Category: American History

October 13, 2011

How the French Have Viewed American Religion

The following is an excerpt from Denis Lacorne’s Introduction to Religion in America: A Political History. “Twentieth-century French perceptions of America, however contradictory, share a common pessimistic message. The United States is not really a democracy. It is either a...

October 12, 2011

Tony Judt on Denis Lacorne

As Denis Lacorne makes his way around the United States to discuss his new book Religion in America: A Political History (Bostonians: You’ll have two chances to see him today!), we decided to post an excerpt from Tony Judt’s foreword...

October 11, 2011

Denis Lacorne on Tour to Discuss "Religion in America: A Political History"

Throughout October Denis Lacorne will be discussing his new book Religion in Religion in America: A Political History at various locations in the United States: Wednesday, October 12 at Noon Boston College Boisi Center for Religion and American Public Life...

September 13, 2011

Clarence Taylor at the Brooklyn Book Festival

Continuing our feature on Columbia University Press authors, who will be at the Brooklyn Book Festival this Sunday, we look at Clarence Taylor’s new book Reds at the Blackboard: Communism, Civil Rights, and the New York City Teachers Union. Reds...

September 9, 2011

The Zones of Sadness from September 11th

“It’s suddenly critically important to keep that kernel of humanness. It’s not optional anymore. There’s something that keeps human beings human and we’d better understand it and share it.”—Rosemary We conclude our focus on Until the Fires Stopped Burning: 9/11...

September 6, 2011

Charles Strozier on WBAI

The following is a recent interview WBAI with Charles Strozier, author of Until the Fires Stopped Burning: 9/11 and New York City in the Words and Experiences of Survivors and Witnesses. *Charles Strozier will be discussing the book tonight at...

July 6, 2011

History News Network Reviews Reds at the Blackboard

With the recent efforts to weaken teachers’ unions and corporate-led “school reform,” Clarence Taylor’s recently published Reds at the Blackboard: Communism, Civil Rights, and the New York City Teachers Union has taken on a new relevance. The book was recently...

May 12, 2011

Interview with Whitney Strub, author of Perversion for Profit

The following is an interview with Whitney Strub, author of Perversion for Profit: The Politics of Pornography and the Rise of the New Right Question: Why “Perversion for Profit”? Won’t people think the book is about the economics of the...

April 7, 2011

Gary Cross and "The Won't Grow Up Male"

In a feature in The Wall Street Journal , Kay Hymowitz, author of Manning Up: How the Rise of Women Has Turned Men Into Boys chose five books that exemplify the contemporary phenomenon of “The Won’t Grow Up Male.” The...

April 4, 2011

Manning Marable

Columbia University Press mourns the loss of Manning Marable, who died over the weekend. Marable, a leading scholar of black history and a leftist critic of American social institutions and race relations, was a valued member of the Columbia University...

February 28, 2011

Do Mayors Matter? A review of "America's Mayor" and "Ed Koch and the Rebuilding of New York City"

  In The New Republic, Edward Glaeser, reviews three recent books on New York City that explore the city’s postwar politics, finances, and efforts at urban renewal. The books discussed include America’s Mayor: John V. Lindsay and the Reinvention of...

December 7, 2010

On the Anniversary of Pearl Harbor: A Post by Greg Robinson

The following is a post, published last year, is by Greg Robinson, author of A Tragedy of Democracy: Japanese Confinement in North America, now available in paper. December 7 remains, as Franklin Roosevelt predicted, a date that lives in infamy....