More 20th Century Notes

Monday's decision by U.S. District Judge Colleen Kollar-Kotelly that held part of President Bush's Executive Order 13,233 illegal is a partial victory for the National Security Archive, other plaintiffs, journalists, and historians. The Executive Order would allow the heirs of presidents and vice presidents to withhold the release of White House documents ad infinitum. Nonetheless, access for research depends on congressional passage of HR 1255, which overturns Executive Order 13,233. Despite a threatened presidential veto, it passed the House of Representatives by 333-93 on 14 March and languishes in the Senate, where Senator Jim Bunning (R, Ky) is said to have put a hold on it.

Ian Williams,"An Ex-Maoist Looks at an Ex-Trotskyite: On Irving Howe's Leon Trotsky," logos journal, October.

Janet Maslin,"Candor in the Corridors of Power," NYT, 2 October, reviews Arthur M. Schlesinger, Jr., Journals, 1952-2000.

Joan Acocella,"Wild Thing: Rudolf Nureyev, onstage and off," New Yorker, 8 October, reviews Julie Kavanagh's Nureyev: The Life.

Joel Achenbach,"50 Years Ago, Launch of a New World," Washington Post, 2 October, and Vladimir Isachenkov,"Sputnik at 50: An Improvised Triumph," Yahoo News, 30 September, attempt to put Sputnik in historical perspective.

Glenn C. Altschuler,"A sharp pen that too often drips with acid," Boston Globe, 30 September, reviews Joseph Epstein's In a Cardboard Belt! Essays Personal, Literary, and Savage. Hat tips.