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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: 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
No, You Are Not on Indigenous Land
Pieces of territory belong to institutions, not to racial groups.
Noah Smith
Americans to Celebrate: The Prophet of the Atomic Age
John von Neumann, the Hungarian immigrant who invented game theory and shaped America’s nuclear strategy, also believed the technologies he developed…
Jordan Ellenberg
Democrats Have a Patriotism Problem. Here’s How to Fix It.
On the 100th anniversary of Bobby Kennedy’s birth, Democrats should reflect on what made the late liberal icon so popular.
Richard D. Kahlenberg and Ruy Teixeira
Young Hitler
On a visit to Austria, the author finds an Adolf that looks uncannily like certain young American men today.
David Samuels
What the Right Gets Wrong About Zohran Mamdani
The New York socialist’s worldview isn’t born of Marx or Mecca—it’s heir to a 20th-century crusade that turned anti-imperial struggle into a moral…
Zineb Riboua
Americans to Celebrate: Before RBG, There Was Myra Bradwell
When Illinois’s highest court said female lawyers would distract men in the courtroom, one woman made it her mission to prove it wrong—and laid the…
Doriane Lambelet Coleman
Niall Ferguson: Our Own Gilded Age
The late 19th century saw economic dynamism and inequality as well as controversies over tariffs, immigration, and monetary policy. Sounds like 2025…
Niall Ferguson
The Words That Made America
Akhil Reed Amar explains our founding story and why the American Constitution is the best hope for the future.
Bari Weiss
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