Columbine 25 Years On
Columbine marked the beginning of a new era of high-profile mass shootings in the US. Was the attack the inevitable outcome of lax controls and a culture of gun glorification?
USA
The US Treasury’s Money Laundering Machine
The term ‘money laundering’ is often associated with mobsters, drug lords and morally dubious executives. But the expression’s first use was far less lawless.
Jackie Coogan and the Fall of Hollywood’s Child Stars
Hollywood adored child stars like Jackie Coogan and Diana Serra Cary, but failed to protect them
‘Daughter of the Dragon’ by Yunte Huang review
Daughter of the Dragon: Anna May Wong’s Rendezvous with American History by Yunte Huang explores the discrimination beneath Hollywood’s glamour.
The 50 Years that Made America
Fifty years separate the Boston Tea Party and the Monroe Doctrine. How did a group of British colonies become a self-proclaimed protector of continents within half a century?
‘Eli and the Octopus’ by Matt García review
Eli and the Octopus: The CEO Who Tried to Reform One of the World’s Most Notorious Corporations by Matt García is a human story amid mergers, sales, profits and losses.
The Gunfight at the O.K. Corral Becomes Legend
On 26 October 1881, three men were shot dead in Tombstone, Arizona. A survivor, Wyatt Earp, turned it into a legend.
Why Is the United States Hostile to Socialism?
The question asked by Werner Sombart in 1906 grew in relevance as the 20th century progressed. Why are leftist politics anathema to Washington – both at home and abroad?
What Killed Kennedy?
Was it the mob? A coup? Cuban dissidents? War hawks? 60 years after the assassination of John F. Kennedy, the theories are still debated. Do any of them hold up?
Popularizing the Past by Nick Witham review
Popularizing the Past: Historians, Publishers, and Readers in Postwar America by Nick Witham explores the industry of popular history from Daniel Boorstin to Howard Zinn.