Winter Isn’t Coming. Prepare for the Pyrocene.
By Steve Pyne
The Latest 
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Chocolate and the History Behind Historical Fiction
Karen Brooks
The history of chocolate in England and how a 17th century diary and a chance encounter with public history inspired The Chocolate Maker's Wife.
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What We Can Learn On the 80th Anniversary of the San Antonio 1939 Municipal Auditorium Riot
Martin Halpern
80 years ago, thousands of people rioted at the San Antonio Municipal Auditorium to prevent the Communist Party from holding a public meeting. The story reminds us that words can often incite violence.
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The Short War Illusion
Cathal J. Nolan
Generals may win battles but they hardly ever win wars, for there really is no such thing as genius in modern war.
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A History of the Fight for Universal Healthcare and the Cry of Socialism
Donne Levy
This drama in which Democrats move toward universal healthcare and Republicans cry socialism has happened before, and it is instructive to analyze this history with a view toward what can be expected in the future.
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Trump Has Blocked Wage Gains for American Workers
Lawrence Wittner
Although the pundits say the U.S. economy is booming―and it certainly is for the country’s billionaires―it’s not doing much for the incomes of American workers.
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Devil's Bargain: The Molotov–Ribbentrop Pact 80 Years Later
David Carlin
Eighty years ago, two dictators agreed to divide up Eastern Europe. Their agreement would change the lives of millions.
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World War II – the first great ‘food war’
Julian Cribb
It is an oft-overlooked fact of history that World War II was originally fought chiefly over food and the means to produce it.
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The “Trump Economy”: Throwing the Grandkids under the Bus
Walter G. Moss
The mismanagement of the environment, deficits, and debt will have an adverse effect on our children.
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Lessons from Our Republican Ancestors on Free Speech
Forrest A. Nabors
If truly wicked ideas permeate our country, the best way to quell their pernicious influence is to refute them in debate and trust in the judgement of observing citizens.
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Israel’s 2007 Decision to Attack a Syrian Nuclear Facility is History and Warning
Edwin Black
When reading Katz’s book, we are reminded that as complex and difficult as the Syrian strike was, any similar action on Iran’s nuclear capability would be infinitely more daunting and riskier.
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Jeff Sessions's Troubling Legacy
Ronald L. Feinman
Unfortunately, Sessions’ ideas and policies live on through Trump adviser Stephen Miller.
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Romantic Angst in the 1950s Drought Stricken Midwest of The Rainmaker
Bruce Chadwick
Would the old magic of the charlatan rainmaker still be there? Would the powerful grip of the old film still drown its audience in emotion?
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Roundup Top 10!
This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editor of HNN.
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Democrats Must Offer Americans "Bread and Roses" to Counter National Conservatism
Ed Simon
Any party, politician, or perspective which offers meaning, which gives us roses, will have an advantage as we face the inevitable economic and social collapse of the neo-liberal paradigm.
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The Washington Nationals Should Stop Letting Teddy Win – He Hated Baseball
Ryan Swanson
The history of baseball's great Roosevelt chase and why Teddy Roosevelt never liked baseball.
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Bearing Human Cargo: 400 Years Since the Arrival of the First African Slaves in the American Colonies
Albinko Hasic
Although 1619 remains a historic marker, overemphasizing the date or dismissing the long and complicated history of slavery in the Americas would be a mistake.
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When Clowns Rule the World
Michael A. Genovese
Why are so many world leaders today literal or figurative clowns? Our century has ushered in the Age of the Clown Politician.
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“This letter is the last that I write to you:" The Courage of Youth Resisters in World War 2 France
Ronald C. Rosbottom
Young people's impatience, their perceptive view of a better tomorrow, their faith in the power of solidarity, and their energetic fearlessness reminds us adults that change is possible.
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Many Historians Got It Wrong on Obama's Foreign Policy
Jeremy Kuzmarov
Many historians appear to have been so mesmerized by Obama’s charisma and progressive domestic policies that they cannot properly criticize the foreign policy of Obama.
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Walkability Is at the Heart of Human Societies
Antonia Malchik
We’ve forgotten about shared space, about public roads, and the fact that tens of thousands of years of human history demonstrates a profound need for the daily, in-person interactions walkability provides.
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The Civil War and the Black West
William Loren Katz
The integral role people of color played in winning the Civil War.
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The Ever-Present Billy the Kid: Protagonist of the Old West
Richard W. Etulain
Interest in the Kid remains uniformly high, but the predominant images of him in the past half century in histories, biographies, novels, and films have notably shifted.
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Book Review: Jeremy Black's Imperial Legacies
Jeff Roquen
While Black lapses into a biased apologia and generalizes at the expense of factual evidence, Imperial Legacies, on the whole, delivers a long overdue re-contextualization of the British Empire.
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The History and Mythology of the Mayflower Arrival in 1620
Martyn Whittock
The true history of the Mayflower's arrival in 1620.
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We Need a Unifier in 2020
Walter G. Moss
Many of America's enlightened leaders have advised against divisive politics. In 2020, we would do well to remember that.
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The Cultural History Behind Once Upon a Time...in Hollywood
David L. O'Connor
Like most folktales, Once Upon a Time…in Hollywood is filled with interesting characters, events, and messages from a bygone era.
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Russian History Gives the United States an Ominous Warning
Laura Engelstein
What can Russia's tumultuous history teach us about the brevity of stable governments.
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America’s Self-Cultivation Crisis
Tracy Dahlby
Sustained work at self-cultivation makes for a more even-keeled society.
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We Must Stop Valuing Guns More Than People
Greg Bailey
Fom garlic festivals to shopping malls, from schools and churches and synagogues, there is a darkness in the soul of America.
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Art and Defacement: Basquiat at the Guggenheim
Sam Ben-Meir
The Guggenheim’s glance back to 1983 and the death of Michael Stewart accomplishes what art exhibitions should, but all too rarely do – it grants us perspective on our present moment.
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Donald Trump is no James Monroe
Mike Purdy
Donald Trump falls short of James Monroe in four key areas.
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The Greatest Generals Across Generations
Benjamin Runkle
The Greatest Generation’s generals’ triumphs were anything but predetermined, and required a series of accidents and twists of fate to bring them to the point where their innate courage, intelligence, and determination could be decisive.
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Tiananmen Square-1989: Beijing’s Amnesia and Memory Hole
Kevin M. Shanley
Revisiting Tiananmen Square 30 years later.
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Can Muslims get a fair shake in India?
B.Z. Khasru
By scraping Kashmir's special autonomy status, Modi has taken a dangerous step toward implementing the vision of his ultra-nationalist party's spiritual guru, the late V.D. Savarkar.
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Counterculture 1969: a Gateway to the Darkest and the Brightest
Harlan Lebo
The question of how counterculture emerges is a reflection of an era, with results that produced the worst and best of a generation.
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1919, the Year of Racial Violence: An interview with David Krugler
Robin Lindley
In his new book 1919, The Year of Racial Violence: How African Americans Fought Back, professor Krugler goes beyond previous histories of this tumultuous period by putting African Americans at the center of the story.
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Blog
An Open Letter to Senator Elizabeth Warren
Steve Hochstadt
"I have believed for some time that the way for any Democrat to beat Trump is for all Democrats to emphasize what unifies you, or us."
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Please stop saying the past is in the past. It isn’t.
Perry Greene
Nike dropped its Air Max USA 1 shoe after former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick worried that the “Betsy Ross” flag design harkens back to an era of black slavery and has been used by white nationalist groups.
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The Constant Threat of Mass Shootings Requires Increased Protection for Presidential Contenders
Ronald L. Feinman
In the not-so-distant past, two presidential candidates running for office in the midst of American chaos and division were shot.
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Samantha Smith's Dream of Peace and Nuclear Disarmament
William Lambers
Samantha Smith taught us your voice matters and you can make a difference in ridding the world of nuclear weapons and achieving peace for all.
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Woodstock, The Moon Landing and Sesame Street, Too: 50 Years of American Cult Art
Bruce Chadwick
The Norman Rockweel Museum is celebrating the year 1969 not with an exhibit about politics or history, but one about how artists showcased their work in that one, single year.
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Reflecting on Patriotism in the Trump Era
Vaughn Davis Bornet
As we celebrated our nation’s birthday, a lot of us wanted to feel patriotic. Our White House occupant clearly got in the way!
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Remembering The Red Summer 100 Years Later
David Krugler
How should the challenging but essential task of remembering and commemorating this troubling history be confronted?
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Trump’s Tariff War Resembles the Confederacy’s Failed Trade Policies
Robert Brent Toplin
If the present conflict over tariffs leads to diminished Chinese involvement in American affairs, the Trump administration’s risky trade fight may resemble the Confederates’ foolish gamble on the diplomatic clout of King Cotton.
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When Republicans Encouraged Immigration
Jason H. Silverman
Whereas Trump espouses a “go back where you came from” ideology, Abraham Lincoln endorsed the first, last, and only bill in American history to actually encourage immigration.
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The Professor Who Was Ostracized for Claiming the Civil War Was About Slavery – In 1911
Stephen Leccese
Sometimes when we’re poking around in an archive, we come across century-old documents that are strangely relevant.
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JSTOR Interview Archive Helps Preserve History
Alex Humphreys
The new JSTOR Interview Archive prototype preserves full length interviews with historical figures for educators, students, and researchers.
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PubMed Central Offers a Historical Treasure Trove
Jeffrey S. Reznick, Christy Henshaw, Laura Randall, Rosalyn Leiderman, and Kathryn Funk
The digitization of medical journals now allows access to valuable historical research opportunities.
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“Mr. Straight Arrow,” John Hersey, and the decision to drop the atomic bomb
D. M. Giangreco
What recent histories getsright--and wrong--about Harry S. Truman's decision to drop atomic bombs on Japan.
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How Two Regicides Escaped to America and Became Folk Heroes
Matthew Jenkinson
How Edward Whalley and William Goffe went from household names to forgotten historical figures.
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FDR's Token Jewish Refugee Shelter
Rafael Medoff
Granting temporary refuge was a way of addressing the life-and-death crisis that Europe’s Jews faced, without incurring the wrath of those who opposed permanent immigration.
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Woodstock at 50: A Conversation with Award Winning Filmmaker Barak Goodman
Jonathan Montano
Goodman's latest documentary, "Woodstock: Three Days That Changed a Generation," premieres on PBS August 6th.
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All the world’s a stage when you’re Boris Johnson basking in the no-deal-Brexit spotlight
Esau Williams
Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson, the boy who once said he wanted to be ‘world king,’ has finally realized his life-long ambition of becoming British Prime Minister.
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Blog
How African American Land Was Stolen in the 20th Century
Steve Hochstadt
At the heart of the story is racism in many forms: how the promise of emancipation after the Civil War was broken; how whites used bureaucracy and twisted legalisms to take black land from owners t...
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Roundup Top 10!
This week's broad sampling of opinion pieces found on the Internet, as selected by the editor of HNN.
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Leonardo da Vinci: Still a Genius 500 Years Later
Bruce Chadwick
The Berkshire Museum, in Pittsfield, has a large and impressive exhibition called “Leonardo da Vinci: Machines in Motion,” produced by the Da Vinci Museum, in Florence, Italy.
News
- Historian Tom Engelhardt Revisits His First Piece of Critical History – 48 Years Later
- Heather Cox Richardson: Trump isn’t the first president to compare himself to Jesus — the last one who did ‘planned to lead his white supremacist supporters to victory’
- Historians' archival research looks quite different in the digital age
- Senate Historian Daniel S. Holt Featured on Political Theatre Podcast
- The Way We Do the Things We Do: Making History-Making Visible
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