasting significance?

Obama’s ISIS War Request Is an “Extraordinary Opportunity” for Congress

by Andrew Bacevich

Pretend that it’s the spring of 1970. President Richard Nixon has just sent US troops into Cambodia, expanding the war.  Angry?  Then why aren't you angry now?

This Is When Muslims in the Middle East Turned to Extremism

by Richard Drake

It started with a treaty few in the West even remember: The Treaty of Sèvres (1920)