Daniel Larison points out that Roger Cohen,"Democracy in the Americas," NYT, 6 December, would have been improved if Cohen hadn't tried a historical analogy."The United States needs a new beginning," says Cohen."It cannot lie in the Tudor-Stuart-like alternation of the Bush-Clinton dynasties, nor in the macho militarism of Republicans who see war without end." You'd think someone born and educated in England would know that Tudors and Stuarts didn't alternate.

Eileen Joy,"The Weight of History, A World without Force, and The Wind That Shakes the Barley," In the Middle, 7 December, looks at the film set in the Irish War of Independence (1919-21) and the Irish Civil War (1922-23) from the perspective of someone whose family actively fought in them and, yet, is committed to doing critical history. It's an excellent, moving personal essay. Thanks to Matthew Gabriele at Modern Medieval for the tip.

Patrick Allitt,"City on a Hill," NYT, 9 December, reviews Garry Wills' Head and Heart: American Christianities. Oddly, Wills short-changes American Catholicism, says Allitt, and the book's analytic strength plays out toward the end.

Geoff Manaugh,"The Future Warehouse of Unwanted Books," BLDGBLOG, 1 December, reflects on a vast new warehouse for the British Library's books least in demand. Geriatric bookporn, as it were. Hat tip to Manan and Rachel.