Things Noted Here & There

In Vinay Sitapati,"Hegemony in the politics department," Princeton Daily, 5 April, a Princeton graduate student is eloquently frank about his department.

Adam Kirsch,"National Treasure," Tablet, 12 April, reviews a critical edition of The Washington Haggadah, a 1478 manuscript in the Library of Congress.

Sarah Dunant reviews Craig A. Monson's Nuns Behaving Badly: Tales of Music, Magic, Art and Arson in the Convents of Italy for History Today, 22 March.

Christopher Hitchens,"When the King Saved God," Vanity Fair, May, reflects on how the King James translation of Hebrew and Greek scriptures gave expression to the English language.

Craig Fehrman,"Civil war lit," Ideas, 10 April, considers the American Civil War's effect on American literature. Ken Burns,"A Conflict's Acoustic Shadows," Opinionator, 11 April, reflects on the Civil War's enduring relevance in the 21st century's post-racial, globalized world.

Maureen Mullarkey,"Modern Martyr," Weekly Standard, 11 April, reviews Meryle Secrest's Modigliani: A Life.

In Jan Fleischhauer,"Rape, Murder and Genocide: Nazi War Crimes as Described by German Soldiers," Der Spiegel, 8 April, veterans of the Wehrmacht discuss German war crimes against civilians. Hendrik Hertzberg,"Prisoners," New Yorker, 18 April, compares American treatment of German prisoners in World War II to the treatment of prisoners at Guantanamo.

In Sheila K. Johnson,"The Blowback World of Chalmers Johnson," Mother Jones, 11 April, his widow reflects on the career of Chalmers Johnson. Thanks to Alan Baumler for the tip.