A Lesson in German Military History with Peter Wilson
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
10M ago
In his landmark book Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples since 1500, acclaimed historian Peter H. Wilson offers a masterful reappraisal of German militarism and warfighting over the last five centuries, leading to the rise of Prussia and the world wars. Below, Wilson answers our questions about this complex history, breaking down key moments and challenging preconceptions about a specifically “German way of war.”  Why did you feel it important to include the histories of Austria and Switzerland in the story of German military history? Modern Germany is a ver ..read more
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Marking the 75th Anniversary of Independence from British Rule
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
1y ago
August 14 and August 15 mark the seventy-fifth anniversary of independence from British rule for Pakistan and India, respectively. Inextricably linked to the birth of these two South Asian nations is the 1947 Partition of the subcontinent that tragically accompanied the end of British colonialism. Jawaharlal Nehru, the first prime minister of independent India, described the moment of independence as a tryst with destiny. “At the stroke of the midnight hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to life and freedom. A moment comes, which comes but rarely in history, when we step out from the ..read more
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HUP ReadUP: Summer Reads
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
1y ago
We asked our colleagues, “What is one word you would use to describe an ideal summer read?” Their answers range across all the summer feels, from those easygoing lazy hazy days to that voltage of energy that fires up a reawakening. What’s more, their responses include book recommendations sure to help you breeze through the sunny season—from our own library as well as those of fellow university presses. Cheerful • Memory Speaks • Lives of Houses (Princeton University Press) “I wouldn’t want to read anything too heavy or depressing over summer.” —Ellie Diverting • Memory Speaks • Go Ahead in ..read more
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Speaking with SpeakOut Boston
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
1y ago
We continue our celebration of Pride Month by talking with some of the speakers who volunteer with SpeakOUT Boston. They share their stories with a variety of audiences to foster a better understanding of the LGBTQ+ community, so we thought we’d ask them some questions of our own. What does Pride mean to you? My very first Pride celebration was in 2016. I had just come out (at almost 60 years old) and seeing thousands of others celebrating and living their truth was simply the most amazing feeling I had ever known. I was fortunate enough to march in three more Boston Pride Parades plus two in ..read more
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50 Years of Sharing LGBTQ+ Stories
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
1y ago
As we celebrate Pride month, we decided to take the opportunity to invite a local LGBTQ+ organization to tell us about the important work they do. Ellyn Ruthstrom is the Executive Director of SpeakOUT Boston and has been involved with LGBTQ+ activism for thirty years. As a former president of the Bisexual Resource Center, Ruthstrom co-organized the first White House Roundtable on Bisexual Issues in 2013 during the Obama Administration. On the oppressive summer night of June 28, 1969, the Stonewall Rebellion started in New York City. Drag queens, trans women and men, gay and bisexual people al ..read more
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The War in Ukraine
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
2y ago
The Russian invasion of Ukraine has people wondering how we got to this point. For those looking for a better understanding of the complicated, intertwined pasts of these two countries, and to learn more about Ukrainian history, these books provide answers and shed light on the current conflict. The first two titles are being published next month by the Harvard Ukrainian Research Institute and could not be more timely. In Isolation: Dispatches from Occupied DonbasStanislav Aseyev In this collection of dispatches, Stanislav Aseyev attempts to understand the reasons behind the success of Russia ..read more
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Five Reasons Why You Should Read Thomas Piketty’s A Brief History of Equality
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
2y ago
In his surprising and powerful new work, A Brief History of Equality, Thomas Piketty reminds us that the grand sweep of history gives us reasons to be optimistic. Over the centuries, he shows, we have been moving toward greater equality. We asked him about his impassioned new book: why he wrote it, how it’s optimistic, and what we need to do to continue making progress on creating an equitable world. This book draws on your earlier works but is also very different. How would you describe the mix? It’s partly a response to readers’ requests for a short book. My three major books are around a t ..read more
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On Ethel Waters and Zora Neale Hurston
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
2y ago
We round out our celebration of Black History Month with an excerpt from Daphne Brooks’s Liner Notes for the Revolution: The Intellectual Life of Black Feminist Sound, winner of the PEN Oakland–Josephine Miles Award and a Rolling Stone Best Music Book of the Year. “Vivid, joyful, and heartbreaking in its passionate understanding of soul in all its manifestations,” says Hilton Als, “Liner Notes for the Revolution is itself a new kind of music: propulsive, witty, wise, and true.” The little women lurk at the very heart of the modern, the place where Zora Neale Hurston and her girl Ethel [Waters ..read more
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The Story of an Atlantic Slave War
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
2y ago
Our third excerpt to celebrate Black History Month comes from Vincent Brown’s award-winning Tacky’s Revolt: The Story of an Atlantic Slave War, which Cornel West calls “brilliant” and “groundbreaking.” This gripping account of the largest slave revolt in the eighteenth-century British Atlantic world, an uprising that laid bare the interconnectedness of Europe, Africa, and America, shook the foundations of empire, and reshaped ideas of race and popular belonging. Only the plotters truly knew if their plans had called for a general uprising from the beginning. The colonists were guessing based ..read more
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Traveling Black
Harvard University Press Blog » European History
by Harvard University Press
2y ago
All this month we are celebrating Black History Month with excerpts from some of our recent books. In Traveling Black: A Story of Race and Resistance, a New York Times Critics’ Top Book of 2021 and a book that Ibram X. Kendi calls "extraordinary," Mia Bay provides a riveting, character-rich account of racial segregation in America that reveals just how central travel restrictions were to the creation of Jim Crow laws. In 1922  Joseph K. Bowler told a reporter for the Chicago Defender that he never ventured to the South without a “Jim Crow traveling kit.” Des ..read more
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