On September 20th, we will publish Laura Trevelyan’s The Winchester: The Gun That Built an American Dynasty. As Trevelyan leads us through the history of the Winchester rifle, we reflect on the impact of the Winchester Repeating Arms company on our own city of New Haven, Connecticut. Douglas W. Rae—
Godfrey Hodgson— Kennedy was the first president not just of the age of national media but of the age of national corporate business and national popular culture, whose centers were in Manhattan, Chicago, and Los Angeles, precisely the locations of Father Kennedy’s principal operations. Kennedy’s family business was centered in
Janet Polasky— Jacques the Jacobin did not actually exist. His was a fictional account published in the most widely read of the multitude of new French newspapers, Les Révolutions de Paris (Revolutions of Paris) to draw the uninitiated into the realm of politics. If pamphlets opened revolutionary discussions, newspapers amplified
Katrina Jagodinsky— For many Americans, summer is a season marked by patriotic holidays and family gatherings. Memorial Day kicks off our appreciation for military service and three-day weekends, Fourth of July announces independence through pyrotechnics, and Labor Day offers the last, official, summer day of rest whether we choose to
Lorri Glover— Among people Donald Trump refers to as his “fans,” one of the most commonly expressed attractions to his improbable presidential candidacy is that he “tells it like it is.” Setting aside the not insignificant matter of accuracy (what “it” actually is), the claim speaks to a culture-wide clamoring
Thomas S. Kidd— When did the first people come to live in North America? Or, humanly speaking, when did American history begin? These questions deal with really old history, but the answers are changing all the time. Just last month, archaeologists working at the Aucilla River in Florida announced the discovery
Eileen Hunt Botting— Memes are a staple of contemporary popular culture, but most people would be hard pressed to define what exactly they are. Simply put, memes are widely recognizable yet variously replicated symbols of ideas. In the twenty-first century, most people associate the meme with social media, in which a
Benjamin Ginsberg— For most of the nineteenth century, the presidency was a weak institution. In unusual circumstances, a Jefferson, a Jackson, or a Lincoln might exercise extraordinary power, but most presidents held little influence over the congressional barons or provincial chieftains who actually steered the government. The president’s job was
Manisha Sinha— Most Americans greeted Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew’s decision to put Harriet Tubman, the abolitionist heroine of the Underground Railroad, on the front of the twenty-dollar bill and relegate the Indian hunting President Andrew Jackson to its back with approval. The ironies abound. Fugitive slaves like Tubman most feared
Stephen Long— It can seem like a long wait for Spring to replace the browns and grays of the woods with tints of green. But this time of year has its benefits. Before lush growth turns the woods into a maze of green, we have a chance at an unobstructed