By Gaurav Desai (NHC Fellow, 2001–02; 2009–10) Reading the life narratives and literary texts of South Asians writing in and about East Africa, Gaurav Desai builds a surprising, alternative history of Africa's experience with slavery, migration, colonialism, nationalism, and globalization. Consulting Afrasian texts that are literary and nonfictional, political and private, he broadens the scope … Continued
By Israel Gershoni (NHC Fellow, 2004–05) Confronting Fascism in Egypt offers a new reading of the political and intellectual culture of Egypt during the interwar era. Though scholarship has commonly emphasized Arab political and military support of Axis powers, this work reveals that the shapers of Egyptian public opinion were largely unreceptive to fascism, openly rejecting … Continued
By Anthony W. Marx (NHC Fellow, 1997–98) In a startling departure from the unquestioning liberal consensus that has governed discussions of nationalism for the past quarter century, Marx exposes the hidden underside of Western nationalism. Arguing that the true history of the nation began two hundred years earlier, in the early modern era, he shows … Continued
By Leonard V. Smith (NHC Fellow, 1993–94), Annette Becker, and Helen McPhail France and the Great War tells the story of how the French community embarked upon, sustained, and in some ways prevailed in the Great War. In this 2003 book, Leonard Smith and his co-authors synthesize many years of scholarship, examining the origins of … Continued
By Israel Gershoni (NHC Fellow, 2004–05)
By Silvana Patriarca (NHC Fellow, 2005–06) Why do Italians believe that they have a national character and that this character is a major reason for their political woes? Why is their self-image so frequently derogatory? In this meticulous study of the role of national character in Italian political and social discourse, Silvana Patriarca reconstructs the … Continued
By Silvana Patriarca (NHC Fellow, 2005–06) How have the world of work and the aspirations of workers changed with the advancement of technology, automation, precariousness, smartworking that some say is the future? What happens to the rights in this scenario?
We think we know “The Star-Spangled Banner” — but how many of us realize that Francis Scott Key was not looking at the flag we now revere as the original, and that he never set foot inside Fort McHenry? An instant success in 1814, the anthem’s first stanza opens so many sporting events today that … Continued
A nation set apart, divinely empowered to lead the world — that is how Americans have seen ourselves since the very beginning. The 17th century’s “city upon a hill” became, in the eighteenth, a model of liberty for all the world. In the nineteenth century, Manifest Destiny drove this nation from the Atlantic to the … Continued
Standing on Chamberlain Bridge and looking at Independence Arch, I began reading the Barbadian Pledge. Instantly my brain goes to each school morning when students stand and say the U.S. Pledge of Allegiance. Both symbolize a promise of loyalty to a nation represented by a flag, but why do humans feel the need to align … Continued