Jeffrey Boutwell is a retired independent historian with a B.A. in History from Yale and a Ph.D. in Political Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This interview is based on his new book, Boutwell: Radical Republican and Champion of […]
Reconstruction
Other controversial presidential pardons in American history
According to Joshua Zeitz, Joe Biden’s pardon of his son Hunter Biden was less controversial than these presidential pardons: George Washington pardoned two whiskey rebels. Andrew Johnson pardoned Confederate officers. George H.W. Bush pardoned six men convicted in the Iran […]
The Author’s Corner with Justene Hill Edwards
Justene Hill Edwards is Associate Professor of History at the University of Virginia. This interview is based on her new book, Savings and Trust: The Rise and Betrayal of the Freedman’s Bank (W. W. Norton & Company, 2024). JF: What led […]
The Author’s Corner with Peter Kolchin
Peter Kolchin is Reed Professor Emeritus of History at the University of Delaware. This interview is based on his new book, Emancipation: The Abolition and Aftermath of American Slavery and Russian Serfdom (Yale University Press, 2024). JF: What led you […]
The Author’s Corner with Frank W. Garmon Jr.
Frank W. Garmon Jr. is Assistant Professor in the Department of Leadership and American Studies at Christopher Newport University. This interview is based on his new book, A Wonderful Career in Crime: Charles Cowlam’s Masquerades in the Civil War Era […]
The Author’s Corner with Michael J. Megelsh
Michael J. Megelsh is Assistant Professor of History at Blue Mountain Christian University. This interview is based on his new book, Adelbert Ames, the Civil War, and the Creation of Modern America (The Kent State University Press, 2024). JF: What […]
“Trump should be thrown off the ballot.” Historians convince E.J. Dionne
When the Colorado–14th Amendment ballot case broke, Washington Post columnist and public intellectual E.J. Dionne was skeptical. He was among those who thought that Trump should stay on the ballot in Colorado and let the people decide whether he should […]
Civil War and Reconstruction historians: The 14th Amendment should bar Trump from the ballot in Colorado
Here is Martin Pengelly at The Guardian: Twenty-five historians of the civil war and Reconstruction filed a US supreme court brief in support of the attempt by Colorado to remove Donald Trump from the ballot under the 14th amendment, which bars insurrectionists […]
The Author’s Corner with Fergus Bordewich
Fergus Bordewich is an independent historian and writer. This interview is based on his new book, Klan War: Ulysses S. Grant and the Battle to Save Reconstruction (Knopf, 2023). JF: What led you to write Klan War? FB: Many of my […]
The Author’s Corner with Drew Swanson
Drew Swanson is Jack N. and Addie D. Averitt Distinguished Professor of Southern History at Georgia Southern University. This interview is based on his new book, A Man of Bad Reputation: The Murder of John Stephens and the Contested Landscape of North […]
The Author’s Corner with Giuliana Perrone
Giuliana Perrone is Assistant Professor of History at the University of California, Santa Barbara. This interview is based on her new book, Nothing More than Freedom: The Failure of Abolition in American Law (Cambridge University Press, 2023). JF: What led […]
The Author’s Corner with Stephen Longenecker
Stephen Longenecker is Professor of History, Emeritus at Bridgewater College. This interview is based on his new book, Pulpits of the Lost Cause: The Faith and Politics of Former Confederate Chaplains during Reconstruction (University of Alabama Press, 2023). JF: What […]
Messiah University is looking for someone to teach an intro course on the Civil War and Reconstruction in Fall ’23
If you are interested, let me know. It will be a night class (6:15-9:15) that will meet once a week. We are looking for someone: The course is geared toward non-history majors, but it is likely that a handful of […]
The Author’s Corner with John Rodrigue
John Rodrigue is Lawrence and Theresa Salameno Professor in the Department of History at Stonehill College. This interview is based on his new book, Freedom’s Crescent: The Civil War and the Destruction of Slavery in the Lower Mississippi Valley (Cambridge […]
The Author’s Corner with Chad Pearson
Chad Pearson is Principal Lecturer of History at the University of North Texas. This interview is based on his new book, Capital’s Terrorists: Klansmen, Lawmen, and Employers in the Long Nineteenth Century (University of North Carolina Press, 2022). JF: What […]
The Author’s Corner with Evan C. Rothera
Evan C. Rothera is Assistant Professor of History at the University of Arkansas, Fort Smith. This interview is based on his new book, Civil Wars and Reconstructions in the Americas: The United States, Mexico, and Argentina, 1860–1880 (LSU Press, 2022). […]
Will November 2022 be like November 1866?
University of Connecticut’s Manisha Sinha explains: Midterm elections are usually not history-making stuff. Few have been memorable. But in the 2022 midterms, as in the 1866 elections, the fate of American democracy hangs in the balance. If there is a moment […]
Eric Foner: “We can’t accept the principle that the way to judge a course of study is by how much money you will make.”
Eric Foner reflects on his life as a historian in this interview with Nawal Arjini at New York Review of Books. A taste: Nawal Arjini: How did you come to specialize in Civil War history? Eric Foner: When I was in college in […]
The Author’s Corner with Anna Koivusalo
Anna Koivusalo is a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Philosophy, History and Art Studies at the University of Helsinki. This interview is based on her new book, The Man Who Started the Civil War: James Chesnut, Honor, and Emotion […]
The Author’s Corner with Paul Escott
Paul Escott is Reynolds Professor of History Emeritus at Wake Forest University. This interview is based on his new book, Black Suffrage: Lincoln’s Last Goal (University of Virginia Press, 2022). JF: What led you to write Black Suffrage? PE: My two […]