Roundup: Talking About History

November 19, 2004

Waterloo's Significance To The French And British

John Lichfield, The Independent (London), 17 Nov. 2004 Waterloo is many things. Waterloo was, first of all, and still is, a village, south-east of Brussels. Or, rather, it is no longer a village but a smart international suburb, with posh restaurants, a big shopping mall and a drive-in McDonald's. Waterloo is also a railway station; and a pop song (Abba, 1974). Most of all, of course, it is a battle, fought on 18 June 1815, in which many thousands of Germans, Dutch, and soon-

November 19, 2004

RAF Servicemen Unlawfully Killed By British Government

Cahal Milmo, The Independent (London), 16 Nov. 2004 November 16, 2004, Tuesday SECTION: First Edition; NEWS; Pg. 6 HEADLINE: MOD UNLAWFULLY KILLED RAF GUINEA PIG' BYLINE: CAHAL MILMO HIGHLIGHT: Lillias Craik, sister of LAC Ronald Maddison, with his picture, taken more than half a century ago PA A 51-YEAR search for the truth about the death of a young serviceman during secret nerve-gas experiments ended yesterday when an inquest jury decided that

November 19, 2004

Exotic Life Of Ancient Thrace Explored

Kerin Hope, Financial Times (London, England), 16 Nov. 2004 A series of spectacular discoveries at three sites in central and eastern Bulgaria has highlighted the exotic lifestyle of the ancient Thracians as never before. Georgi Kitov, a veteran Thrakologist who has excavated more than 30 tombs built for the ancient warrior elite, says that the Thracians were known for drinking undiluted strong red wine and were famous for their martial skills. They were the most

November 19, 2004

Review Of Lincoln Museum And Library In Springfield, IL

Stephen Kinzer, The New York Times, 15 Nov. 2004 [Editor's Note: This is an excerpt from a much longer piece.] Perhaps no figure is more closely bound to the American consciousness with what Abraham Lincoln called ''the mystic chords of memory'' than Lincoln himself. Now, nearly a century and a half after his death, his hometown is honoring him with what promises to be a spectacular and perhaps controversial museum. The museum and adjoining library will ho

November 19, 2004

Middle East Studies at Columbia Assailed

Editorial, in the NY Sun (Nov. 19, 204): The president of Columbia University, Lee Bollinger, has been quietly making the rounds in town, reassuring key figures in the Jewish community - and in other communities - that he deems unacceptable the kind of anti-Semitic and anti-Israel behavior recently uncovered by documentary filmmakers on the Columbia campus. He assigned the university's provost, Alan Brinkley, to look into the matter. But Mr. Brinkley's early statements are al

November 19, 2004

Tower Of London's Raven Mythology Asserted To Be Fantasy

Maev Kennedy, The Guardian (London), 15 Nov. 2004

November 17, 2004

Was the Greensboro Massacre of 1979 Really a Massacre of Innocents?

Barbara Kay, at frontpagemag.com (Nov. 17, 2004): [Barbara Kay is a columnist for the National Post of Canada.]Re: Sally Avery Bermanzohn's Through Survivors' Eyes: From the Sixties to the Greensboro Massacre (Vanderbilt University Press, 2003)On November 3, 1979, in Greensboro North Carolina, members of the Ku Klux Klan, joined by several members of the American Nazi party in what th

November 16, 2004

Why Does the Pope Want to Beatify a Habsburg?

Gerald Russello, in the WSJ (Nov. 15, 2004): Mr. Russello is a fellow of the Chesterton Institute at Seton Hall University.]The Habsburgs are back. Although the family has been out of power since 1918, the beatification of Charles I Habsburg of Austria (1887-1922), the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, has touched off an international controversy. Two years ago, Pope John Paul II began the process and credited Charles's "heroic virtue"

November 15, 2004

Did Oliver Stone Do Alexander the Great Justice? (He Did)

Bob Baker, in the NYT (Nov. 14, 2004):LAST year, the Oxford University historian Robin Lane Fox, the author of a much-admired 1973 biography of Alexander the Great, found himself astride a horse, carrying a wooden lance, thundering through the desert dust with scores of mounted companions as Alexander's greatest conquest unfolded. The setting was an

November 12, 2004

Is the 9-11 Report Worthy of a Nonfiction Award?

Heidi Benson, in the SF Chronicle (Nov. 12, 2004):"The 9/11 Commission Report" -- which chronicles the government's handling of terror threats and is a finalist for the coveted National Book Award -- is drawing criticism from historians and writers who say it does not deserve a literary prize. Critics call the best-selling report an inappropriate choice be

November 12, 2004

Julian Bond: On the Legacy of the Brown Decision

Julian Bond, at progressivetrail.org (Nov. 17, 2004): Fifty years ago this past April , Martin Luther King, Jr. preached his first sermon as the new pastor of Montgomery's Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. He was 25 years old. One month later, on May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court, in Brown v. Board of Education, unanimously declared that segregated schools violated the Constitution's pr

November 12, 2004

Review Of Smithsonian's "The Price Of Freedom"

Thomas Ricks, The Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2004 Showing unusual courage, the Smithsonian has charged onto the controversial battleground of America's wars -- and generally done well. The National Museum of American History exhibition opening today to mark Veterans Day is the first overview of U.S. military history the Smithsonian has ever mounted. Indeed, the museum says, it is"the most comprehensive exhibition of military conflicts in American history." Some mi

November 12, 2004

A War Of Words About The Civil War

unknown author, The Washington Post, 11 Nov. 2004 I always thought it rather quaint that some Southerners insist on calling the Civil War the War Between the States. I live in the Shenandoah Valley, where the war isn't really over and Gen. Thomas"Stonewall" Jackson and the Confederate States of America are still a presence. So I have been careful to use both names so as not to appear biased because I grew up in Massachusetts. But, curious about the alternative n

November 12, 2004

The Ancient Temples Of Sicily

John Karastamatis, The Toronto Star, 11 Nov. 2004"Think of him as an early Schwarzenegger," our guide says to describe the reputation of Hercules, the mythical ancient Greek hero. Of course everyone knows about Hercules, but this reference to a contemporary strongman is one of the entertaining touches that spice the otherwise erudite commentary of Dr. Claudio Castiglione, who has been giving tours of Valley of the Temples since 1979. Located in Agrige

November 12, 2004

Taiwan Rewrites History Books

Lawrence Chung, The Straits Times (Singapore), 11 Nov. 2004 Taiwan is turning its back on its founding father Sun Yat-sen by relegating him to be part of ancient Chinese history instead of Taiwan's. Beginning next year, high school students will have separate books for ancient China's history and the island's history. And Dr Sun, leader of the 1911 revolution that overthrew the Qing dynasty (1644-1911) and led to the founding of the Republic of China

November 12, 2004

Controversy Around Smithsonian's "Price Of Freedom" Exhibit

Edward Rothstein, The New York Times, 11 Nov. 2004 [Editor's Note: This is a longer than normal posting.] There are no uniforms for these battles, nor are the casualties particularly heavy this time around. They are certainly not the focus of attention at a new $16 million, 18,200-square-foot exhibition at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. But there are signs of scarring, if not open wounds, and they affect the impact of t

November 12, 2004

Martin Luther's Toilet Unearthed

Ron Ferguson, The Herald (Glasgow), 11 Nov. 2004 The seat of the Reformation has been unearthed - and it turns out to be a toilet seat. German archaeologists have discovered the toilet on which some historians believe Martin Luther wrote the famous 95 Theses that launched the Protestant Reformation. The sixteenth-century Augustinian monk, Catholic priest and university professor is the historical godfather of evangelical Christianity, which is the focus of so much attention t

November 12, 2004

British RAF Navigator Recalls Destruction Of Bismarck

Randy Boswell, Ottawa Citizen, 10 Nov. 2004 When the bugle's blast fades and the silence sets in during tomorrow's Remembrance Day ceremony, one Canadian veteran's thoughts are sure to turn to his key role in the dramatic chase and sinking of Bismarck, the mighty German warship that terrorized Allied naval forces before she went down in flames on May 27, 1941. Alberta-born Gaynor Williams, 83, a retired engineer now living in Ottawa, was a 19-year-old navigator a

November 12, 2004

Quebecers' Remembrances Of World War II Participation Mixed

Randy Boswell, The Gazette (Montreal), 10 Nov. 2004 A national survey of attitudes toward war on the eve of Remembrance Day has revealed a sharp division between Quebec and the rest of the country on the merits of Canada's participation in the Second World War, and on the probable cause of any future global conflict. In a poll of 2,027 Canadians conducted by Environics for the Association for Canadian Studies, respondents from Quebec were about three times as lik

November 12, 2004

Controversy Over Proposed Amnesty To Tomb Raiders

Richard Owen, The Times (London), 09 Nov. 2004 A move to grant an amnesty to owners of looted antiquities in Italy was condemned as a licence for tomb robbers by conservation experts yesterday. The measure exonerates those who own stolen items of archaeological value provided that they pay the State 5 per cent of the value. Salvatore Settis, a prominent art historian and former government adviser, said that this was a shameful move that amounted to"a pardon for a