Recently Published

Mexican War Traitor, Hero, and Irishman: The Three Faces of John Riley

by Peter F. Stevens

By the end of the Mexican-American War, 1846-48, John Riley wore three labels – American traitor, Mexican hero, and Irish nationalist.  Which o

Getting Gun History Right

by Saul Cornell

Captain Jim Williams, a member of the newly created African-American militia in South Carolina, was lynched by the Ku Klux Klan in 1871. A placard

Recovering the Voice of Martin Luther King from 1960

by Keith L. Sprunger

Fifty years ago, Martin Luther King spoke at Bethel College on the topic, “The Future of Integration.” This was part of the Memorial Hall lecture series; the date was January 21, 1960. A few people of the community still recall attending the lecture, but memories are weak. Bethel College is a Mennonite liberal arts college at North Newton, Kansas, founded in 1887. Moving toward its 125th anniversary in 2012, the college is highlighting various events in its history. T

How Zoroastrianism Influences the Worldview of Iran's Leadership

by Juan Cole

As I reported in January, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has begun taking the lin

A Critique of Peter Kuznick's Interview with HNN

by Ron Radosh

If you wonder how people on the Left deal with their critics, look no further than this new lengthy interview with Prof. Peter Kuznick, the co-writer and co-director with Oliver Stone of the forthcoming Showtime ten-part documentary on the twentieth century.  I first

Oliver Stone's Secret History: An Interview with Peter Kuznick

by Dave Lieberson

Since The Birth of a Nation, Hollywood has been trying to make history its own.  While some movies are loathed by historians (Troy) and others loved (Platoon) it is hard to find a movie or television show that sheds light on an entertaining subject and yet remains historically accurate.  Peter Kuznick and Oliver Stone are collaborating on a ten part Showtime series in an attempt to do just that.  The series focuses on the new, undiscovered asp

On Turkey and the Armenian Genocide, the Obama Administration Needs to Sing a New Song

by Taner Akçam

What is the difference between the Obama and Bush administrations?  Nothing, it seems, when it comes to facing history and recognizing historic

The Texas State Board of Education's Attempt to Christianize the Founders

by John Willingham

In the recent social studies debates before the elected Texas State Board of Education, board member Terri Leo, an energetic Republican activist for more than twenty years, led attempts by the board's conservative bloc to include a more Christian influence in the curriculum, with the ultimate goal of teaching that America was—and now should be—a Christian nation with an exceptional, divinely-ordained mission in history. In a section for fifth graders on the causes

Korea's Truth and Reconciliation Commission: An Interview with Kim Dong-choon

by Mark Selden

Since the formation of South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to come to terms with the legacy of apartheid and colonialism, Commissions have sprung up in many countries that have sought to come to terms with painful legacies of colonialism, war, and interna

Why Saladin Continues to Captivate the Arab World

by Jonathan Phillips

On October 2, 1187, the demoralized Christian defenders of Jerusalem watched Saladin, the ruler of the Muslim Near East, enter the city.  This day – by coincidence, the anniversary of the Prophet’s Nigh

Decline of a Great Power?

by Robert Brent Toplin

Yale historian Paul Kennedy’s 1987 best-seller, The Rise and Fall of the Great Powers, has been getting renewed attention these days, because the book carries a message of interest to Americans in 2010.  Kennedy demonstrated that many of the great nations of earlier history made expensive military commitments.  Eventually, the cost of defending vast interests weakened their economies.  Kennedy said the United States appeared to be engaging in “overstr

Dismantling SUNY, America's Largest Public University System

by Lawrence S. Wittner

In January 2010, when New York Governor David Paterson unveiled plans for the enactment of a "Public Higher Education Empowerment and Innovatio

The Crisis in Turkey over the Military Threatens Secular Government

by Daniel Pipes

The arrest and indictment of top military figures in Turkey last week precipitated potentially the most severe crisis since Atatürk founded the republic in 1923. The weeks ahead will probably indicate whether the country continues its slide toward Islamism or reverts to its traditional secularism. The denouement has major implications for Muslims everywhere.Turkey's military has long been both the state's most trusted institution and the guarantor of Atatürk's legacy, e

Choking Off Our Past by Cutting Preservation

by Ed Hooper

Historical preservation in the United States got hit by a freight train when President Obama recently released his FY2011 budget.  The president's budget eliminates funding for the Save America's Treasures and Preserve America programs, and cuts funding for National Heritage Areas by 50 percent.  This is the hardest financial hit historical preservation has taken in more than 20 years. Historical preservation in the United States depends upon the federal government to monito

Big Tobacco and the Historians

by Jon Wiener

Last summer Robert Proctor, a Stanford professor who studies the history of tobacco, was surprised to receive court papers accusing him of witness tampering and witness intimidation, along with a subpoena for his

How Thomas Jefferson's Wartime Record Shaped His Life

by Michael Kranish

“I think one war enough for the life of one man,” Jefferson wrote a friend in 1808, “and you and I have gone through one which at least may lesson our impatience to embark in another.”

With a Free Enterprise Vietnam, Who Really Won the War?

by William Thompson

Over the year-end, I visited Vietnam, and I revised some thinking.  I now conclude that we won the Vietnam War.  We just weren’t there for the victory party.I was in Vietnam to visit my son, a school teacher at the South Saigon (yes! SAIGON) International School.  I rode on a “cyclo” from the Ho Chi Minh Post Office, filled with merchants hawking goods, to the Ben Thanh Market—from one hot spot of capitalism to another.  I took a tr

The Forgotten Washington Race War of 1919

by Rawn James Jr.

For all the ink spilled lamenting Washington, D.C.’s allegedly massive racial divide, it is worth noting that the District of Columbia, perhaps more than any other American city, has come an extraordinarily l

Obama Isn't the First Male Feminist

by Arianne Chernock

A year ago, Ms. Magazine made the controversial choice to place a newly-elected President Obama on its cover, dress shirt and tie ripped open, with th

The China We're Stuck With

by Warren I. Cohen

In 1908, President Theodore Roosevelt spoke to a Chinese emissary of America’s hope for a strong, stable, and prosperous China. He professed to believe that such a China would be in the interest