The Occitan War

Posted on August 6, 2011 by briansandberg

Southern France has certainly seen its share of religious conflict and civil warfare.  My own research explores violence in the French Wars of Religion of 1562-1629, especially focusing on the latter stages of those conflicts.

Larry Marvin, one of my friends from graduate school at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, has published a military history of the Albigensian Crusade, a major  conflict fought in southern France during the medieval period:

Laurence W. Marvin, The Occitan War: A Military and Political History of the Albigensian Crusade, 1209-1218 (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2008).

The book was just reviewed on H-France by David Stewart Bachrach, who writes: “This highly accessible work is a benchmark for the writing of military and political history on the regional level.”  The review is glowing, stating that “the great achievement of this text is to interweave military history into the broader patterns of medieval society in which wars were fought.”  Bachrach concludes that “all future discussions of the Albigensian crusade will have to begin with this study.”

Congrats to Larry!

Posted in Civil Conflict, Early Modern Europe, French History, Languedoc and Southern France, Religious Violence, War, Culture, and Society, Warfare in the Early Modern World | Leave a comment

Shame in Academic Writing

Posted on August 4, 2011 by briansandberg

We professors and graduate students in the humanities all struggle with academic writing.  Formulating new research agendas, carrying out fieldwork, developing rigorous analysis, applying appropriate methodologies, and discerning fresh interpretations of sources is difficult enough.  And, then the writing and editing begins.

Academic writing in the humanities is all about a vicious circle of drafts, criticism, and rewriting.

A new essay in the Chronicle of Higher Education provides a nice reminder of the role that shame often plays in the academic writing process.  It also rightly emphasizes that graduate writing and professorial writing are closely linked, rather than separate spheres.

Graduate students in History at Northern Illinois University will be interested in this essay.

 

Posted in Academic Publishing, Graduate Work in History, Humanities Education, Writing Methods | Leave a comment

Mubarak’s Trial and the Ongoing Egyptian Revolution

Posted on August 4, 2011 by briansandberg

Former Egyptian leader Hosni Mubarak is currently being tried in Cairo, presenting a remarkable televised spectacle.  The Washington Post reports on the opening of the trial and Mubarak’s appearance in court.

Many previous revolutionary movements have put their deposed leaders on trial, including Charles I of England, Louis XVI of France, and Nicolae Ceausescu.  An article in the Guardian today examined these precedents for Mubarak’s trial.

PRI’s The World offered a brief history of political trials today, as did the New Yorker online. These stories also examined parallels with the trial of Saddam Hussein in Iraq.

Readers interested in exploring historical precedents for trials of deposed heads of state can start with David P. Jordan’s The King’s Trial: Louis XVI vs. the French Revolution, 25th anniversary edition (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2004).

Posted in Comparative Revolutions, French Revolution and Napoleon, History of Violence, Human Rights | Leave a comment

Why Leaders Lie

Posted on August 3, 2011 by briansandberg

John Mearsheimer, professor of political science at the University of Chicago, has published a new book on Why Leaders Lie: The Truth About Lying in International Politics.

Worldview  interviewed Mearsheimer about the book yesterday on WBEZ.

Students in HIST 390 Film in History: War in Film may be interested in this story, especially if they are working on Vietnam War or Iraq War topics.

 

Posted in Historical Film, Political Culture, War in Film | Leave a comment

Gout Makes a Comeback

Posted on July 30, 2011 by briansandberg

Gout is making a comeback in the United States.  This disease causes serious inflammation, swelling, and pain—especially in the feet.

During the medieval and early modern periods, gout was considered a disease of the nobility.  Manuscript correspondence of European nobles and royal family members often includes complaints about symptoms related to gout.

More and more Americans are now suffering from gout, which can result from obesity, a high-sugar diet, and heavy alcohol consumption.

NPR reports on gout in the United States.

Posted in Early Modern Europe, Early Modern World, Food and Cuisine History, History in the Media, History of Medicine, Uncategorized | 1 Comment

Extremism in Europe

Posted on July 26, 2011 by briansandberg

The attacks in Norway have raised awareness of the threat posed by far-right extremist groups in Scandinavia and across Europe.

Details are still emerging about the Norway attacks, but already Norwegians are reexamining their political culture, social structures, and laws.  Silvia Poggioli of NPR reports on the situation in Norway.

NPR discusses Norway’s “open society” and the problem of extremism.

The attacks in Norway are also leading officials and journalists across Europe to reexamine violent groups and extremist racial politics.   Reuters reported on the threat of far-right extremism.   PRI’s The World examines extremism within the European Union.  NPR also reports on extremism in Europe.

 

Posted in Comparative Revolutions, European Union, History of Violence, Religious Violence, Terrorism | Leave a comment

America, France, and Revolutionary Film

Posted on July 25, 2011 by briansandberg

United States and French histories have been closely intertwined since the American and French Revolutions of the eighteenth century.  American and French identities have been constructed in part through the concepts of sister republics, Franco-American friendship, and military alliance.

Americans and French people often see their cinemas as sharply opposed to each other, however: Hollywood versus French art film.

A recent piece by Richard Brody in the New Yorker online, published in celebration of Bastille Day on 14 July, questions this notion. Brody finds many connections between American and French cinematic histories.

Students in HIST 390 Film and History: War in Film may be interested in this story.

 

Posted in French History, Historical Film, History in the Media | Leave a comment

United States Debt Crisis and the French Revolution

Posted on July 24, 2011 by briansandberg

The current debt crisis in the United States in some ways echoes the financial crisis in monarchical France during the 1780s.

French historian Lloyd Kramer, Professor of History at University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has published an interesting op-ed piece comparing these two financial crises.

In many ways the crisis of the king’s debt in pre-revolutionary was very different from today’s arguably artificial crisis in the United States over raising the debt ceiling (which has been raised many times over the past several decades without any serious political crisis).

Nonetheless, Kramer identifies several aspects of the French and American crises that do resemble each other.  Most interesting is his comparison of the Tea Party Republicans to French nobles of the 1780s—based on their complete unwillingness to accept increased taxation on the wealthiest members of their respective societies.

Lloyd Kramer’s op-ed is available online at NewsObserver.

Students of HIST 423 French Revolution and Napoleon will be interested in this piece.

Posted in Comparative Revolutions, French History, French Revolution and Napoleon, History in the Media | 3 Comments

Remembering Victims of Norway Attacks

Posted on July 24, 2011 by briansandberg

At least 92 people are dead and another 90 wounded from the bombing and shooting rampage in Norway on Friday 22 July.

As a historian who studies the dynamics of violence, I want to remember the victims of the Norway attacks.

The attacker, who has been identified as a Norwegian right-wing extremist, has apparently written a lengthy revolutionary manifesto.  See stories by NPR, the Guardian, and BBC.

As further information emerges regarding the attacker’s motives, historians of violence will need to analyze these attacks in order to assess violent extremist movements within Europe.  Understanding the dynamics of violence provides us with better opportunities to limit violence in the future.

For now, let us remember the victims of these horrible attacks.

 

Posted in European Union, History of Violence, Terrorism | Leave a comment

150th Anniversary of First Bull Run

Posted on July 24, 2011 by briansandberg

The 150th anniversary of the American Civil War has begun, ensuring that every day over the next four years, there will be commemorations of each battle, skirmish, and political event of the war.

Over 8,000 historical reenactors ventured out into the scorching heat of northern Virginia this weekend to commemorate the first battle of Bull Run, or first Manassas, on 21 July 1861. Thousands of spectators showed up to watch this reenactment of the first major battle of the American Civil War, evoking the many civilians who came to watch the actual battle in 1861.

The first battle of Bull Run occurred when the first major Union advance toward the Confederate capital of Richmond, Virginia, met a Confederate army at Manassas Junction. On 21 July 1861, the Union army attacked the Confederate lines along Bull Run, almost winning the battle, but a counterattack broke the Union troops, who fled north toward Washington. The heavy casualties of approximately 3,000 Union soldiers and 2,000 Confederates brought home the serious nature of the Civil War.

Over the past several decades the battlefield near Manassas has been the focal point of protests and lawsuits to protect American Civil War sites from development. The historical reenactment this weekend thus represents a major victory for many of the reenactors involved in the commemoration.

The Washington Post reports on the reenactment.

Posted in Civil Conflict, Historical Film, History in the Media, War in Film, War, Culture, and Society | Leave a comment