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History
Dive into columns, discoveries, and thoughtful and informative essays from the past and present, penned by Eli Lake, Niall Ferguson, and others.
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This Week in American History: Just Call It Washington’s Birthday
Presidents’ Day sounds all too much like a participation trophy for heads of state.
Jonathan Horn
This Week in American History: The First War for Hearts and Minds
At the start of the Revolutionary War, a diplomat and a general believed rebellion could be ended by persuasion rather than punishment. History had…
Jonathan Horn
This Week in American History: A City on the Brink
Long before Minneapolis, Americans argued over the authority to send in forces to cities in crisis. One revolutionary war standoff shows how old—and…
Jonathan Horn
How Holocaust Denial Became Mainstream
As memory of the atrocity fades, the war over its meaning is more important than ever.
Simon Sebag Montefiore
This Week in American History: The Unlikeliest Hero of the American Revolution
Self-taught, overweight, and missing two fingers, Henry Knox pulled off one of the most decisive feats of the American Revolution.
Jonathan Horn
This Week in American History: Roosevelt’s Big Stick
Before the Donroe Doctrine, there was the Roosevelt Corollary: If the United States didn’t want European powers intervening in Latin America, it would…
Jonathan Horn
The Wrong Lessons from Iran’s Past
Critics of U.S. action to support Iranian protesters have their history wrong, argues Eli Lake.
Eli Lake
This Week in American History: The Revolution’s First Hot Take
Nearly 250 years before social media, Thomas Paine published the first ‘viral’ pamphlet. It moved a nation and spurred a revolution.
Jonathan Horn
This Week in American History: When America Invaded Canada
A failed invasion of Quebec marked the Revolution’s first major setback—and defined the early limits of the American union.
Jonathan Horn
The First Christmas of the American Revolution
In the snow-filled holiday season of 1775, George Washington and his soldiers confronted an uncertain future.
Jonathan Horn
The Maccabees of the American Revolution
The ancient Hanukkah story of Jewish resistance to tyranny echoes in a later one: that of the Jewish patriots who fought for American independence.
Roya Hakakian
This Week in American History: A New Prophet of War
One hundred years after Billy Mitchell was court-martialed for calling the military unprepared for the next war, his warnings sound prescient again.
Jonathan Horn
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