Reading Time: 4 minutes The Longest Afternoon, by historian Brendan Simms, provides depth, nuance and new insight
Tag: History books
The rise and fall of a Native American empire
Reading Time: 3 minutes The Comanches were very adaptable and formidable. But nature, politics, economics and immigration eventually undid them
The tangled tragedy of Mary, Queen of Scots
Reading Time: 4 minutes Over the past four-plus centuries, Mary’s reputation has waxed and waned. A movie due out this year should put a positive spin on it
Poland’s 20th century tragedy
Reading Time: 4 minutes Stuck between Germany and the Soviet Union didn’t stop thousands of Poles from contributing to the war effort in the 1940s
John F. Kennedy: an anglophile for all seasons
Reading Time: 4 minutes The storied president was more English than Irish, despite being seen as the ultimate symbol of Irish-American success and social acceptance
Was the Ukrainian Red Famine genocide or incompetence?
Reading Time: 3 minutes Historians are divided on Josef Stalin’s intent in the Ukraine that resulted in millions of deaths. Anne Applebaum’s new book has revived the dispute
Dunkirk and the maligned Belgians
Reading Time: 4 minutes When disaster comes calling, shifting the blame is generally not too far behind, and war is the perfect setting for laying blame
‘Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!’
Reading Time: 3 minutes While it might be silly to argue the Berlin Wall came down because of Ronald Reagan, he demonstrated unusual prescience about the Soviet Union’s fragility
The Road to Camelot offers fresh insights into JFK mythology
Reading Time: 3 minutes 2017 is John F. Kennedy’s centenary year and a new book offers a deep dive into the details of his successful 1960 U.S. presidential campaign
‘Radical Joe’ Chamberlain inspires new British PM
Reading Time: 4 minutes The new British prime minister is apparently an admirer of the Victorian-era urban reforming Radical Joe