POLITICAL HIGHLIGHTS:

This Week's Political Highlights

President Obama Chooses Judge Sonia Sotomayor as his Nominee for the Supreme Court

May 25, 2009: President Obama, Dick Cheney & Guantanamo

BIGGEST NEWS STORIES:

• Annette Gordon-Reed: $50,000 George Washington Book Prize Awarded to Reed for The Hemingses of Monticello - Press Release--Washington College (5-29-09)
• Annette Gordon-Reed: Add Washington Book Prize to the 'Hemingses' Haul The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family - WaPo (5-29-09)

THIS WEEK IN HISTORY:

On This Day in History....

This Week in History.... June 1-7, 2009

IN THE NEWS:

• Historians Support Inquiry into the Death of James Forrestal, America's first secretary of defense - Hugh Turley (Special to HNN) (5-29-09)
• Survey says history students at Oxford enjoy the most vibrant sex lives - Telegraph (UK) (5-30-09)
• Historians report Ernest Hemingway had contacts with the KGB over several years - John Earl Haynes, Harvey Klehr, and Alexander Vassiliev at National Review Online (5-26-09)
• Historians and Literary Critics Go to Bat to keep Louisiana State U. Press open - Source: Chronicle of Higher Ed blog (5-28-09)
• Are you an architectural historian? DC needs you - greatergreaterwashington.org, (5-28-09)
• Ilber Ortayli: Istanbul residents marked on Friday 556th anniversary of conquest of Istanbul with various events across the historic city - World Bulletin, 5-29-09

OP-EDs & BLOGS:

• Jonathan Schanze: "Islamic Speakers Bureau Backed By Radical Profs": American Thinker and Campus Watch (5-31-09)
• Terrence Cheng: Professor discovers little interest in staging a 20th year look at Tiananmen Square - Chronicle of Higher Ed (5-29-09)
• Felix Salmon: Do we need economics historians? - Reuters, (5-28-09)
• The Story of American Revisionism: The Birth of American Revisionism and the Rise of Harry Elmer Barnes - Right Side News, 5-29-09
• Richard Kagan: Human rights and Memorial Day - Fergus Fall Journal, 5-28-09
• Joshua Treviño: Nixon Blog dismisses Simon Schama's new book The New Nixon blog, (5-26-09)
• Susan Jacoby: Taken to task by Whittaker Chambers's grandson for not consulting Harvey Klehr's book on Hiss - David Chambers in the Washington Times, (5-22-09)

REVIEWS & FIRST CHAPTERS:

• Edmund S. Morgan: Celebrating Quiet Heroism AMERICAN HEROES Profiles of Men and Women Who Shaped Early America Herein a collection of 17 essays written over a span of some 70 years, three previously unpublished and 14 previously uncollected in book form, by one of the most distinguished and influential historians of Colonial America. It is the 18th book Edmund S. Morgan has published in his 93 years (he also has edited five others) and further evidence of the depth and breadth of his research, the nimbleness of his mind and his willingness to dissent from received wisdom.... - WaPo, 5-31-09
• Jill Jonnes: Lightning Rods and Sideshows EIFFEL'S TOWER And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count - NYT, 5-31-09
• Michael Shapiro: Squeeze Play BOTTOM OF THE NINTH Branch Rickey, Casey Stengel, and the Daring Scheme to Save Baseball From Itself - NYT, 5-31-09
• Simon Schama: Writer Simon Schama envisions The American Future' by studying the past THE AMERICAN FUTURE A History - Cleveland Plain-Dealer, 5-31-09
• Iain Fenlon: History and function of Venice's great piazza excavated: be there or be square Piazza San Marco - Irish Times, 6-1-09
• Michael Novak: George Washington Urged American Governors to Imitate Christ Washington's God: Religion, Liberty, and the Father of Our Country - CNSnews.com (5-31-09)
• Steven Hahn: A new book by historian takes up the hidden history of African American politics and the politics of writing history The Political Worlds of Slavery and Freedom - U. of Penn. website (Click here to watch video.), (5-1-09)

QUOTES:

• Nelson Lichtenstein "GM boom years full of big-time success": Nelson Lichtenstein -- a labor history professor at the University of California, Santa Barbara, and author of "The Most Dangerous Man in Detroit," a 1995 biography of Reuther -- noted constant change is characteristic of the economy that produced GM. "Capitalism is an unstable system," he said. "Just ask the ox cart builders of England or the radio assemblers of Camden." But Lichtenstein added: "As one who has studied how the UAW battled GM for decades and decades, I never emotionally thought it would go into bankruptcy." - Detroit Free Press, 5-31-09
• Robert E. Wright "Real Money Men": Prof. Robert E. Wright, a financial historian at New York University, suggested changing the definition to real, or inflation-adjusted, dollars. In that case, one can make an argument for John Jacob Astor (1763-1848), the fur trader and Manhattan real estate magnate. "Undoubtedly a New Yorker, Astor was worth about $20 million nominal upon his death," Professor Wright said in an e-mail message. Depending on the method of calculation used, that was the equivalent of $421 million to $119 billion today. The results vary widely depending on the goods and services one compares from different eras, but if one chooses the method that produces the highest figure, some 18th-century New Yorker might have hit one billion even earlier, Professor Wright said. - NYT, 5-29-09
• Tom Segev "Israeli historian praises German democracy": "The most important reason for the success of democracy is that the majority of Germans – though not always voluntarily – took responsibility for the crimes of the Nazi regime, the war and in particular the Holocaust," Segev wrote in the left-leaning liberal newspaper Haaretz. "Most Germans have drawn the right lessons from their past, among them the defence of civil rights and the limits on the army." - www.thelocal.de, (5-24-09)

PROFILES & FEATURES:

>Andrew Roberts, Richard Overy: How will history judge this decade? While journalists write about 'the moment,' historians,who write about longer trends, say it is too early to tellhow far-reaching the effects of the noughties may be... - Guardian UK, 5-29-09

• LSU's T. Harry Williams Oral History Center: Center goes to the source to collect area histories - The Advocate, 5-31-09
• Stan Sandler: "Stan the History Man" - Fay Observer, 5-30-09
• Alan Houston: UCSD professor finds a collection of Franklin letters in the British Library - Del Mar Times, 5-29-09
• Zachary Martin: Passsion for history and Kennedy intrigue leads to new book for Fairhaven native The Mindless Menace of Violence: Robert F. Kennedy's Vision and the Fierce Urgency of Now - South Coast Today, 5-28-09
• New York State's hidden treasure- town historians - www.examiner.com, (5-24-09)

INTERVIEWS:

• Annette Gordon-Reed: Add Washington Book Prize to the 'Hemingses' Haul Interview The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family - WaPo (5-29-09)
• Niall Ferguson "Ireland set to go bust": "The idea that countries don't go bust is a joke," said Niall Ferguson, Harvard professor and author of The Ascent of Money. "The debt trap may be about to spring" he said, "for countries that have created large stimulus packages in order to stimulate their economies." His chosen prime candidate to go bust is "Ireland, followed by Italy and Belgium, and UK is not too far behind".... - Belfast Telegraph, 5-29-09
• Ric Burns: Interviewed about new PBS Indian history documentary - Mother Jones (5-29-09)

HONORS, AWARDED &APPOINTED:

• Annette Gordon-Reed: $50,000 George Washington Book Prize Awarded to Reed for The Hemingses of Monticello - Press Release--Washington College (5-29-09)
• Annette Gordon-Reed: Add Washington Book Prize to the 'Hemingses' Haul The Hemingses of Monticello: An American Family - WaPo (5-29-09)
• Ann Blair, Henry Charles Lea Professor of History: One of four faculty to join FAS's teaching elite - Named Harvard College Professors in five-year appointment - Harvard University, 5-28-09
• Ronald W. Walker, Richard E. Turley and Glen M. Leonard: A long-awaited book on the infamous Mountain Meadows Massacre has received the Best Book Award from the Mormon History Association Massacre at Mountain Meadows - Mormon Times, (5-23-09)

ANNOUNCEMENTS & SPOTTED:

• Steven T. Usdin: The Rosenberg Archive, fascinating electronic archive of primary source documents about the Rosenberg case now online - Rosenberg Archive (Wilson Center) (5-28-09)
• Mary Rubin "Historian says Virgin Mary made into 'normal mum' to widen Christianity's appeal": Speaking at the Hay Festival in Wales, Mary Rubin, the author of Mother of God – A History of the Virgin Mary, said the transformation took place in the 11th and 12th century, with images of her knitting and cooking.... - Source: Telegraph (UK) (5-27-09)

EVENTS CALENDAR:

• June 2009: National Archives Continues Year-Long 75th Anniversary Celebration in June with H.W. Brands, Donald Ritchie, Robert Remini - Press Newswire, 5-28-09
• June 11-14, 2009: The ninth annual "Reacting to the Past" Institute at Barnard College (New York), Annual summer history institute at Barnard College - Source: Press Release (4-21-09)
• August 1, 2009: An Evening with Ken Burns: Kens Burns has been making documentary films for more than 30 years. Since the Academy Award-nominated Brooklyn Bridge in 1981, he has gone on to direct and produce some of the most acclaimed historical documentaries ever made. The late historian Stephen Ambrose said of Burns' films, "More Americans get their history from Ken Burns than any other source." This evening will afford Chautauqua an opportunity to hear one of the most influential documentary makers of all time. Chautauqua Institutition. For more info 716-357-6200. - Jamestown Post-Journal, 5-21-09

ON TV:

• C-SPAN2: BOOK TV Weekend Schedule
• PBS American Experience: Mondays at 9pm
• History Channel: Weekly Schedule
• History Channel: "The Universe: Beyond the Big Bang" - Monday, June 1, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Underwater Universe" - Monday, June 1, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 01 - Lost in Africa" - Monday, June 1, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Alaska: Dangerous Territory" - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "How the Earth Was Made" - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Life After People: Sin City Meltdown" - Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Ancient Aliens" - Wednesday, June 3, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "A Global Warning?" - Thursday, June 4, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "American Eats: History on a Bun" - Friday, June 5, 2009 at 2pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Patton 360: On Hitler's Doorstep" - Friday, June 5, 2009 at 9pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 01 - Lost in Africa" - Friday, June 5, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "10 Days to D-Day " - Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 1pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Einstein" - Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 5pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "D-Day: The Lost Evidence" - Saturday, June 6, 2009 at 8pm ET/PT
• History Channel: "Expedition Africa: 02 - First Victim " - Sunday, June 7, 2009 at 10pm ET/PT

BEST SELLERS (NYT):

NYT Non-Fiction Best Sellers List - June 7, 2009

• #23 - Richard J. Evans: THE THIRD REICH AT WAR

COMING SOON BOOKS:

• Robert Jacobs: Apollo: Through the Eyes of the Astronauts, June 1, 2009
• Vincent J. Cannato: American Passage: The History of Ellis Island, June 9, 2009
• Larry Tye: Satchel: The Life and Times of an American Legend, June 9, 2009
• Matthew Aid: The Secret Sentry: The Untold History of the National Security Agency, June 9, 2009
• Douglas Brinkley, Wilderness Warrior: Theodore Roosevelt and the Crusade for America, 1858-1919, June 30, 2009
• Caroline Moorehead: Dancing to the Precipice: The Life of Lucie de la Tour du Pin, Eyewitness to an Era, June 30, 2009
• William A. DeGregorio: The Complete Book of U.S. Presidents, Seventh Edition, August 15, 2009
• Douglas Hunter: Half Moon: Henry Hudson and the Voyage That Redrew the Map of the New World, September 1, 2009

DEPARTED:

• Ron Takaki: a Pioneer, a Scholar, a Friend - Asian Week, 5-31-09
• Ronald Takaki: Historian, Asian American legend, has died - Asian Week (5-27-09)
• Franklin Littell: Scholar of Holocaust, Dies at 91 NYT (5-30-09)
• Him Mark Lai: Chinese American historian, dies - San Francisco Chronicle (5-29-09)
• Julie Coryell: Jazz-Rock Historian, Dies at 61 - Source: NYT (5-28-09)
• Rupert Hall: Pioneering historian of science and editor of Isaac Newton's letters (Obit) - Guardian (UK) (5-27-09)
• Joan O'Mara: Washington and Lee University News Office W&L Mourns Loss of Art Historian - Source: Washington & Lee website, (5-25-09)
• Patricia Crawford: Pioneering feminist historian who focused on women's lives in 17th-century England (Obit) - Guardian (UK) (5-25-09)
• Perez Zagorin: Historian was Expert On English Revolution (Obit) - WaPo (5-25-09)