Roundup: Talking About History

Aaron Zelinsky: Obama's Forgotten Inspiration: Theodore Parker

Source:Huffington Post (11-7-08)[ Aaron Zelinsky is a member of the Yale Law School Class of 2010. He is the founder of PresidentialDebateBlogI noted earlier that Obama sought to unify and inspire

Mike Thomson: 'Good old days' under Bokassa?

[Mike Thomson is a BBC correspondent.] For more than three decades his name has been synonymous with the worst excesses of the sort of dictators who have bedevilled post-colonial Africa. History largely remembers Jean Bedel Bokassa - or Emperor Bokassa I as he crowned himself in 1977 - as one of the continent's most colourful yet bloodthirsty monsters. He was a demagogue as ruthless as Mobutu and more flamboyant than Amin. When Bokassa was

Humberto Fontova: Cuban Stalinism at 50--and the Media Lies Continue

"Cuban mothers let me assure you that I will solve all Cuba's problems without spilling a drop of blood." Upon entering Havana on January 7, 1959, Cuba's new leader Fidel Castro broadcast that promise into a phalanx of microphones. As the jubilant crowd erupted with joy, Castro continued. “Cuban mothers let me assure you that because of me you will never have to cry." The following day, just below San Juan Hill in eastern Cuba, a bulldozer rumbled to a start, clanked

Deborah Lipstadt: A Danger Greater Than Denial

The news that Herman Rosenblat’s Holocaust memoir “Angel at the Fence” is a fraud has the press buzzing and the publishing world reeling. The book, which the publisher apparently anticipated would be a best-seller, was pulled right before it was to be shipped to bookstores. No one who has paid close attention to the story, however, has a right to be surprised. I first heard Rosenblat’s story in June of 2007. I was on a bus headed to Birkenau together with other scholars who study ge

Rory Carroll and Andres Schipani: As hard times bite, Cubans show little appetite for celebration

[Rory Carroll is the Guardian's Latin American correspondent and Andrés Schipan is Bolivia contributor for the BBC and contributor on Latin American issues for the Guardian.] Carmen Gonce remembers the triumph of Cuba's revolution as the happiest day of her life. Fidel Castro and his guerrillas swept down from the Sierra Maestra and delivered the island from a corrupt and brutal dictatorship. People danced in the streets and welcomed the "bearded ones" into their homes. It

Chris Hallam: The long shadow of 1979

[Chris Hallam is a journalist specialising in current affairs.] The year 1979 was the easily the most critical in Britain's 20th century peacetime political history. It is a landmark which polarises public opinion like no other and, 30 years on, the nation is still yet to fully recover from it. For the left, it marks the point at which the nation took a fatal step in the wrong direction, turning against the warm certainties of the welfare state, towards the harsh reali

Jeff Stein: Jimmy Carter's Frosty Meeting With Spy Chief Bush

In light of CIA Director Michael V. Hayden's virtual plea to be kept on in the Obama administration, it's interesting to look back at a similar instance in 1976, when George H.W. Bush tried to get President-elect Jimmy Carter to retain him as his spy chief. Carter loved the CIA briefings he had been getting during his campaign against President Gerald R. Ford, according to the agency's official history of presidential transitions. Sometimes the sessions, which usually

SHUR: The Israeli myths debunked by the New Historians

[European research project Human Rights in Conflict: the Role of Civil Society (SHUR). Click here for an explanation of SHUR.] 1.Historical landmarks: In this section, we will not focus on the chronology of the Palestinian-Israeli issue since 1948: such chronological description is easily accessible, whether

Phil Mason: The course of history often hinges on small accidents of chance

Ronnie of the Commies? Ronald Reagan, the slayer of the "Evil Empire", might have been ruined before his political career began had his attempt to join the American Communist Party succeeded. He was rejected because the Communists thought him too dim. It emerged in a 1999 authorised biography that he had tried to join in 1938. Some of his closest friends were members. One, scriptwriter Howard Fast, revealed that he had felt "passionate" about it. But the Party re

Ronald J. Pestritto: Theodore Roosevelt Was No Conservative

[Mr. Pestritto is the Shipley Professor of the American Constitution at Hillsdale College and a senior fellow at the Claremont Institute. Among his books are "Woodrow Wilson and the Roots of Modern Liberalism" (Rowman & Littlefield, 2005).] We know that Barack Obama and his allies identify themselves as "progressives," and that they aim to implement the big-government liberalism that originated in America's Progressive Era and was consummated in the New Deal.

Anne Applebaum: Words That Matter

On Christmas morning, my husband found a CD of "The Greatest Speeches of All Time" in his stocking. It was, if I may say so, an inspired gift. The title did prove somewhat misleading: Richard Nixon's "I am not a crook" speech really didn't belong in this august collection, and I might not have chosen Winston Churchill's 1940 radio address as the sole example of his wartime rhetoric ("I have invincible confidence in the French army and its leaders"). There is also a

Archie Bland: The Big Question ... How important was Charles Darwin, and what is his legacy today?

[Archie Bland graduated from the Columbia University Graduate School in Journalism in 2007. He joined The Independent comment desk earlier this year after a stint on The Independent on Sunday.] Why are we asking this now? From the back of a £10 note to the awards in his name that celebrate those who remove themselves from the gene pool by dying in foolish ways, Charles Darwin's legacy is everywhere. He has been on more stamps than anyone save members of the royal famil

Tom Parfitt: Medieval warrior overcomes Stalin in poll to name greatest Russian

[Tom Parfitt has been a correspondent in Moscow since 2002.] Joseph Stalin was edged into third place in a nationwide poll to name Russia's greatest historical figure yesterday amid controversy over the results. The Name of Russia project, which captivated the country for several months, ended with accusations that the final tally was rigged. More than 5 million votes by telephone, text and the internet were registered in the poll, which named Alexander Nev

Spiegel Online: 'Eroding One of Turkey's Biggest Taboos' (interview)

More than 25,000 Turks have added their names to an online statement apologizing for Ottoman war crimes committed during World War I. SPIEGEL spoke with campaign initiator Baskin Oran. SPIEGEL: Since the beginning of your online campaign, more than 25,000 Turks have signed a statement apologizing for war crimes committed by the Ottoman Empire during World War I. More than a million Armenians lost their lives in the catastrophic events which began in 1915. Is this the beginning of a

Anne Applebaum: The sinister resurrection of Stalin

Who is the greatest Russian of all time? In the unlikely event that you answered “Stalin”, you would be in good company. One of the 20th century’s most horrific dictators has just come third in an opinion poll conducted by a Russian television station. Some 50 million people are said to have voted. Myself, I have some doubts about the veracity of this poll, particularly given that the television station in question is state-owned, and therefore manipulated by the Kremlin. Also, firs

Cullen Murphy and Todd Purdum: An Oral History of the Bush White House

The threat of 9/11 ignored. The threat of Iraq hyped and manipulated. Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. Hurricane Katrina. The shredding of civil liberties. The rise of Iran. Global warming. Economic disaster. How did one two-term presidency go so wrong? A sweeping draft of history—distilled from scores of interviews—offers fresh insight into the roles of George W. Bush, Dick Cheney, and other key players. ### January 20, 2001 After a disputed election and bitter recount battl

Roger Pulvers: The Death of a Russian Poet 70 Years Ago ... and Why He Deserves to be Remembered

We live apart from our land Our words dying at 10 paces And anything put edgewise Concerns the Kremlin backwoodsman His coarse fingers are thick, like worms His statements trusty, like the weights on a scale Cockroaches smile on his upper lip And the rims of his shoes blindHe is surrounded by a flock of pencil-neck hacks He plays on the servility of half-men Who whistle, who me

Editorial in the Independent: Benazir Bhutto's divisive legacy to Pakistan

Pakistan's calendar is replete with difficult commemorations. But the first anniversary of Benazir Bhutto's death must be accounted among the most perilous of recent years. Always a divisive figure, Ms Bhutto still inspires sharply conflicting passions. With tens of thousands of people converging on the Bhutto family home today to pay their respects, elaborate security precautions will be tested to the full. For all the despair of one year ago and the doom-laden forecasts for Pakis

E.J. Dionne: The Jesus Of Christmas And The Holiday's True Meaning

Each era depicts Jesus in its own characteristic way, and the late historian Jaroslav Pelikan wove a brilliant book around this theme. He traced images of Jesus from the earliest days of Christianity as "the rabbi" and "the king of kings" to more modern portrayals as "the teacher of common sense," "the poet of the spirit" and "the liberator." The Jesus of Christmas, Pelikan tells us in "Jesus Through the Centuries," owes a

Michael D Griffin: I fear that we would not be allowed a mission like Apollo 8 today

[The NASA Administrator was addressing the organisation on the 40th anniversary of the Apollo 8 lunar mission.] I was a 19-year-old college sophomore when Apollo 8 flew. I watched it on television – in black-and-white. So I can never share the experience in the same way as it is shared by those of you who lived it. But while I am a dyed-in-the-wool slide-rule-and-pocket protector engineer, I have tried also to understand the history of our enterprise, and the events and decisions th