War is one place where the complexity of victory and defeat should be explored more deeply. Unfortunately, war--whether experienced directly as a soldier in Afghanistan or a Syrian in an Aleppo suburb, or indirectly through a news item on the Internet or American television--is a near inescapable aspect of most people's daily life. Yet unless…

The rise of China, as well as any of the emerging economies, has much to offer students and teachers of social studies--especially in the fields of history and economics. Traditionally, history education in the United States has emphasized Western civilization and provided instruction for educators with that end in mind. In an era of increased…

This issue's "Middle Level Learning" section presents two articles. The first is "Harriet Tubman: Emancipate Yourself!" (by Steven S. Lapham and Peter Hanes). "Argo," which won the 2012 Oscar for best picture, was about a daring escape of six U.S. diplomats from Iran during the 1979 hostage crisis. Now imagine the…

Historians work in a discipline with few inherent concepts and are obliged to draw upon many fields in recreating the past. Yet authors of most school history texts, state and national standards and curriculum materials seldom incorporate economic analysis in their work. Just look at state standards that include Adam Smith and John Locke but draw…

Western historians working in the first half of the twentieth century established a scheme for writing design history that continues to influence the global histories of today. The historians Douglas McMurtrie, Lucien Febvre, Henri-Jean Martin and Lawrence Wroth believed that the modern history of visual communication began with the advent and…

Although the Vietnam War ended more than thirty years ago, historians remain as divided on what happened as the American people were during the war. Mark Moyar maps the ongoing battle between "orthodox" and "revisionist" Vietnam War historians: the first group, those who depict Vietnam as a bad war that the United States should…

The book is entitled History Wars in the Classroom: Global Perspectives and examines how ten separate countries have experienced debates and disputes over the contested nature of the subject, for example the "Black Armband" and "Whitewash" factions in Australia who adopt opposingly celebratory or denigratory views of Australian…

Through the presentation of three historical accounts, this article explores the roles imagination and speculation may play within the writing and study of history. By looking at these three incidents, each drawn from the history and historiography of art education over the past 150 years, through a perspective that embraces the value of utilizing…

Textbook writers in countries around the world interpret our forefathers' actions in ways that, while often curious, broaden our own perspective. (Editor)

This paper examines: (1) the extent to which recently published textbooks used in United States history survey courses reflect a revised view of the historical relationship between the Caribbean region and the United States; and (2) whether recent shifts in research emphases and methodological expansions in the field of American history have…

American history surveys and monographs have been dominated by discourses on war. The vocabulary itself--the inter-war period, postwar planning, the prewar economy, the revolutionary war generation, the irrepressible conflict--strongly suggests that the United States has been in a virtual state of war throughout its history. Ironically, this…

The purpose of this essay is to demonstrate the relevance of transnationalism to understanding historical European international migrations to the United States. The author attempts to do this in two ways. First, through analysis and critique of the historical literature, including his own past work, this essay demonstrates the ways in which a…

Discusses various resources on the history of the Korean War that include, but are not limited to, works from the North Korean perspective, "standard" accounts from a western perspective that identify U.S. and South Korean shortcomings, and works on the secrecy around U.S. special operations. Provides a detailed bibliography. (CMK)

Discusses the study of U.S. history in east German universities. Describes obstacles such as a lack of recent U.S. historical publications and limited opportunities to study in the West. Includes as areas of study: the American Revolution, the Civil War, twentieth-century foreign policy, historiography, German emigration, and U.S. Presidents. (DK)

Discusses U.S. studies at Russian universities. Includes the status of the field, difficulties in obtaining sources, communist interpretation of U.S. social problems resulting in methodological isolationism, and low quality of scholarship. Warns against a shift in attitude that idealizes the Western experience. Argues that changes in mentality…