Janet Maslin,"Harsh Year in Lincoln's Fight for the Union," NYT, 8 February, reviews Charles B. Flood's 1864: Lincoln at the Gates of History.

Wendy Lesser,"Southern Discomfort," bookforum, February/ March, reviews Brad Gooch's Flannery: A Life of Flannery O'Connor.

Michael Kazin,"A Liberal Revival of Americanism," Washington Post, 8 February, sees American progressives re-asserting their patriotic claims.

The recession is having a substantial effect at the Atlanta University Center, the largest concentration of institutions of African-American higher education in the United States. On Saturday, I pointed to Gayle White's"Clark Atlanta University cuts 100 jobs," AJC, 6 February, which announced that, a month after the semester began, 70 full-time faculty members -- nearly a third of its faculty -- and 30 other full-time employees have been summarily dismissed. Classes are canceled until Tuesday, while undergraduates' schedules are re-organized. Ben Smith's"Morehouse cuts part-time teaching staff," AJC, 8 February, adds more details. Morehouse non-renewed the contracts of a third of its adjuncts at the beginning of this semester and CAU has canceled all physical education classes. Scott Jaschik,"Turmoil Over 70 Faculty Layoffs at Clark Atlanta," IHE, 9 February, indicates that some tenured faculty were dismissed, even though CAU pointedly denies that it faces financial exigency. Can the AAUP be far behind?

Although it continues to admit students, a third institution adjacent to the Center, Morris Brown College, is nearly $30,000,000 in debt and lost membership in the Center, federal funding, support from the United Negro College Fund, and its accreditation six years ago.