Week of March 18, 2013

Up Front

Rebutting David Greenberg's Broadside on Howard Zinn Jesse Lemisch, Staughton Lynd, and Robert Cohen Questions raised on the accuracy of an article in The New Republic. Tags:  A People's History, David Greenberg, Howard Zinn, The New Republic

"My review was moderate in its tone and fair to Zinn." David Greenberg David Greenberg responds to Lemisch, Lynd, and Cohen. Tags:  A People's History, David Greenberg, Howard Zinn, The New Republic

The Iraq War After 10 Years

The Iraq War: Learning Lessons, Ignoring History Michael H. Hunt The New York Times's disappointing coverage of the anniversary. Tags: anniversaries, counterinsurgency, Iraq War, New York Times

Ten Years of "Police Advisors" in Iraq Martha K. Huggins U.S. police advisors enabled brutalities and set up a flawed justice system in Iraq. Tags: anniversaries, Iraq War, Special Operations Forces, police

POLL: Has the Media Been Open Enough About Its Role in the Iraq War? Tags: anniversaries, Iraq War, mainstream media, polls

What the U.S. Invasion Looked Like to Iraqis Mark Kukis "I turned a corner, and there they were, the Americans." Tags: Informed Comment, Iraq War, Iraqis, oral history

Feature: Pope Francis

A Pope of Firsts, But Will Francis Actually Change the Vatican? Anthea Butler The apotheosis of Catholic History, or a repetition of a colonial past? Tags: Catholic Church, Jesuits, Latin America, Pope Francis

Tenemos un Papa! Anne M. Martínez Pope Francis's election is not without controversy, but a Latin American pope is a huge step forward for an oft-hidebound church. Tags: popes, Catholic Church, Latin America, Francis

Testing the New Pope's Commitment to Poverty Walter G. Moss If Francis wants to prove his devotion to the poor, he should canonize Dorothy Day. Tags: Catholic Church, Dorothy Day, Francis, poverty

The Catholic Church's Long Struggle over Accommodating to Authoritarian Regimes David Austin Walsh The Church has had an ambiguous history under twentieth-century dictatorships. Tags: Catholic Church, Nazi Germany, Communist Poland, Spanish Civil War

News at Home

Assessing Sheryl Sandberg’s “Lean In” Stephanie Coontz It’s not every day that a high-achieving woman proclaims herself a feminist. Tags: feminism, "Lean In", MomsRising.org, Sheryl Sandberg

Can American Conservatism Be Salvaged? Richard Striner The clowns who run the Republican Party need to look to Lincoln, TR, Ike, and yes, even Nixon, for guidance. Tags: conservatism, Dwight D. Eisenhower, Republican Party, Richard Nixon

The American Roots of Neoliberalism Daniel Stedman Jones The origins lay in war-torn Europe, but it took the fertile soil of America for the seeds to sprout. Tags: Ludwig von Mises, Milton Friedman, neoliberalism, University of Chicago

News Abroad

The President, in Israel, Giveth and Taketh Away Ira Chernus's MythicAmerica Obama's Niebuhrian foreign policy. Tags: Barack Obama, Israel, special relationship, Israeli-Palestinian conflict

Historians & History

The Story of a Rape in Wartime Nick Turse Three American soldiers in Vietnam raped one of their bunkmates; unlike so many rapes in Vietnam, this one was reported. Tags: Vietnam War, atrocities, war crimes, rape

A Primer on America’s Forgotten "Nasty Little War" Robin Lindley Gregg Jones on America’s imperial dream and the brutal conflict in the Philippines. Tags: Gregg Jones, Philippines, Philippine–American War, Theodore Roosevelt

A New Left Historian Rewrites Some History Ronald Radosh Staughton Lynd's obituary of Herb Shapiro exaggerated the level of anti-communist "hysteria" and ignored the actual threat of communism. Tags: academy, Minding the Campus, New Left, Staughton Lynd

Russia's Forgotten Genocide Walt Richmond The expulsion of the Circassians in the nineteenth century nearly destroyed a people. Tags: Circassia, genocide, Russia, Russian Empire

Education

Let the Teachers Teach David Patten And not just teach to the standardized test. Tags: education reform, history teachers, standardized tests, teaching

Books

Review of Dale Maharidge’s Bringing Mulligan Home Murray Polner A personal memoir about growing up with an ex-Marine dad. Tags: Dale Maharidge, Marines, oral history, World War II

Review of Robert M. Lichtman's The Supreme Court and McCarthy-Era Repression Robert D. Parmet A comprehensive reference work on the subject. Tags: Earl Warren, McCarthyism, Robert M. Lichtman, Supreme Court