Books About History & Historians
In the Name of God and Country: Reconsidering Terrorism in American History -- by Michael Fellman
Windows into the Past: Life Histories and the Historian of South Asia -- by Judith M. Brown
3 Plays: The Political Theater of Howard Zinn -- by Howard Zinn
Gendering Historiography: Beyond National Canons -- Edited by Angelika Epple and Angelika Schaser
Cosmopolitan Islanders: British Historians and the European Continent -- by Richard J. Evans
Our National Life: American History at the National Archives
This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War by James McPherson
A Guide to Oral History and the Law by John A. Neuenschwander
Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World, ed. Eric Foner
Who Abolished Slavery?: Slave Revolts and Abolitionism, A Debate with Joao Pedro Marques -- Edited by Seymour Drescher and Pieter C. Emmer
[From the publisher]
The past half-century has produced a mass of information regarding slave resistance, ranging from individual acts of disobedience to massive uprisings. Many of these acts of rebellion have been studied extensively, yet the ultimate goals of the insurgents remain open for discussion.
Recently, several historians have suggested that slaves achieved their own freedom by resisting slavery, which counters the predominant argument that abolitionist pressure groups, parliamentarians, and the governmental and anti-governmental armies of the various slaveholding empires were the prime movers behind emancipation. Marques, one of the leading historians of slavery and abolition, argues that, in most cases, it is impossible to establish a direct relation between slaves’ uprisings and the emancipation laws that would be approved in the western countries. Following this presentation, his arguments are taken up by a dozen of the most outstanding historians in this field. In a concluding chapter, Marques responds briefly to their comments and evaluates the degree to which they challenge or enhance his view.
China and the Vocation of History in the Twentieth Century: A Personal Memoir -- by Frederick W. Mote
[From Amazon.com]
Frederick Mote, one of the twentieth century's most prominent Sinologists, has written a historian's memoir that uses observation and personal experiences to understand the intellectual and social transformation of China. Mote's thought-provoking narrative distills his reflections on modern China and details change in Chinese historical studies in the twentieth century. Mote assesses the work of historians prior to 1950 and the domination of China by the Communist Chinese, hints at the direction of Chinese historical studies in the post-1950s era, and explores the continuous change in the ways Chinese history has been understood among the Chinese themselves and within the field.
Language training in the Army Specialized Training Program and subsequent wartime service with the Office of Strategic Services serendipitously drew Mote into the study of China, the immense discipline to which he devoted his life. Previously unpublished material in the text, appendices, and addenda document such diverse encounters as the destruction of a Catholic mission by the Communists, Sino-Japanese relations in China in the aftermath of World War II, the growth of East Asian Studies at Princeton University, and a 1974 delegation visit to China. Evaluating Chinese ideas and attitudes toward revolution, modernization, and war, Mote measures the weight and meaning of Chinese historical study.
In the Name of God and Country: Reconsidering Terrorism in American History -- by Michael Fellman
[From the publisher]
With insight and originality, Michael Fellman argues that terrorism, in various forms, has been a constant and driving force in American history. In part, this is due to the nature of American republicanism and Protestant Christianity, which he believes contain a core of moral absolutism and self-righteousness that perpetrators of terrorism use to justify their actions. Fellman also argues that there is an intrinsic relationship between terrorist acts by non-state groups and responses on the part of the state; unlike many observers, he believes that both the action and the reaction constitute terrorism.
Fellman’s compelling narrative focuses on five key episodes: John Brown’s raid on Harpers Ferry; terrorism during the American Civil War, especially race warfare and guerrilla warfare; the organized “White Line” paramilitary destruction of Reconstruction in Mississippi; the Haymarket Affair and its aftermath; and the Philippine-American war of 1899–1902. In an epilogue, he applies this history to illuminate the Bush-Cheney administration’s use of terrorism in the so-called war on terror. In the Name of God and Country demonstrates the centrality of terrorism in shaping America even to this day.
The American War in Contemporary Vietnam: Transnational Remembrance and Representation -- by Christina Schwenkel
[From Amazon.com]
Christina Schwenkel's absorbing study explores how the "American War" is remembered and commemorated in Vietnam today -- in official and unofficial histories and in everyday life. Schwenkel analyzes visual representations found in monuments and martyrs' cemeteries, museums, photography and art exhibits, battlefield tours, and related sites of "trauma tourism." In these transnational spaces, American and Vietnamese memories of the war intersect in ways profoundly shaped by global economic liberalization and the return of American citizens as tourists, pilgrims, and philanthropists.
Windows into the Past: Life Histories and the Historian of South Asia -- by Judith M. Brown
[From Amazon.com]
Judith M. Brown, one of the leading historians of South Asia, provides an original and thought-provoking strategy for conducting and presenting historical research in her latest book, "Windows into the Past". Brown looks at how varieties of 'life history' that focus on the lives of institutions and families, as well as individuals, offer a broad and rich means of studying history. Her distinctively creative approach differs from traditional historical biography in that it explores a variety of 'life histories' and shows us how they become invaluable windows into the past. Following her introduction, "The Practice of History", Brown opens windows on the history of South Asia. She begins with the life history of an educational institution, Balliol College, Oxford, and tracks the interrelationship between Britain and India through the lives of the British and Indian men who were educated there. She then demonstrates the significance of family life history, showing that by observing patterns of family life over several generations, it is possible to gain insight into the experiences of groups of people who rarely left historical documents about themselves, particularly South Asian women. Finally, Brown uses the life history of two prominent individuals, Mahatma Gandhi and Jawaharlal Nehru, to examine questions about the nature of Indian nationalism and the emergent Indian state.
Blackstone in America: Selected Essays of Kathryn Preyer -- by Mary Bilder, Maeva Marcus, and R. Kent Newmyer
[From Amazon.com]
Blackstone in America explores the creative process of transplantation - the way in which American legislators and judges refashioned the English common law inheritance to fit the republican political culture of the new nation. With current scholarship returning to focus on the transformation of Anglo-American law to "American" law, Professor Kathryn Preyer's lifelong study of the constitutional and legal culture of the early American republic has acquired new relevance and a wider audience. The collection includes Professor Preyer's work on criminal law, the early national judiciary, and the history of the book. All nine of Professor Preyer's important and award-winning essays are easily accessible in this volume, with new introductions by three leading scholars of early American law.
Africa and the West: A Documentary History, Volume 2: From Colonialism to Independence, 1875 to the Present -- by William H. Worger, Nancy L. Clark, and Edward A. Alpers
[From Amazon.com]
Africa and the West presents a fascinating array of primary sources to engage readers in the history of Africa's long and troubled relationship with the West. Many of the sources have not previously appeared in print, or in books readily available to students. Volume 2 picks up on the theme of conquest and covers the implementation of colonial rule, education, labor, nationalist movements, the world wars, decolonization, and independence. These documents include a German school examination for African children, the Natives Land Act from South Africa, a report on the impact of colonialism on women from the founder of the Women's League of the African National Congress, and Nelson Mandela's presidential address No Easy Walk to Freedom.
Africa and the West: A Documentary History, Vol. 1: From the Slave Trade to Conquest, 1441-1905 -- by William H. Worger, Nancy L. Clark, and Edward A. Alpers
[From Amazon.com]
Africa and the West presents a fascinating array of primary sources to engage readers in the history of Africa's long and troubled relationship with the West. Many of the sources have not previously appeared in print, or in books readily available to students. Volume 1 covers two major topics: the Atlantic slave trade and the European conquest. It details the beginnings of the slave trade, slavery as a business, the experiences of slaves, and the effect of abolitionism on the trade, using such documents as a letter from a sixteenth-century African king to the king of Portugal calling for a more regulated slave trade, and the nineteenth-century testimony of a South African slave accused of treason. The volume also covers the early nineteenth-century considerations of the costs and benefits of colonization, the development of conquest as the century progressed, with special attention to technology, legislation, empire, religion, racism, and violence, through such unusual documents as Cecil Rhodes's will and a chart of the costs of African animals exported to Western zoos.
3 Plays: The Political Theater of Howard Zinn -- by Howard Zinn
[From the publisher]
Best-selling historian Howard Zinn is celebrated for looking at history not from the perspective of those in power but rather from the viewpoint of those who speak truth to power. In his plays Marx in Soho, Emma, and Daughter of Venus, Zinn applies that principle with enormous zest and great doses of drama and humor. A much-admired public intellectual himself, Zinn here brings to life the radicals Emma Goldman and Karl Marx, and in the previously unpublished Daughter of Venus explores ethical questions of political resistance.
Marx in Soho is a witty introduction to Karl Marx’s life and thought disguised as a romp. Marx is sent, via a bureaucratic mix-up in the afterlife, to Soho in New York, rather than to his familiar London neighborhood, for the hard-won opportunity to clear his name. In Emma, the feminist, anarchist, and free-spirited thinker Emma Goldman lives life to the fullest in a play that reveals her agonized internal struggle between sexual freedom and political rebellion. Daughter of Venus is a family drama, an intellectual and personal duel between a biophysicist and his rebel daughter.
Gendering Historiography: Beyond National Canons -- Edited by Angelika Epple and Angelika Schaser
[From Amazon]
Comparing various European and American historiographies from the past two hundred years, Gendering Historiography provides insights into the establishment and cultivation of gendered power relations in different societies and outlines the devastating effects that exclusionary practices can have on each national canon. This detailed and revealing book will change the face of history writing, bringing overlooked and previously excluded histories back into modern historiography.
Cosmopolitan Islanders: British Historians and the European Continent -- by Richard J. Evans
[From Cambridge University Press]
In Cosmopolitan Islanders one of the world’s leading historians asks why it is that so many prominent and influential British historians have devoted themselves to the study of the European continent. Books on the history of France, Germany, Italy, Russia, and many other European countries, and of Europe more generally, have frequently reached the best-seller lists both in Britain and (in translation) in those European countries themselves. Yet the same is emphatically not true in reverse. Richard J. Evans traces the evolution of British interest in the history of Continental Europe from the Enlightenment to the twentieth century. He goes on to discuss why British historians who work on aspects of European history in the present day have chosen to do so and why this distinguished tradition is now under threat. Cosmopolitan Islanders ends with some reflections on what needs to be done to ensure its continuation in the future.
Sustainable History and the Dignity of Men: A Philosophy of History and Civilisational Triumph -- by Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan
[From Amazon.com]
Sustainable History and the Dignity of Man is a new philosophy of history. This volume outlines how sustainable history is propelled by good governance, which balances the tension between the attributes of human nature - emotionality, amorality and egoisms - and human dignity needs, such as reason, security, human rights, accountability, transparency, justice, opportunity, innovation and inclusiveness. The author proposes minimum criteria for good governance that are sensitive to local cultures and histories but meet certain common global values to ensure maximum and sustainable moral and political cooperation. Using an ocean model of a single collective human civilisation, the author argues that we should think in terms of a common human story that is comprised of multiple geo-cultural domains and sub-cultures with a history of mutual borrowing and synergies. The author argues that, today, all geo-cultural domains must succeed if humanity as a whole is to triumph. This collective triumph will also depend on reason and a recognition that a great deal of knowledge is indeterminate and may be temporally, spatially and perhaps culturally constrained, as is outlined in the author's new theory of knowledge: "Neuro-rational Physicalism".
Dr. Nayef R.F. Al-Rodhan is Senior Scholar in Geostrategy and Director of the Programme on the Geopolitical Implications of Globalisation and Transnational Security at the Geneva Centre for Security Policy, Geneva, Switzerland.
The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History -- Edited by Michael Kazin, Rebecca Edwards, and Adam Rothman
[From the Publisher]
An essential resource for anyone interested in U.S. history and politics, this two-volume encyclopedia covers the major forces that have shaped American politics from the founding to today. Broad in scope, the book addresses both the traditional topics of political history--such as eras, institutions, political parties, presidents, and founding documents--and the wider subjects of current scholarship, including military, electoral, and economic events, as well as social movements, popular culture, religion, education, race, gender, and more.
Each article, specially commissioned for this book, goes beyond basic facts to provide readers with crucial context, expert analysis, and informed perspectives on the evolution of American politics. Written by more than 170 leading historians and social scientists, The Princeton Encyclopedia of American Political History gives students, scholars, and researchers authoritative introductions to the subject's most important topics and a first step to further research.
Macaulay: The Tragedy of Power By Robert E. Sullivan
Source: AHA Blog (12-29-09)
Thomas Babington Macaulay was a 19th-century British historian, essayist, and politician best remembered for his multi-volume History of England and implementation of a penal code that remains the law in India and South Asia today. But as Robert E. Sullivan (Univ. of Notre Dame) shows, there was much more to the man whose thoughts on race, subjugation, civilizing, and imperial slaughter have eluded past biographers. Through examination of Macaulay’s private letters and diaries, Sullivan has unearthed a sinister vision of a power-hungry man emotionally crippled by his father, in love with his two youngest sisters, and a proponent of “genocide.” Macaulay is an important revisionist biography that sets out to rectify the view of this man as grand and a hero. Devoting his great talents to gaining power—above all for England and its empire—made Macaulay’s life a tragedy. Sullivan offers a study of an afflicted genius and a thoughtful meditation on the modern ethics of power.
Teaching What Really Happened: How To Avoid the Tyranny of Textbooks and Get Students Excited About Doing History By James Loewen
[From the publisher] In this follow-up to his landmark bestseller, Lies My Teacher Told Me: Everything Your American History Textbook Got Wrong, Loewen goes beyond the usual textbook-dominated curriculum to illuminate a wealth of intriguing, often hidden facts about America’s past. Calling for a new way to teach history, this book offers teachers specific ideas for how to get students excited about history, how to get them to DO history, and how to help them read critically. It will specifically help teachers tackle difficult but important topics like the American Indian experience, slavery, and race relations. Throughout, Loewen shows how “teaching what really happened” not only connects better with all kinds of students, it better prepares those students to be tomorrow’s citizens.
Our National Life: American History at the National Archives
[From the Publisher] Published in honor of the National Archives’ 75th anniversary, this highly illustrated volume takes the reader on a journey through American history, offering a close-up examination of some of the billions of documents, photographs, maps, and films in the holdings of the National Archives. All facets of the American story emerge here, from the noble to the ignoble, the monumental to the mundane. The overriding themes of the nation’s history are covered—territorial exploration and expansion, immigration and migration, political life, the rights of women and minorities, and the growth of industry and technology.
Featuring more than 800 illustrations, with succinct captions, and essays by some of America’s leading journalists, political commentators and broadcasters, this work provides readers with a glimpse into the extensive holdings waiting to be discovered at the National Archives. 320 pages, hardcover. 10-1/2” x 11-1/4”.
This Mighty Scourge: Perspectives on the Civil War by James McPherson
[From Publishe's Weekly] Prolific and much-honored historian McPherson (Battle Cry of Freedom, etc.) weighs in on the Civil War in this compilation of 16 essays, most of which have appeared in print before—seven of them in The New York Review of Books. Revised and edited for this collection, the essays read like chapters in a smooth narrative that addresses some of the biggest questions of the Civil War: why did it start? why did the South lose? what motivated the men who fought on both sides? how do we evaluate the top leaders—including Lincoln, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Ulysses G. Grant? McPherson goes about answering these and other questions in his usual graceful style, underscored by a thorough grasp of myriad primary and secondary sources on virtually every aspect of the conflict. He forthrightly expresses his opinions while backing them up with well-reasoned arguments, whether challenging the "Lost Cause" argument about why the South lost, or supporting the proposition that it was slavery—and not states' rights—that was the main cause of the war. This strong addition to the massive Civil War canon will appeal to all readers.
A Guide to Oral History and the Law by John A. Neuenschwander
[From the Publisher] A Guide to Oral History and the Law is the definitive resource for all practitioners of oral history. In clear, accessible language it thoroughly explains all the critical legal issues, including legal release agreements; copyright; privacy; screening, editing, and sealing procedures to protect against defamation; the protection of sealed and anonymous interviews from courtroom disclosure; the role of Institutional Review Boards (IRBs); teaching considerations; and the new issues raised by the use of interviews on the Internet. Neuenschwander's central focus is prevention, rather than litigation, and he cites not only the most recent court cases but also examples of procedures and policies that oral history programs have used effectively to avoid legal difficulties. The book provides more than a dozen sample legal release agreements applicable to a variety of situations. This essential volume will be used by professionals, family historians, and students alike.
Living in the Eighties ed. Gil Troy and Vincent Cannato
[From the Publisher] Some see the 1980s as a Golden Age, a "Morning in America" when Ronald Reagan revived America's economy, reoriented American politics, and restored Americans' faith in their country and in themselves. Others see the 1980s as a new "Gilded Age," an era that was selfish, superficial, glitzy, greedy, divisive, and destructive. This multifaceted exploration of the 1980s brings together a variety of voices from different political persuasions, generations, and vantage points. The volume features work by Reagan critics and Reagan fans (including one of President Reagan's closest aides, Ed Meese), by historians who think the 1980s were a disastrous time, those who think it was a glorious time, and those who see both the blessings and the curses of the decade. Their essays examine everything from multiculturalism, Southern conservatism, and Reaganomics, to music culture, religion, crime, AIDS, and the city. A complex, thoughtful account of a watershed in our recent history, this volume will engage anyone interested in this pivotal decade.
Our Lincoln: New Perspectives on Lincoln and His World, ed. Eric Foner
[From Booklist] As the bicentennial birthday of Abraham Lincoln approaches, there will undoubtedly be an increase in the normal (that is, high) publication rate of new Lincoln titles. This anniversary entry assembles some of America’s most eminent historians, whom editor Foner, author of the standard Reconstruction (1988), assigned to write on topics that have concerned Lincoln scholars in recent years. James McPherson sums up Lincoln as commander in chief (and expands in Tried by War, reviewed in this issue); every other historian tackles a nonmilitary topic. Three authors (including Foner on black colonization) address Lincoln and racial prejudice, and Mark Neely looks at Lincoln and habeas corpus, which are two active arenas of scholarship. In a popular-interest vein are interesting articles by Harold Holzer on famous photos of Lincoln, which Holzer argues were sittings intended to assist sculptors and painters; by Catherine Clinton (biography-in-progress of Mary Lincoln) on Abe’s family life; and by Race and Reunion (2001) author David Blight on the political uses of Lincoln in the present. The 12 essays offer insightful variety to Civil War readers.
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