Site News & Featured Content (RSS FEED)

(Jun 30) Update to After Putin? Russia's Presidential Elections (Origins Article)
Our March Origins article has been updated to reflect the election results.

(May 30) New Oral Histories
eHistory is proud to re-launch its collection of Oral Histories on the new site, including 2 new additions from the Vietnam War and a recounting of a recent return trip to Vietnam by eHistory`s founder and former Marine, Scott Laidig.

(May 15) New ORIGINS article: Taiwan's 2008 Elections: A New Direction for the 'Other China'?
Our June article for Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective by Christopher A. Reed.

(Apr 15) New ORIGINS article! '(Fore)closing on the American Dream'
In light of the current mortgage crisis, the American Dream of homeownership for some people has become an unreachable goal, and for others, a nightmare. Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State University, Lawrence Bowdish, will illustrate the history of the mortgage market and its problems, and why the consequences of that history makes so many homeowners vulnerable today.

(Mar 12) Online Book: Ridpath's History of the World
eHistory is pleased to re-launch our newly revised and improved Ridpath's History of the World, complete with images and the entire text of all 9 volumes

(Jan 25) (New MultiMedia History): Un Povero Uomo
Twenty year old Bartolomeo Vanzetti arrived in New York City on a sultry summer day in 1908. As he passed through Ellis Island, he joined the vast army of immigrants - 20 million people - who came to the US in the early days of the twentieth century.

(Jan 15) New ORIGINS Article: The Second Amendment Goes to Court
Few issues divide Americans as thoroughly and angrily as gun control and the Second Amendment. With the Supreme Court agreeing to hear a Second Amendment case for the first time in almost seventy years, Saul Cornell takes a look at the issues at stake and the history of American interpretations of this Amendment, and offers some thoughts on the outcomes.

Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective (RSS FEED)

(September 2008) A Tale of Two Fisheries: Fishing and Over-Fishing in American Waters (Mansel Blackford)
Not too long ago, we viewed the oceans as an inexhaustible resource. Now, from the Gulf of Mexico to the Baltic, from the Mediterranean to the South China Sea we find our oceans struggling, in some cases dying, from pollution, global climate change, and over-fishing. This month, Ohio State historian Mansel Blackford discusses the problem of collapsing fish stocks. Looking at the very different histories of two American fisheries, he explores how best to manage our ocean resources.

(August 2008) Playing Politics: Olympic Controversies Past and Present (Alfred Senn)
The 2008 Beijing Olympic Games have already generated a great deal of political controversy around the world. Protesters have used the Olympic torch relay as a stage from which to protest China’s human rights record, and in response Chinese activists have denounced the protests. This month, historian Al Senn of the University of Wisconsin -- the foremost American historian of the Olympics – reminds us that the Olympics are no stranger to politics and he puts these current controversies in historical context.

(July 2008) What's in a Name?: The Meaning of 'Muslim Fundamentalist' (David Watt)
Ernest Hemingway and George Orwell both described the way politics and war involve the struggle over the control of language. They remind us that language shapes in powerful and subtle ways the way we understand and respond to politics and military crises. In the spirit of these writers, David Watt examines the term 'muslim fundamentalist' to ask whether it is useful in describing the current political and cultural landscape or whether it obscures as much as it clarifies.

(June 2008) Taiwan's 2008 Elections: A New Direction for the 'Other China'? (Christopher A. Reed)
The recent Presidential elections in Taiwan brought to office Nationalist Party leader and Harvard-educated lawyer Ma Ying-jeou, who promises to set Taiwan on a path of much closer economic and political ties with mainland China. As Taiwan strives to bolster its democracy, enhance its economic competitiveness, negotiate coexistence with the mainland, and confront local nationalist unrest, Christopher A. Reed explores the historical trends in Taiwanese politics that have brought the tiny island nation to this turning point.

(May 2008) (Fore)Closing on the American Dream (Lawrence Bowdish)
In light of the current mortgage crisis, the American Dream of homeownership for some people has become an unreachable goal, and for others, a nightmare. Ph.D. candidate at Ohio State University, Lawrence Bowdish, will illustrate the history of the mortgage market and its problems, and why the consequences of that history makes so many homeowners vulnerable today.

(April 2008) Beyond “Tribes”: Violence and Politics in Kenya (Claire Robertson)
The violence and turmoil that overtook Kenya in the wake of the disputed December 2007 Presidential elections came as a surprise to many in the world, as Kenya has long been viewed as a source of stability on the African continent. Claire Robertson, a historian of Kenya and an active fund raiser for Kenyan development projects, explores the historical roots of the contemporary strife and the problem of using 'tribes' to explain the conflict.

(March 2008) After Putin? Russia's Presidential Elections (Marlene Laruelle)
Under the leadership of Vladimir Putin since 2000, Russia has become ever richer, ever stronger on the world stage, and increasingly restrictive at home. Now that Putin's term as President is up, Marlene Laruelle offers insight into the upcoming March Presidential elections and what the future holds for Russia at home and around the world.

Origins Podcasts (RSS FEED)

(September 2008: Mansel Blackford)
A Tale of Two Fisheries: Fishing and Over-Fishing in American Waters

(August 2008: Alfred Senn)
Playing Politics: Olympic Controversies Past and Present

(July 2008: David Watt)
What's in a Name?: The Meaning of 'Muslim Fundamentalist'

(June 2008: Christopher A. Reed)
Taiwan's 2008 Elections: A New Direction for the 'Other China'?

(May 2008: Lawrence Bowdish)
(Fore)Closing on the American Dream

(April 2008: Claire Robertson)
Beyond “Tribes”: Violence and Politics in Kenya

(March 2008: Marlene Laruelle)
After Putin? Russia's Presidential Elections

(February 2008: Saul Cornell)
The Second Amendment Goes to Court

(January 2008: Peter Conn)
The Politics of International Adoption

(December 2007: John Guilmartin)
Conflict Termination: How to End—and Not to End—Insurgencies

(November 2007: Stephen Dale)
Tradition vs Charisma: The Sunni-Shi'i Divide in the Muslim World

(October 2007: Justin Lance)
Populism and Anti-Americanism in Modern Latin America

Book Reviews (RSS FEED)