Welcome to the History Carnival for May, 2012.
History Carnival, May 2012
From Marfa to Mauritania in Forty Years
Four hundred and fifty miles west of the University of Texas at Austin, thirty-seven miles (as the car drives) north of the town of Marfa, Texas, and almost 6,800 feet above sea level sit the white and silver domes of the McDonald Observatory.
A New History Journal Produced by Students
The first issue of a new student-oriented online journal, History in the Making, was launched this month in Sydney, Australia.
The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China by Jay Taylor (2009)
For many historians of China and even for many Chinese, Chiang Kai-shek, leader of China’s Nationalist Party and then founder of the Republic of China in Taiwan, was a classic “bad guy” of history.
Before Red Tails: Black Servicemen in World War I
Moviegoers who recently flocked to cinemas around the country to take in George Lucas’ World War II aviation blockbuster, Red Tails, may be unaware of the long and checkered history of black servicemen in the American military in the decades before the ascendance of the now famous Tuskegee Airmen.
A History of Islam in America: From the New World to the New World Order by Kambiz GhaneaBassiri (2010)
In the last decade, the history of Muslims in America has come into its own and A History of Islam in America provides one of the most comprehensive and even-handed treatments of the subject. Many previous studies breezily pit “Islam” against the “West.”
The Lavender Scare: The Cold War Persecution of Gays and Lesbians in the Federal Government by David K. Johnson (2006)
In 1958 Frank Kameny was out of a job. A Harvard trained astronomer and veteran of World War II, he had been working for the Army Map Service.
J. Edgar (2011)
Academy Award-winning director Clint Eastwood presents a biopic of one of the most powerful and controversial figures of twentieth-century America in the film J. Edgar.
Telling Stories, Writing History: Novel Week at NEP
Not Even Past has always reviewed and commented on historical films. This week we take a look at some of our favorite historical novels. Historians often criticize novels set in the past, partly because they see fiction writers as falsifying and distorting the record, but also because they seem to simplify the past by narrating historical events through the lives of fictional individuals.
On Veterans’ Day: War Photos
Photographs of war, more than photographs of any other subject, make war seem both very distant and impossibly close.