biography

Michael Honey: Eig's MLK Bio Needed to Engage King's Belief in Labor Solidarity

A historian and editor of MLK's speeches praises Jonathan Eig's new biography, but says that the importance King placed on labor solidarity as a foundation of social justice is a part of the story that needs to be understood today. 

A Biography of Writer Lydia Marie Child Exemplifies a Revisitation of 19th Century Women

by Susan Cheever

A biography of the writer seeks to rectify a widespread phenomenon: women influential in their own time whose significance has been obscured in later histories. 

Ronald Steel, Biographer of Walter Lippman and RFK, Dies at 92

A prolific public intellectual, Steel wrote influential critiques of America's cold war foreign policy, calling military buildups wasteful and counterproductive. This led him to his masterwork, a biography of the influential newspaper columnist, a major shaper of 20th century American politics. 

Chad L. Williams on DuBois's Unfinished "Wounded World"

A DuBois biographer discusses the work of tracing the great intellectual's life and work, and the experience of reading an unpublished and unfinished manuscript. 

New Phillis Wheatley Biography Reclaims Her Role as an Antislavery Thinker

by Tiya Miles

With David Waldstreicher's book, "there can now be no doubt of Wheatley’s importance not only to African America but also to the country and culture as a whole," alongside Paine, Jefferson and Franklin. 

New Official Bio Claims Big Role for Secretary of State George Shultz in Ending the Cold War

Philip Taubman's new biography portays Shultz as a key figure in pushing Reagan to move closer to Soviet leadership, albeit one who was content to work in the background. 

Reconsidering Phillis Wheatley's Place in the Revolutionary Era

David Waldstreicher's "The Odyssey of Phillis Wheatley" places the poet in the ranks not only of the founders of American literature but of the nation itself. 

20 Biopics Worth Watching

It's rare for a biopic to attempt artistic innovation. A critic offers a list of those that succeed. 

Why George Kennan Thought He Failed His Biggest Challenge

by Patrick Iber

After urging the United States to firmly oppose the expansion of Soviet influence as a way of bringing the USSR's internal weaknesses to the forefront, Kennan grew disillusioned at the militarized tack later versions of "containment" took. A new book revisits and challenges canonical studies of the diplomatic thinker. 

Michael Kazin on J. Edgar Hoover, and Beverly Gage's Acclaimed Biography

by Michael Kazin

The signal contribution of Gage's book is not to examine Hoover's ideology or the details of his personal life, but to show how the FBI director built power and broad support, among even liberal Americans, for intrusive surveillance and repression of activists. 

How I Helped a Private Man Share His Story of Escaping the Nazis

by David Tabatsky

For me, the son of a cantor and WWII veteran, who grew up seeing numbers tattooed on numerous arms, sharing Salomon Kool's story has reminded me of a collective mission to always remember.

Two-Time Pulitzer Prize Winner David McCulloch Dies at 89

"Mr. McCullough, long regarded as a master storyteller of American daring, endeavor and perseverance, died Aug. 7 at his home in Hingham, Mass. He was 89."

Learning About Stalin from His Books: An Interview with Geoffrey Roberts

by Aaron J. Leonard

Researchers who access Stalin's books will find the dictator's library a source of insight into his political thinking and engagement with ideas (and his pithy marginalia), but not a Rosetta Stone for understanding his capacity for atrocity. 

Spielberg was the Director Lincoln Deserved

The director, with writer Tony Kushner and star Daniel Day-Lewis, nailed the idea of Lincoln as an imperfect leader nevertheless "fitted to the times we were born into," in a film that holds up after ten years.

Why the Short and Rebellious Life of Stephen Crane Still Matters

by Linda H. Davis

Though he quickly became a model of literary celebrity of the sort we would recognize today, Stephen Crane's more crucial legacy is of the pursuit of truth without regard to consequence.

How Willmoore Kendall Invented Trumpism

by Jacob Heilbrunn

Christopher Owens's biography places Willmoore Kendall in the first rank of postwar conservative intellectuals and identifies him with the fusion of populism and traditionalism associated with the Trumpist right and the burgeoning "national conservative" movements.

Lee's Fault: On Allen Guelzo's Biography

by John Reeves

A reviewer concludes that Allen Guelzo's new biography succeeds in evaluating Robert E. Lee's military career but misses in its assessment of his relationship to slavery and his legacy.

How do I Tell the Story of Robert E. Lee?

by Allen C. Guelzo

Lee is a study in contradictions, argues his most recent biographer. Can the public today engage with them? 

Latest Installment of Graphic Format Memoir of John Lewis Deals with Ongoing Legacy

A conversation with Andrew Aydin, John Lewis's former aide and collaborator on "Run," the hit graphic format memoir, discusses the legacy of the activist and congressman. 

Ending the Kennedy Romance (Frederick Logevall's JFK Bio Reviewed)

by Michael Kazin

Frederick Logevall's biography, written by a scholar who didn't experience the Camelot myth firsthand, should point toward a clearer-headed consideration of JFK's legacy, argues Michael Kazin.