By John Seelye (NHC Fellow, 1983–84) This book, the second volume in Seelye's series on the rivers of America in the American imagination, explores how George Washington's vision of a "more perfect union" for America–based upon the linking of the nation's waterways by technical means–was carried out. The first volume, Prophetic Waters, dealt with the … Continued
Edited by John Wood Sweet (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) and Lisa A. Lindsay In Biography and the Black Atlantic, leading historians in the field of Atlantic studies examine the biographies and autobiographies of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century African-descended people and reflect on the opportunities and limitations these life stories present to studies of slavery and the African diaspora. … Continued
Edited by David Armitage (NHC Fellow, 1996–97) and Henry St. John Henry St John, Viscount Bolingbroke, was one of the most creative political thinkers in eighteenth-century Britain. In this volume, modernised and fully annotated texts of his most important political works, the Dissertation upon Parties, the letter, 'On the Spirit of Patriotism', and The Idea … Continued
By Emily R. Grosholz (NHC Fellow, 1985–86) The Cartesian method, construed as a way of organizing domains of knowledge according to the "order of reasons," was a powerful reductive tool. Descartes made significant strides in mathematics, physics, and metaphysics by relating certain complex items and problems back to more simple elements that served as starting … Continued
By Stephen A. Conrad (NHC Fellow, 1986–87)
Edited by Matthew S. Gordon (NHC Fellow, 2011–12) and Kathryn A. Hain Concubines and Courtesans contains sixteen essays that consider, from a variety of viewpoints, enslaved and freed women across medieval and pre-modern Islamic social history. The essays bring together arguments regarding slavery, gender, social networking, cultural production (songs, poetry and instrumental music), sexuality, Islamic family … Continued
Edited by Michael A. Lofaro (NHC Fellow, 1980–81) and Joe Cummings
By J. William Harris (NHC Fellow, 1992–93) Deep Souths tells the stories of three southern regions from Reconstruction to World War II: the Mississippi-Yazoo Delta, the eastern Piedmont of Georgia, and the Georgia Sea Islands and Atlantic coast. Though these regions initially shared the histories and populations we associate with the idea of a "Deep South"—all … Continued
By Richard H. Grove (NHC Fellow, 1995–96) This collection of essays from a pioneering scholar in the field of environmental history vividly demonstrates that concerns about climate change are far from being a uniquely modern phenomenon. Grove traces the origins of present-day environmental debates about soil erosion, deforestation and climate change in the writings of … Continued
Edited by Richard Will (NHC Fellow, 2009–10) and Mary Hunter (NHC Fellow, 1991–92) Haydn is enjoying renewed appreciation as one of the towering figures of Western music history. This lively collection builds upon this resurgence of interest, with chapters exploring the nature of Haydn's invention and the cultural forces that he both absorbed and helped … Continued