Jackson Lears

The Forgotten Crime of War Itself

In his new book, Samuel Moyn argues that efforts to humanize war with smarter weaponry or sanctify it with moral cant have obscured the task of making peace the first goal of foreign policy.

Democracy’s Genuine Crisis

Orthodoxy of the Elites

In Anne Applebaum’s book, democracy, free markets, and meritocracy all get the aerial view.

Don’t Wish for a Restoration

Imperial Exceptionalism

It is hard to give up something you claim you never had. That is the difficulty Americans face with respect to their country’s empire.

Aquarius Rising

Revisiting the religious dimensions of 1960s protest allows for the recovery of a forgotten and necessary part of our past.

Rome on the Hudson

Mike Wallace’s ‘Greater Gotham: A History of New York City from 1898 to 1919’

How the US Began Its Empire

Stephen Kinzer’s ‘The True Flag: Theodore Roosevelt, Mark Twain, and the Birth of American Empire’

Writing History: An Exchange