Roundup: Talking About History

July 2, 2004

Ireland's Decision to Sit out WW II Is Seen as a Mistake on the 60th Anniversary of D-Day

Geoffrey Roberts, in the Irish Times (June 24, 2004): The 60th anniversary of D-Day has once again highlighted the contribution of Irish volunteers in the British armed forces to the allied victory. The best estimate is that some 70,000 citizens of the Irish Free State served in the British forces during the war, together with 50,000 from Northern Ireland. This was half the number that enlisted in Ireland during the first World War, with, thankfully, only 5

July 2, 2004

Max Hastings: The Problem with Doing History on TV

Max Hastings, in the Daily Telegraph (June 26, 2004): At one extreme of the spectrum, the task of interpreting history for the media may mean writing a handsomely rewarded 2,000-word article for the Daily Mail, as I did the other day on the theme: "Why are history's great men so often four-letter men?" I am not ashamed of what I wrote, but nor would I claim that writing of this kind represents any attempt upon the higher peaks of culture. The most that can

July 2, 2004

Robert Harris's Advice on Teaching History

Richard Garner, in the Independent (June 27, 2004):Robert Harris, the best-selling author of historical thrillers, called on history teachers yesterday to embrace the techniques of novelists and television dramatists to bring the subject to life. Speaking at a gathering of eminent historians, writers and teachers brought together by the Prince of Wales, the author of Fatherland and Enigma said: "We should restore the importance of the narrative when w

July 2, 2004

David Starkey's Advice to Teachers: Skip the Academic Theories and Teach Facts and Context

Richard Garner, in the Independent (June 28, 2004):THE CULT of the celebrity historian is destructive to the way the subject is approached in schools, the historian and broadcaster Dr David Starkey told a teachers' conference yesterday. There was too much concentration on "new" theories of history, rather than a basic knowledge and understanding of the past, Dr Starkey said. Historical knowledge was more important "because D Starkey will

July 2, 2004

Cultural Criticism Is Alive and Well--No Matter What You Hear

George Cotkin, in the Chronicle of Higher Ed (July 2, 2004): The state of cultural criticism today, in the view of many, is debilitated, perhaps even moribund. For Birkerts, Alvin Kiernan, Russell Jacoby, and others, there once existed a lively, deep, public, and engaged cultural criticism. Great critics -- Lionel Trilling, Philip Rahv, Clement Greenberg, Alfred Kazin, and Dwight Macdonald -- roamed t

July 2, 2004

A Historian Who Helped Out on a PBS Series Reflects on His Experience

Emerson W. Baker, in Common-Place.org (July 2004): "If you knew what you were getting into, would you do it again?" That question was recently posed to me by one of the producers of the PBS series Colonial House, after I had just completed more than a year as a lead consultant for the show. A follow-up to such popular shows as Frontier House and Manor House, the series i

July 2, 2004

Was Ben Franklin Really More Anti-Slavery than Jefferson?

David Waldstreicher, in Common-Place.org (July 2004): Alan Taylor has remarked upon a certain trend in the recent profusion of books on the Founders. As the reputations of some, like John Adams, are raised, others are condemned. History becomes a parody of Wall Street: a bull market for Hamilton means it is time to sell your stock in Thomas Jefferson. When the controversial matter of slavery in the nation&rs

July 2, 2004

It's Time Republicans Acknowledge Clinton's Accomplishments

Bruce Bartlett, in the NYT (July 1, 2004): The death of Ronald Reagan led many of his liberal opponents to reassess his presidency, with some concluding that it was better than they thought at the time. The publication of Bill Clinton's memoir, meanwhile, has led many conservatives to reassess his presidency — and most have concluded that it was as awful as they remembered.

June 30, 2004

James Hershberg: Reagan Should Not be Given Credit for Defeating the Soviet Union--It's More Complicated than that

James Hershberg, associate professor of history and international affairs at George Washington University, in the Wash Post (June 27, 2004): ... Ronald Reagan's policies surely contributed to the dissolution of the Kremlin's empire, culminating in the 1989 anti-communist revolutions in Eastern Europe and the breakup of the Soviet Union two years later. But for the media and Reagan's hagiogra

June 30, 2004

Keith Windschuttle: The Misguided Emphasis on Social History and Oppressed Groups

Keith Windschuttle, in the Sydney Line (June 2004):... [I]n the writing and teaching of history today, the views that are in the ascendancy are those that support a skepticism about the pursuit of objectivity and truth, and those that want to replace political and military history and their focus on great men, with social history and its focus on minority or disadvantaged groups.I want to argue tod

June 29, 2004

Columnist: The Inquisition Wasn't So Bad

"Oswald Spengler," the pseudonym of a columnist, in Asia Times (June 22, 2004):For serious devotees of torture, Washington's embarrassment about Abu Ghraib paled beside the Vatican's defense last week of the Spanish Inquisition. It turns out, reported church officials at a June 15 press conference, that the Spanish Inquisition burnt at the stake less t

June 29, 2004

Edmund Morris: Final Take on Ronald Reagan

Edmund Morris, in the New Yorker (June 28, 2004): There they lie in their guttered drawers, projecting from the rosewood desk I had specially made for them: four yards of cards, each eight inches wide, five inches tall, most of them with his initials handwritten, headline style, in the top left-hand corner, from “rr’s birth zodiac—feb.

June 25, 2004

New Film on Cole Porter, 'De-Lovely': Hollywood's Take on Sartorial History

From the Washington Post (June 25 2004): Back in the days when it was socially important to keep up appearances -- of a happy marriage, a happy home, being happy-go-lucky -- everyone, it seemed, looked smashing. Before the now common public confessional, one's peccadilloes were swept under the rug and unorthodox behavior was engaged in discreetly. People worked hard to present a perfect veneer. Fashio

June 25, 2004

Dick Cheney Wants Declassification of Some U.S. Intelligence in Defense of Iraq-Qaeda Connection

Stephen F. Hayes, in the Weekly Standard (June 24 2004): VICE PRESIDENT DICK CHENEY said yesterday that suggestions the former Iraqi regime did not have a relationship with al Qaeda are"not accurate," and said he would like to see the U.S. government declassify some of the intelligence that supports Bush administration claims about an Iraq-al Qaeda connection. "I think we shoul

June 25, 2004

Does the Koran Promote Anti-Semitism?

From Frontpagemag.com (June 25 2004): Does Islam’s holy book promote anti-Semitism? To discuss this issue with us today, Frontpage Symposium has assembled a distinguished panel: Prof. Khaleel Mohammed, Assistant Professor at the Department of Religious Studies at San Diego State University. Bat Ye’or, the author of three major books on dhimmis, jihad, and dhimmitude (www.dhimmitude.org and www.dhi

June 25, 2004

Pigeons Lead Restorationists to Major Art Find

From the New York Times (June 24 2004): Pigeons fluttering through a hole in the ceiling of a Spanish cathedral led an art restoration team to discover a hidden Renaissance fresco of winged angels that had been covered by a false ceiling for more than 300 years. The team had been working on the baroque dome of the cathedral in Valencia for more than a month, removing gray paint and fendi

June 25, 2004

Film Historian Discusses New Trends in Political Documentaries

From NPR's 'Talk of the Nation' (June 24 2004): NEAL CONAN, host: Let's talk now with Michael Renov. Most people's idea of a documentary is more like"Control Room," one that lets the events unfold. But according to Michael Renov, that style is actually a relatively new phenomena in documentary film. He's associate dean of the School of Cinema-Television at the University of Southern California, author of a new about the history of documentaries called"The Subject of Documentary." He

June 25, 2004

Clinton Takes On Louis Freeh and Karl Rove

From NPR's 'Morning Edition'(June 24 2004): Former President Bill Clinton is reopening many of the bruising political debates of the last decade as he promotes his best-selling book,"My Life." The memoir is part confessional, part policy seminar and part political payback. Mr. Clinton sat down for an interview in New York this week with NPR senior correspondent Juan Williams. JUAN WILLIAMS reporting: It's no surprise that the former president is bitter towards prosecutor

June 25, 2004

Old South Restoration Project Draws Ire of Historians

From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (June 25, 2004): Gwinnett County (Georgia) spent $242,000 restoring the 1840s Yellow River Post Office and nearby slave quarters, but some historians now suggest the historic integrity of the buildings has been compromised. Richard Laub, director of the heritage preservation program at Georgia State University, said the structures, which were completed in November, may create"a false sense of history" because modern materials and technique

June 25, 2004

PBS'S 'Rebels and Redcoats': Revisionist History?

From the New York Times (June 23 2004): Since Sept. 11, television has done a decent job of explaining why they hate us. Tonight PBS reveals why they have always hated us."Rebels and Redcoats: How Britain lost America" is a wickedly revisionist view of the American Revolution, a"Fahrenheit 1776." When American soldiers are fighting Iraqi insurgents under a besieged banner of freedom and democracy, some