Things Noted Here & There

Nigel Saul, "Chivalry and the Birth of Celebrity," History Today, June, finds celebrity is much older than we might have thought.

Anthony Julius, "The Secret Life of Cairo's Jews," NYT, 27 May, and Jenna Weisman, "Pieced Together," Tablet, 27 May, review Adina Hoffman's and Peter Cole's Sacred Trash: The Lost and Found World of the Cairo Geniza.

Michael Specter, "Resistant," New Yorker, 30 May, reviews Michael Willrich's Pox: An American History.

Gabriel Paquette, "Empire of Exceptions: The Making of Modern Brazil," History Today, June, looks at Brazil's transition from colony through independent statehood.

Stacy Schiff, "How Paris Created America," NYT, 27 May, reviews David McCullough's The Greater Journey: Americans in Paris.

John Swinfield, "Egos and Aeronautics: A tale of two Airships," History Today, looks at two British airship projects that failed in the 1920s.

Adam Kirsch, "Is World War II Still ‘the Good War?'," NYT, 27 May, looks at recent work on the war and says "yes".

"NARA to Release The Pentagon Papers–Minus Eleven Words," National Coalition for History, 27 May, announces that the Pentagon Papers have been declassified and, except for 11 words, will be released on 16 June. See also: A. J., "The Real Pentagon Papers," NDC Blog, 26 May.

John Summers, "Politics and Pragmatism," U. S. Intellectual History, 27 May, reviews James T. Kloppenberg's Reading Obama: Dreams, Hope, and the American Political Tradition. Kloppenberg will reply at U.S. Intellectual History this week.