The History Reader offers articles, interviews, insights, and further reading for history buffs and book lovers everywhere.
The three branches of the U.S. federal government—executive, legislative, and judicial—keep each other in line through a system of “checks and balances.” What roles do each play? And who puts the brakes on the POTUS?
In his new book, Inventing Equality, Michael A. Bellesiles tracks the evolution of the battle for true equality in America through the men, ideas, and politics behind the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments passed at the … Read the article
There are at least three reasons to read philosophers from other times and places. The first is that they are sometimes right (and sometimes in surprising ways), and we can learn from them when they are. The … Read the article
How do you get involved in U.S. Democracy? Here’s a crash course on next-level civic participation. It’s time to put your money or your giant poster board sign where your mouth is.
On the last episode we featured from the … Read the article
My non-fiction book, A Brotherhood Betrayed: The Man Behind the Rise and Fall of Murder, Inc., takes place in Brooklyn in the 1930s, so I had no chance of interviewing participants or eyewitnesses. Instead, I pored … Read the article
In this excerpt from his ground-breaking biography, Charles Casillo explores how the actions of one army photographer sparked the transition of Norma Jeane into Marilyn Monroe.
Monroe photographed arriving at Ciro’s nightclub for a soirée celebrating Louella… Read the article
Who’s responsible for the Electoral College? (Hint: There’s a wildly popular Broadway musical about him.) The Unknown History channel on Quick and Dirty Tips dishes on that and everything you need to know about the U.S. election process in the … Read the article
Huey Long: United States Governor, Senator, and perhaps one of its greatest demagogues. In the following excerpt from The Demagogue’s Playbook, Eric A. Posner examines how Long highlighted American democracy’s susceptibility to the demagogue in the … Read the article
In the following excerpt from their book Four Threats, Suzanne Mettler and Robert C. Lieberman discuss the violent rise of Southern Democrats in post-Civil War Wilmington, North Carolina that turned back decades of … Read the article
There are at least three reasons to read philosophers from other times and places. The first is that they are sometimes right (and sometimes in surprising ways), and we can learn from them when they are. The … Read the article