May 26, 2007

Saturday Notes

by Cliopatria

Andrew Ferguson,"A History Hobby: Don't Leave Scholarship to the Professionals," Opinion Journal, 25 May, is a tribute to the amateur who became the leading expert on the assassination of Abraham Lincoln.

Arnold Rampersad's Ralph Ellison: A Biography is reviewed by Jabari Asim in the Washington Post, Morris Dickstein in the London Times, Michael Anderson in The Nation, and William Grimes in the NY Times. Hat tip.

Nicholas Lemann,"O Lucky Man!" New Yorker, 28 May, reviews the Ronald Reagan's The Reagan Diaries.

David Noon,"Niall Ferguson, Wanker," Lawyers, Guns, and Money, 24 May, makes a good point. Ferguson didn't tell us when he changed his mind about the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but changed it is. When advice is as wrong as his was, you might ask why both the Independent and the LA Times have contracted to publish his slightly revised op-eds weekly.

For some enterprising young journalist, Chris Bray has pulled together a half dozen major leads on a big story about corruption at Camp Arifjan, the headquarters of the army's Area Support Group-Kuwait.

Finally, voting is open in Fistful of Euros Third Annual Satin Pajama Awards. Several of Cliopatria's friends are among the nominees (Giornale Nuovo for Best Culture Weblog, Lawyers, Guns, and Money for Best Non-European Weblog, and our colleague, Sharon Howard's Early Modern Notes for Best Expert or Scholar Weblog), so go over and vote!

More Comments:

Alan Allport - 5/26/2007

I did, but I don't find his argument there particularly convincing. The 'price of liberty' quote from the 9 February article is pretty misleading, because the thrust of that piece is that successfully implementing democracy in Iraq will be much harder than the administration has acknowledged - perhaps even impossible. And there's no contradiction in saying (a) the invasion was a strategic error, and (b) given that it cannot be undone, withdrawal may not be a practical option. I think that's the position I hold myself.

I think one can disagree with Ferguson in part or in totality and yet still acknowledge his consistency.

Ralph E. Luker - 5/26/2007

Check David Noon's post that I cite.

Alan Allport - 5/26/2007

Ferguson didn't tell us when he changed his mind about the overthrow of Saddam Hussein, but changed it is.

I usually disagree with about half (and sometimes more) of any NF column, but I don't think this flip-flopping charge is right. In what way - specifically - has he changed his mind?