Professor Wood Challenges His Colleagues

In his rave review of the new biography of George Washington by Ron Chernow, Gordon Wood, now an emeritus professor at Brown University, gives (polite) vent to his frustration with his fellow academic historians.  The history professoriate, he explains in the upcoming issue of the New York Review of Books, increasingly writes for itself, and…

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"The Summer of 1787" and the Middle Kingdom

The capitalist tilt in China continues!  ANA Beijing has agreed to publish The Summer of 1787 in a Chinese language edition. Though I am optimistic that this development presages a new dawn of freedom and democracy in the Far East, candor compels me to disclose that the initial print run will only be 3,000 volumes. …

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Are You Ready for Some Sesquicentennial?

It may end up seeming as long as the Civil War itself.  We are warming up for the extended observance of the 150th anniversary of the War Between the States. (“Celebration” seems the wrong word when talking of an event that killed 600,000 Americans.)  Today my gastroenterologist — yes, I have one, don’t you? — engaged me in…

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