Category Archives: War, Culture, and Society

Historian Eric Foner Wins Pulitzer Prize

Historian Eric Foner has won a Pulitzer Prize for his The Fiery Trial: Abraham Lincoln and American Slavery (Norton, 2010). The American Historical Association has a brief story about the prize on its website. NIU students interested in the history … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Conflict, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Review of Warrior Pursuits

The first review of Warrior Pursuits: Noble Culture and Civil Conflict in Early Modern France has been published.  Professor Phillip John Usher, of Barnard College, reviews my monograph in Renaissance Quarterly. I am happy that book reviews of Warrior Pursuits … Continue reading

Posted in Current Research, Early Modern Europe, French Wars of Religion, History of Violence, Renaissance Art and History, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Afghan War in Film

A new documentary, Where Soldiers Come From, tells the story of a group of young men from Michigan who enlist in the National Guard and serve in the Afghan War.  The film was screened at the South by Southwest (SXSW) … Continue reading

Posted in Empires and Imperialism, History of Violence, War in Film, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

The Princess of Montpensier

Bertrand Tavernier’s The Princess of Montpensier has been released.  The film focuses on the life of a young noblewoman at the Valois court during the French Wars of Religion. The film is an adaptation of a classic early French novel … Continue reading

Posted in Early Modern Europe, French History, French Wars of Religion, Gender and Warfare, Historical Film, Religious Violence, War in Film, Warfare in the Early Modern World, Women and Gender History | Leave a comment

“Books as Bombs”

The potential of books to shape ideas and policies is often debated, but a new piece on “books as bombs” in the Independent offers a short introduction to the issue—using Catch-22 as a key example. Check out the piece on … Continue reading

Posted in Digital Humanities, History in the Media, History of the Book, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

New Book on La Grande Illusion

Jean Renoir’s film La Grande Illusion (1937) is a brilliant film set in a prisoner-of-war camp during the First World War. A recent book by Martin O’Shaughnessy reexamines this classic film: Martin O’Shaughnessy. La Grande Illusion (London and New York: … Continue reading

Posted in French History, Historical Film, Uncategorized, War in Film, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

New French Military Policy

Nicolas Sarkozy has suddenly developed a new French foreign policy that stresses aggressive military intervention.  The French Armée de l’Air has intervened powerfully in the Libyan civil war and French ground forces are on the ground in the Ivory Coast … Continue reading

Posted in Civil Conflict, Empires and Imperialism, French History, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment

Warrior Pursuits in Libraries

Warrior Pursuits is now available at a library near you. I am pleased to see that Warrior Pursuits has now been cataloged in 144 libraries worldwide. WorldCat online catalog allows you to search for books in libraries near you.  Try … Continue reading

Posted in Current Research, French Wars of Religion, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Guns in Film

When did guns become pervasive in film?  Perhaps earlier than you imagine…. This is a shootout scene from The Great Train Robbery (1903). Milos Stehlik, of Facets in Chicago, considered the portrayal of guns in film recently on WBEZ’s Worldview. … Continue reading

Posted in Historical Film, History of Violence, War in Film | Leave a comment

Nuclear Disaster in Japanese Film

Chicago’s Worldview featured a story today on “Nuclear Disaster in Japanese Film,” by Facets film commentator Milos Stehlik.  This piece does not really have any great new revelations, but does provide a nice introduction to nuclear nightmares in postwar Japanese … Continue reading

Posted in Environmental History, History of Violence, War in Film, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment