Olivier Zunz is James Madison Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Virginia. This interview is based on his new book, The Man Who Understood Democracy: The Life of Alexis de Tocqueville (Princeton University Press, 2022). JF: What led...
Joan DeJean is Trustee Professor of Romance Languages at the University of Pennsylvania. This interview is based on her new book, Mutinous Women: How French Convicts Became Founding Mothers of the Gulf Coast (Basic Books, 2022). JF: What led you...
The French government wants a secular state. In other words, they want to keep religion out of public life. What does that mean and how is the French view of the separation of church and state different from the United...
A lot of conservatives liked Trump’s speech on Friday night. I am told that The Wall Street Journal gave it a positive review. I commented on the speech here, but I thought I would say a few more things about Trump’s...
Over at The Washington Post, historian Jordan Taylor reminds us that “the founding fathers knew first-hand that foreign interference in U.S. elections was dangerous.” He points to French ambassadors Edmond-Charles Genet, Jean Antoine Joseph Fauchet, and Pierre-Auguste Adet in the...
“We are the Dead. Short days ago We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, Loved and were loved, and now we lie, In Flanders fields.” —Canadian soldier John McCrae, remembering the sacrifice of fellow World War I troops. “We’re getting drenched.”...
Here is Fred Kaplan at Slate: The most disturbing thing about President Trump’s disgraceful performance in France this past weekend is the clear signal it sent that, under his thumb, the United States has left the West. He came to...
Michael Rapport is Professor of History at the University of Glasgow in Scotland and a fellow of the Royal Historical Society. This interview is based on his new book, The Unruly City: Â Paris, London and New York in the Age...
In the wake of the Paris shootings, Harvard historian Niall Ferguson compared France’s “complacency” in allowing ISIS operatives into the country with the “complacency” of the Roman Empire in allowing the so-called “barbarians” to pass through its borders in the...
Today in the Boston Globe, Boston University professor Andrew Bacevich argues that the West should stay out of the Middle East. It is a war that we cannot win. Here is a taste: It’s past time for the West, and...
I hope you’ve enjoyed “Dispatches from the History Major this semester.  I know I have.  Here is the last installment of the semester from Messiah College sophomore history major James Mueller.  We are currently in contract negotiations for next year.  Stay tuned.  –JF...
