Kamis, 11 Agustus 2011

Lacy's Open Thread: 8/11/2011 Edition

It's been three weeks since trying this for the first time, so let's give it another go. Here are a few conversation starters:



1. No one else has introduced her name here, so I might as well be the first: I'm intrigued by Ryan Lizza's recent 'Pseudo-(anti?-)Intellectual History of Michele Bachmann'. It's a fascinating and depressing account of Bachmann's intellectual influences. Here's a piece tracking responses to Lizza's narrative. I'm intrigued by the second Francis Schaeffer reference I've read this week...segue...



2. Every history graduate student---and every historian for that matter---should be required to read chapter four of John Fea's recent book, Was America Founded as a Christian Nation?: A Historical Introduction. The chapter's title is "History for the Faithful: The Contemporary Defenders of Christian America." Fea lays out his view of five themes covered in recent popular books by those who want to prove---and among those who want to believe---the thesis that America is a Christian nation.



3. Here's another survey text covering the last 40 years of American history: Jeff Madrick's Age of Greed. Color me green with intrigue. It's amazing to me how the Sixties serve as an impregnable analytical wall---a wall that forces historians to write about it directly, aim for it, or launch from it. Few who narrate broadly seem to write through it.



But hey, these are just my ideas for discussion. I'm open to anything else you want cover. - TL

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