Books

• 
• 2/2/20
  

  What Did Hitler Think About Anglo-American Capitalism?

  by James Thornton Harris

  A review of Brendan Simms' controversial new book, Hitler: A Global Biography.  

• 
• 2/2/20
  

  The Pioneers: Heroic Settlers or Indian Killers?

  by Walter G. Moss

  Unless we in the USA acknowledge not only the heroic, but also heinous deeds of our past, we will  fail to face our future with the courage needed to overcome such ills as racism and our present political polarization.  

• 
• 1/26/20
  

  How Neville Chamberlin Misread Hitler and Allowed the Third Reich to Threaten the World Order

  by Jeff Roquen

  In the new and magisterial study Appeasement: Chamberlain, Hitler, Churchill and the Road to War, Tim Bouverie incisively reconstructs the ideological landscape of post-WWI Britain to explain how Chamberlain and other politicians and pundits misread Hitler and ultimately allowed the Third Reich to threaten the entire world order.

• 
• 1/12/20
  

  A New History of American Liberalism

  by Bruce W. Dearstyne

  Liberals looking for an enlightening but sobering account of their movement's history should read James Traub. 

• 
• 12/29/19
  

  Great Britain’s Secret Role in Prodding a Reluctant U.S. to Superpower Status

  by James Thornton Harris

  America’s rapid emergence as a global superpower after 1945 is the subject of Grand Improvisation: America Confronts the British Superpower 1945-1957. Author Derek Leebaert challenges the conventional wisdom that an exhausted Great Britain voluntarily “handed the baton” of world leadership to the U.S. after World War II. 

• 
• 12/8/19
  

  Jack Miles' God in the Qur’an brings the three Abrahamic traditions to the table

  by Zaman Stanizai

  We cannot force someone to hear a message they are not ready to receive, but we must never underestimate the power of planting a seed.

• 
• 10/27/19
  

  New Jim Mattis Memoir Avoids Criticizing Trump, Instead Lashes Bush, Obama, and Others

  by Jeffrey J. Matthews

  With consequential elections forthcoming now is the time for Mattis to tell voters the unvarnished truth about Donald Trump.     

• 
• 10/13/19
  

  The Original War on Terror

  by Eric Laursen

  A review of Nunzio Pernicone and Fraser M. Ottanelli, Assassins against the Old Order: Italian Anarchist Violence in Fin de Siècle Europe.

• 
• 10/13/19
  

  Author Christian Di Spigna Is On a Mission to Honor a Revolutionary War Hero

  by Michael McQuillan

  A review of Founding Martyr: The Life and Death of Dr. Joseph Warren, the American Revolution’s Lost Hero.

• 
• 10/13/19
  

  The Moral Compass of America’s Most Distinguished Soldier and Statesman

  by James Thornton Harris

  George Marshall’s honesty and modesty were a key to his success.

• 
• 9/29/19
  

  Myth vs History: A Study of Vietnam War Stories and Journalism

  by Jerry Lembcke 

  Australia’s Vietnam by Mark Dapin is important for the rectification it brings to public memory of Vietnam War homecomings.

• 
• 9/22/19
  

  A Family History of the Red Scare

  by David L. O'Connor

  A review of David Maraniss' A Good American Family: My Father and the Red Scare.

• 
• 9/15/19
  

  Expansion and Motivation: Frontiers and Borders in the Past and Present of the United States and Russia

  by Robert W. Thurston

  Greg Grandin's The End of the Myth, David McCullough's The Pioneers, and Angela Stent's Putin’s World push us to consider and compare the history of the frontier and borders. 

• 
• 9/8/19
  

  A Nation Headed to Civil War: The Compromise of 1850

  by Sidney Blumenthal

  An excerpt from ALL THE POWERS OF EARTH by Sidney Blumenthal.

• 
• 8/25/19
  

  Israel’s 2007 Decision to Attack a Syrian Nuclear Facility is History and Warning

  by Edwin Black

  When reading Katz’s book, we are reminded that as complex and difficult as the Syrian strike was, any similar action on Iran’s nuclear capability would be infinitely more daunting and riskier. 

• 
• 8/18/19
  

  Book Review: Jeremy Black's Imperial Legacies

  by Jeff Roquen

  While Black lapses into a biased apologia and generalizes at the expense of factual evidence, Imperial Legacies, on the whole, delivers a long overdue re-contextualization of the British Empire.

• 
• 8/4/19
  

  “Mr. Straight Arrow,” John Hersey, and the decision to drop the atomic bomb

  by D. M. Giangreco

  What recent histories getsright--and wrong--about Harry S. Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan. 

• 
• 6/16/19
  

  A Fresh Take on Watergate Illuminates the Present

  by James Thornton Harris

  While Richard Nixon’s rise and fall has been repeatedly examined — there are more than a dozen biographies of him — John Farrell’s book, Richard Nixon, a Life, offers many new insights.

• 
• 5/19/19
  

  Into the Teeth of the Dragon’s Jaw in Vietnam

  by Erik Moshe

  The Thanh Hoa, or “Dragon’s Jaw” bridge was one tough target to crack for war strategists and military pilots during the Vietnam War. Erik Moshe interviewed the authors of Dragon's Jaw to learn more. 

• 
• 4/19/19
  

  The Coming of American Fascism, 1920–1940

  by Chris Wright

  Michael Joseph Roberto's The Coming of the American Behemoth: The Origins of Fascism in the United States, 1920–1940 is particularly timely, as the old structures of American fascism have deepened in the last generation and colonized much of the world.