By Stephen J. Pyne (NHC Fellow, 1979–80; 2002–03) A study of five Americans–Franklin, Irving, Garrison, Emerson, and Dickinson–who wrote about being writers and their confrontation with the emerging commercial reality of the literary marketplace. 20 illustrations.
By Philip Nord (NHC Fellow, 2008–09) France’s New Deal is an in-depth and important look at the remaking of the French state after World War II, a time when the nation was endowed with brand-new institutions for managing its economy and culture. Yet, as Philip Nord reveals, the significant process of state rebuilding did not begin at … Continued
By Judith Farquhar (NHC Fellow, 2007–08; 2015–16) and Lili Lai In the early 2000s, the central government of China encouraged all of the nation’s registered minorities to “salvage, sort, synthesize, and elevate” folk medical knowledges in an effort to create local health care systems comparable to the nationally supported institutions of traditional Chinese medicine. Gathering Medicines bears … Continued
By Patricia Meyer Spacks (Trustee; NHC Fellow, 1982–83; 1988–89) Explores the nature, morality, and aesthetics of gossip; examines gossip in history and the psychology of gossip; and analyzes gossip–as subject and literary technique–in plays, letters, biographies, and novels.
By Bart D. Ehrman (NHC Fellow, 2009–10; 2018–19) What happens when we die? A recent Pew Research poll showed that 72% of Americans believe in a literal heaven, 58% in a literal hell. Most people who hold these beliefs are Christian and assume they are the age-old teachings of the Bible. But eternal rewards and … Continued
By Elizabeth A. Clark (NHC Fellow, 1988–89; 2001–02) In this work of sweeping erudition, one of our foremost historians of early Christianity considers a variety of theoretical critiques to examine the problems and opportunities posed by the ways in which history is written. Elizabeth Clark argues forcefully for a renewal of the study of premodern Western history … Continued
Edited by Louise McReynolds (NHC Fellow, 1995–96; 1999–00) and Joan Neuberger Imitations of Life views Russian melodrama from the eighteenth century to today as an unexpectedly hospitable forum for considering social issues. The contributors follow the evolution of the genre through a variety of cultural practices and changing political scenarios. They argue that Russian audiences have … Continued
By Orin Starn (NHC Fellow, 2001–02) After the Yahi were massacred in the mid-nineteenth century, Ishi survived alone for decades in the mountains of northern California, wearing skins and hunting with bow and arrow. His capture in 1911 made him a national sensation; anthropologist Alfred Kroeber declared him the world's most "uncivilized" man and made … Continued
By Luis Nicolau Parés (NHC Fellow, 2010–11) By combining oral traditions and rituals with handwritten and printed documents, Luis Nicolau Parés wrote a remarkable story of the slaves brought to Brazil, originaores from the region where the powerful kingdom of Dahomey was located, in the present Republic of Benin.
By Linda Dégh (NHC Fellow, 1990–91) Legend and Belief is a descriptive and analytical study of the legend, the most prolific and characteristic form of folklore in contemporary Western civilization. Not that the legend does not have ancient roots; like the tale, the joke, the ballad, the proverb, and mummery, it was also a part … Continued