History Afloat
This October, I will be exploring a new way to share history, as the featured lecturer on a Chesapeake Bay cruise of the Yorktown. The journey will start in Philadelphia, head to…
Read MoreFive Myths of the Constitutional Convention
Two hundred twenty-five years ago today, several dozen worried Americans met in Philadelphia to change the American government. Some of the delegates to that 1787 convention intended only to rewrite…
Read MoreThe Problem of Intellectual Theft
What can a writer do when someone else takes his work without admitting it? That’s the question posed in a poignant and measured piece posted today by Richard Labunski at…
Read MoreA "Forever" Stamp for Thaddeus Stevens!
I agree with Don Gallagher of Lititz, PA: It’s time to honor Thad Stevens. While working on Impeached, my book about the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, I developed…
Read MoreThe head grows ever larger
“In time of actual war, great discretionary powers are constantly given to the executive magistrate. Constant apprehension of war has the same tendency to render the head too large for…
Read MoreGive the Little Man a Chance!
While attending the Washington Nationals’ Opening Day on Thursday, I immediately collided with the team’s one tremendous success: its marketing of the mid-game Presidents’ Race. For those of you who…
Read MoreAnti-whose-trust? The Problem of E-Books
I rise on a point of personal privilege. My government, in the form of the U.S. Department of Justice, has just brought a legal action that will make my life…
Read MoreMr. Speaker, Not Mr. President
As his presidential campaign slides toward the back pages of the history he loves to quote, Newt Gingrich may want to reflect on one lesson of history that he never…
Read MoreWorld War I: Too Big to Write?
Having just finished the terrific, deeply flawed The Beauty and the Sorrow by Peter Englund, about World War I, I find myself wondering if it is possible to write a…
Read MoreThe Puzzle of Race at Monticello
The Smithsonian’s Museum of American History has a current exhibition on Slavery at Monticello, which is well worth checking out. I toured it yesterday. Anyone who has slogged through Annette…
Read More