New Books Network

New Books in Politics & Society
Norman Stone, “World War One: A Short History” (Basic Books, 2009)
Norman Stone
World War One
A Short History
Basic Books, 2009

New Books in European StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Military HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books Network May 14, 2009 Marshall Poe

When I was in high school, I really didn’t go in for reading. Until, that is, I somehow encountered Erich Maria Remarque’s All Quiet on the Western Front. I remember hiding in the back of all my classes reading it while my teachers talked about something I know not what.... Read More
William Beezley, “Mexicans in Revolution, 1910-1946” (University of Nebraska Press, 2009)
William Beezley
Mexicans in Revolution, 1910-1946

University of Nebraska Press, 2009

New Books in HistoryNew Books in Latin American StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books Network May 7, 2009 Marshall Poe

It’s shocking and embarrassing how little I, as an American, know about Mexican history. Mexico shares a 2,000 mile long border with the United States. Mexico is America’s third largest trading partner (behind Canada–about which I also know nothing–and China). Over 20 million people in the U.S. say they are... Read More
Adrian Goldsworthy, “How Rome Fell: Death of a Superpower” (Yale UP, 2009)
Adrian Goldsworthy
How Rome Fell
Death of a Superpower
Yale University Press, 2009

New Books in European StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in World AffairsNew Books Network May 1, 2009 Marshall Poe

It’s the classic historical question: Why did the Roman Empire fall? There are doubtless lots of reasons. One historian has noted 210 of them. No wonder Gibbon said that we should stop “inquiring why the Roman Empire was destroyed,” but rather “be surprised that it lasted so long.” Indeed. But... Read More
Godfrey Hodgson, “The Myth of American Exceptionalism” (Yale UP, 2009)
Godfrey Hodgson
The Myth of American Exceptionalism

Yale University Press, 2009

New Books in American StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in World AffairsNew Books Network April 23, 2009 Marshall Poe

How different is the United States from other nations? American leaders and common folk have often said it’s very different. The Founding Fathers said it, Abraham Lincoln said it, Woodrow Wilson said it, Franklin Roosevelt said it, Bill Clinton said it, and George W. Bush said it–and they were hardly... Read More
Joel Lewis, “Youth Against Fascism: Young Communists in Britain and the United States, 1919-1939” (VDM, 2007)
Joel Lewis
Youth Against Fascism
Young Communists in Britain and the United States, 1919-1939
VDM, 2007

New Books in American StudiesNew Books in European StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books Network April 16, 2009 Marshall Poe

Most people know what “appeasement” is. You know, the Spanish Civil War, the Nazi Anschluss with Austria, the Sudeten Crisis, Neville Chamberlain, “Peace in Our Time.” The Western democracies went (as Margaret Thatcher might have said) all “wobbly” on Fascism, with tragic results. But not everyone was fooled by the... Read More
Tony Michels, “Fire in their Hearts: Yiddish Socialists in New York” (Harvard UP, 2005)
Tony Michels
Fire in their Hearts
Yiddish Socialists in New York
Harvard University Press, 2005

New Books in American StudiesNew Books in German StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in Jewish StudiesNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books in ReligionNew Books in Religion & FaithNew Books Network April 9, 2009 Marshall Poe

I always assumed that the Jews who emigrated from Eastern Europe to New York and created the massive Jewish American labor movement brought their leftist politics with them from the Old Country. But now I know different thanks to Tony Michels’ terrific Fire in their Hearts. Yiddish Socialists in New... Read More
Yuma Totani, “The Tokyo War Crimes Trials: The Pursuit of Justice in the Wake of World War II” (Harvard UP, 2008)
Yuma Totani
The Tokyo War Crimes Trials
The Pursuit of Justice in the Wake of World War II
Harvard University Press, 2008

New Books in East Asian StudiesNew Books in HistoryNew Books in LawNew Books in Military HistoryNew Books in Peoples & PlacesNew Books in Politics & SocietyNew Books Network April 3, 2009 Marshall Poe

Most everyone has heard of the Nuremberg Trials. Popular books have been written about them. Hollywood made movies about them. Some of us can even name a few of the convicted (Hermann Goering, Albert Speer, etc.). But fewer of us know about what might be called “Nuremberg East,” that is,... Read More
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