More Noted Things

Richard Powers,"How to Speak a Book," NY Times, 7 January, writes in praise of dictating to his computer."For most of history," says Powers,"most reading was done out loud. Augustine remarks with surprise that Bishop Ambrose could read without moving his tongue."

Christopher Hitchens,"Jefferson's Quran," Slate, 9 January, is Hitchens at his worst. Citing causes of the friction between the United States and the North African Barbary states in the late 18th century, Hitch never recalls that enslavement was considered a right of war between Christian Europe and the Muslim world for centuries. Hanson ‘n Hitchens constantly remind us how many Christians were enslaved by Muslims and ignore how many Muslims were enslaved by the Christians. Sylviane Diouf estimates that 2 to 4 million of them were captives in the Atlantic slave trade, from which, of course, Jefferson directly benefitted. And don't even get me started about the idiocy of using razor blades on historic texts.

Chris Bray,"Unforgetting the Republic," Historiblogography, 9 January, looks back to the Newburgh Conspiracy for precedent establishing congressional authority for the disposition of American troops.

The controversy within SMU's faculty is heating up over plans to locate a George W. Bush Library adjacent to the university. See: Inside Higher Ed and New York Times. Scott McLemee, however, asks whether George might be Hegel's world historic man, in which case, faculty skeptics would be mere nitpickers.

Finally, in time for mid-January's celebration of Martin Luther King's birthday, the University of California announces publication of Volume VI of The Papers of Martin Luther King. The volume reproduces documents that the King family withheld from any public examination for nearly 30 years after ML's death.