The 18th president continued his Civil War battles with an all-out fight against the Ku Klux Klan. The history books barely mention it.
Books
Book reviews and essays from the Washington Monthly on the new books shaping debates over politics, policy, history, and American democracy.
Posted inBooks
Putin’s History Lessons
The Russian leader has convinced his countrymen that Russia and Ukraine were always one, laying the rhetorical groundwork for a forever war.
Posted inBooks
The Bleak, All But-Forgotten World of Segregated Virginia
Former Harvard President Drew Gilpin Faust’s extraordinary memoir recalls painful memories for her–and me.
Posted inBooks
Where Did the Democrats Go Wrong?
An important new book counsels a return to the New Deal philosophy of fighting for the common man, upholding equal opportunity instead of identity politics, and not sucking up to Wall Street and Silicon Valley.
Posted inNovember/December 2023
How the Founders Overcame Partisan Dysfunction
At the dawn of the republic, ideological divisions and personal hatreds were, if anything, worse than they are today. The nation survived because its warring leaders compromised.
Posted inBooks
The Supreme Court’s World War II Battles
Cliff Sloan’s lively new book explains how the Franklin Roosevelt-shaped Court wrestled with individual rights as the nation fought to save itself and the world.
Posted inBooks
How America Bungled the Pandemic
Why did the world’s richest nation, with some of the most advanced health care, respond so poorly to COVID-19?
Posted inNovember/December 2023
The Lost Mystique of Betty Friedan
Later waves of feminists assailed the pioneering author and activist for focusing on women’s legal and economic rights rather than sexual liberation. Her reputation is due for a revival.
Posted inNovember/December 2023
What the Clinton Haters on the Left Get Wrong
A new book epitomizes the risible belief that the 42nd president betrayed liberals and the 1990s were a right-wing hellscape.
Posted inBooks
China’s Battle for Hearts and Minds
Joshua Kurlantzick’s book is a wake-up call about Beijing’s efforts—sometimes successful, sometimes not—to influence Asia and the world.
