American History Notes

History Carnival XCVIII is up at H. Niyazi's Three Pipe Problem.

Thomas Bender, "The King's Men, After the American Revolution," NYT, 29 April, reviews Maya Jasanoff's Liberty's Exiles: American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World.

Nicholas Mancusi, "Our Founding Wordsmith," Daily Beast, 30 April, reviews Joshua Kendall's The Forgotten Founding Father: Noah Webster's Obsession and the Creation of an American Culture.

Eric Foner, "Why the North Fought the Civil War," NYT, 29 April, reviews Gary W. Gallagher's The Union War.

Adam Gopnik, "Memorials," New Yorker, 9 May, looks around the city and finds Civil War memorials you hadn't recalled.

Stefany Anne Golberg, "Taking the Plunge," Smart Set, 5 April, reviews "Take Me to the Water: Photographs of River Baptisms," an exhibit at the International Center of Photography in Manhattan. See also: Take Me to the Water: Immersion Baptism in Vintage Music and Photography 1890-1950, Dust-to-Digital, 2009.

Dwight Garner, "Sing It Loud: Changing the World With a Stirring Cri de Coeur," NYT, 28 April, and Sean Wilentz, "A History of Protest Songs," NYT, 29 April, review Dorian Lynskey's 33 Revolutions Per Minute: A History of Protest Songs, From Billie Holiday to Green Day. The publication of Lynskey's book prompts The Nation to ask "What's the Best Protest Song?" Nominate your favorite's at the link.

James M. Lindsay, "TWE Remembers: The Fall of Saigon," Council on Foreign Relations, 30 April, draws three lessons from the American experience in Viet Nam.

Catherine Lutz, "Journey and Legacy of Obama's Mother," NYT, 2 May, reviews Janny Scott's A Singular Woman: The Untold Story of Barack Obama's Mother.