By Elaine Scarry (NHC Fellow, 1979–80) Part philosophical meditation, part cultural critique, The Body in Pain is a profoundly original study that has already stirred excitement in a wide range of intellectual circles. The book is an analysis of physical suffering and its relation to the numerous vocabularies and cultural forces–literary, political, philosophical, medical, religious–that confront it. … Continued
By Mary A. Favret (NHC Fellow, 2004–05) What does it mean to live during wartime away from the battle zone? What is it like for citizens to go about daily routines while their country sends soldiers to kill and be killed across the globe? Timely and thought-provoking, War at a Distance considers how those left on the … Continued
By Eliza Richards (NHC Fellow, 2010–11) During the U.S. Civil War, a combination of innovative technologies and catastrophic events stimulated the development of news media into a central cultural force. Reacting to the dramatic increases in news reportage and circulation, poets responded to an urgent need to make their work immediately relevant to current events. … Continued
By Leonard V. Smith (NHC Fellow, 1993–94) Literary and historical conventions have long painted the experience of soldiers during World War I as simple victimization. Leonard Smith, however, argues that a complex dialogue of resistance and negotiation existed between French soldiers and their own commanders. In this case study of wartime military culture, Smith analyzes … Continued
Edited by Jack M. Sasson (NHC Fellow, 1994–95) For over 40 years, Jack M. Sasson has been studying and commenting on the cuneiform archives from Mari on the Euphrates River, especially those from the age of Hammurabi of Babylon. Among Mari’s wealth of documents, some of the most interesting are letters from and to kings, … Continued
By Walter E. Kaegi (NHC Fellow, 1996–97) This book evaluates the life and empire of the pivotal yet controversial Byzantine emperor Heraclius (ad. 610-641), a contemporary of the Prophet Muhammad. His stormy war-torn reign is critical for understanding the background to fundamental changes in the Balkans and the Middle East, including the emergence of Islam. … Continued
By Margaret Humphreys (NHC Fellow, 2004–05) Black soldiers in the American Civil War were far more likely to die of disease than were white soldiers. In Intensely Human, historian Margaret Humphreys explores why this uneven mortality occurred and how it was interpreted at the time. In doing so, she uncovers the perspectives of mid-nineteenth-century physicians and … Continued
By Bernard Wasserstein (NHC Fellow, 2002–03) In spite of the current diplomatic impasse, Tony Blair's efforts and continuing bloodshed, Professor Wasserstein offers a realistic and persuasive basis for optimism in this startlingly original overview of the relations between Jews and Arabs in Palestine and Israel over the last century.In this new edition of the classic … Continued
By Paul K. Saint-Amour (NHC Fellow, 2005–06) We know that trauma can leave syndromes in its wake. But can the anticipation of violence be a form of violence as well? Tense Future argues that it can-that twentieth-century war technologies and practices, particularly the aerial bombing of population centers, introduced non-combatants to a coercive and traumatizing … Continued
Before becoming a war against the British, the American war for independence was a civil war, a street-level conflict that pitted neighbor against neighbor.