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Articles Tagged: book reviews

U.S. nationhood was created nearly from scratch in the 19th century. Was Daniel Webster responsible?

The early United States, scholars have noted, was a country in search of nationhood. Created as an ad hoc military alliance of disparate colonies to fight off a shared political… Read more »

Should we replace the U.S. National Anthem?

Over the July 4th weekend the Washington Post published my review of musicologist Mark Clague’s new book, O Say Can You Hear?: A Cultural Biography of The Star Spangled Banner, a book… Read more »

Reviewing David Hackett Fisher’s Albion’s Seed sequel in Washington Monthly

More than thirty years ago, Brandeis historian David Hackett Fischer resuscitated the effort to develop a historical narrative of the United States with a book called Albion’s Seed, a sweeping… Read more »

Reviewing Yascha Mounk’s “Great Experiment” in Washington Monthly

The world’s ongoing slide into authoritarianism has generated a frantic effort among political scientists, historians, and national security experts to identify the causes and possible solutions. University of Chicago law… Read more »

Reviewing Matthew Pearl’s “Taking of Jemima Boone” in Washington Monthly

“The frontier” has played a huge role in the American imagination, a place where civilization and savagery supposedly met and the former — with allegedly heroic intent and deeds —… Read more »

Reviewing Alex von Tunzelmann’s “Fallen Idols” in the Washington Post

In Sunday’s Washington Post I reviewed Alex von Tunzelmann’s new book, Fallen Idols: Twelve Statues that Made History. It’s extremely topical, providing historical and comparative context for thinking about the evaluation and potential… Read more »

Reviewing Alan Taylor’s “American Republics” in the Washington Post

In Sunday’s Washington Post I reviewed Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Alan Taylor’s new book, American Republics: A Continental History of the United States, 1783-1850. I’ve been reading Taylor, who was born and… Read more »