History is...Or Something Like That

My first college history course the professor asked the class what is history? I in my freshman wisdom answered that it was a story! The professor wasn’t that impressed with that answer. Another student put forward the text book answer that “History was the study of the past.” The professor took a few more answers before settling into his lecture about the “conversation with the past.”  Fast forward about 13 years, I have changed my answer History is more than a story, but I would also narrow the text book answer.  We could define history as the study of the past but when we talk about the age of the earth we generally talk in terms of Geology, Theology or Philosophy.  History is the study of the human past. When we refer to history we are mostly talking about people. That is why history seems to repeat itself because people tend to make similar choices. Human nature seems to not change much.

From this first history class I have become obsessed with peoples definition of history. The joke goes ask 100 historians what is history and you’ll get 112 answers. It’s true, do a google search for what is history quotes. I’m not sure why that is, I suspect it is because history has to do more with philosophy than many historians would care to admit. That discussion is for a future post.

This post is really just to state that I believe History is the study of the human past. This is of course assumed with the text book definition but stating that history is about human lives reminds us that the past was as complicated as the present.

A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun or Road to Surrender

A few months ago I raised some issues with Bill O'Reilly's Killing the Rising Sun and stated that I would not recommend it.  A better substitute, for a read about the end of the pacific theater during WW2, would be Evan Thomas's Road to Surrender.  It has some clear similarities, such as both Thomas and O'Reilly were former journalists. Both make statements that their fathers served in the US Navy and were both slated to serve in Operation Downfall, the invasion of Japan.  Both authors tell how their father's stories sparked an interest in the Atomic Bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Both come to their respective projects with the belief that dropping the Bomb was necessary for ending the war. This being said, Thomas' book doesnt raise any of my four red flags. 

Firstly, Thomas never says his narrative is "The Truth (O'Reilly,2)."  He presents his evidence, gives voice to all sides and let's the reader decide how true his narrative is. This is what a historian is supposed to do. I don't argue that Thomas gets his narrative one hundred percent true but he presents his work with the humility of a student of history.

My second problem with O'Reilly's book was that I constantly asked how does he know that? Thomas explains in the beginning of his book that he had access to unpublished diaries and papers of key figures in his narrative (Thomas, xvi). Primary sources do lie for one reason or another but Having such personal primary sources makes the possibility that these men had certain thoughts and feelings more believable. 

Thirdly, THE BOOK HAD A BIBLIOGRAPHY! As I had said in another post, a bibliography is not necessary as long as your sources are sited in a Notes page (Keating).  A bibliography is great tool for the reader. It says the author at least knows the historiography of the subject. It allows readers to find more materials for further reading and research on the subject. Bibliographies are a chance for the author show how much he/she prepared for their book.

Finally, I took issue with the way Killing the Rising Sun used history to manipulate the reader by cherry picking its vignettes. Road to Surrender provides not only the American story about the bomb but a nuanced analysis of the Japanese side as well. providing the political situation in Japan, cultural roadblocks and historical reasoning for why they did not surrender when it first became obvious they would lose the war.

To be fair I'm not a WW2 historian the only other book I've read on the subject is Bill O'Reilly's Killing the Rising Sun.  In my opinion Road to Surrender is the better researched, better organized and is more empathetic in its presentation. This is the book I would recommend.

Bibliography: 

Keating, Chris. "A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun." The Weaving Chronicle. August 27, 2023. https://theweavingchronicle.blogspot.com/2023/08/a-limited-book-review-killing-rising-sun.html?m=1.

O'Reilly, Bill and Martin Dugard. Killing the Rising Sun. New York: Henry Holt and Company, LLC., 2016.

Thomas, Evan. Road to Surrender. New York: Random House, 2023.

Double Feature: Film Foliage or The 2 Best Films to Watch For Fall

"Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." -Joe Fox, You've Got Mail

I'm not talking about Halloween movies. Im not a fan of scary movies as a whole. These are the two movies I like to watch when the air starts getting crisp and the leaves begin changing.

You've Got Mail, the 90s romcom, starring Tom Hanks and Meg Ryan. The Trouble with Harry, Introducing Shirley MacLaine in Hitchcock's 41st film.

I wish there were more to my list so that this article could be more "clicky." Maybe I'll find more and add them later for now these are the 2 movies to watch during the fall.

In our house, You've Got Mail has been the traditional film for the first day of fall. I'm not sure when that became the case but my wife and I enjoy sitting together and watching the film so much, why not give it a day. The film starts during the autumn in New York, meandering through the holidays and finishing in late spring. Truly, it could be watched at anytime of the year. It is one of the great 90s romcoms. As a history nerd I'm fascinated by it because it is a time capsule of before the change of the Millennium. New York before 9-11, the internet was still in its infancy, the big box store debates. Watch the film and see how the world has changed in the last 25 years. I grew up in the 90s and remember being dragged to the theater by my mom and older sister to watch this film. Now that I'm older it offers a great deal of nostalgia for me. Like a great big bowl of chicken soup for the soul. It's a 90s thing.

 The second film to watch in the autumn  is Alfred Hitchcock's The Trouble With Harry (1955). What is amazing about this film is that Hitch was also releasing To Catch A Thief the same year, further more Hitch had released 2 films the previous year and would go on to release 2 films the next year. I love the aesthetic of the film. One minute you're looking at orange foliage the next it looks like a play. That is exactly what you are seeing because, Hurricane Carol, heavy storms and colder than usual weather wrecked the New England Foliage. The country side was recreated on a Soundstage, according to historian Patrick McGilligan, Hitchcock sent leaf samples to the special effects team to get the color right (506).  I'm not sure why I love this film; it wasn't a film I watched a lot as a kid. Everytime I see the leaves start to change I feel like watching the Trouble with Harry.

These films aren't historical epics but they are time capsules. So whether Fall makes you buy all things pumpkin spice or as in the cinematic words of Joe Fox, "It makes me wanna buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address." As the season get colder here are two recommendations for you. Let me know if you have recommendations of your own in the comment below.

sources:

McGilligan, Patrick. Alfred Hitchcock: A Life in Darkness and Light. New York: HarperCollins, 2003.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/entertainthis/2018/12/18/youve-got-mail-turns-20-all-best-quotes-rom/2335013002/

History in The Future

Earlier in the summer I answered a question posed on a Facebook group called History Majors[i] about history and AI in the future. I was quite proud of my answer, this is a revised and extended version of that answer. I posted a link to the FB group page if you would like to see the original post.  

 

A few years ago I visited the Holocaust Museum in DC.[ii] One of the exhibits was a beta program where they had interviewed survivors for hours and hours and uploaded into a computer interface. This was Dimensions In Testimony[iii] a program sponsored by USC: SHOAH Foundation. There was a holographic image of the person and when you asked questions to the image, the computer matched your question to a story that the interviewee told during their interview. 

I would imagine that future iterations of AI will be able to extrapolate a life like image of historical figures using busts, portraits, and photographs to render a life like image. This may even be done today with more modern figures like Harry S. Truman or John F. Kennedy who were photographed and filmed for extended periods of time. This image would be able to move and talk to guests as hologram figures. AI would be able to gather primary sources such as letters and diaries and then be able to answer questions as that historical figure might. Thus far AI technology has not been able to speak, that may change in time.

The example that I see in my mind is George Washington walking into the Mount Vernon welcome center and greet guests to his home. 

 

AI has gotten a lot of press lately (mostly negative) since Hollywood has screeched to a halt with the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes. There are some legalities to work through and technological advances to work out. AI would be an interesting addition for museums and historical sites to use in their tours.  My hope is that museums seriously look at new technologies to present historical research to the public.

---

[i] https://www.facebook.com/groups/historymajors

 

[ii] http://theweavingchronicle.blogspot.com/2016/05/

 

[iii] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGzAc9mIoTM

 

A Limited Book Review: Killing the Rising Sun

 This book is fast paced, engrossing, some parts are highly entertaining. The chapters are short and well paced making for a fast read. I would call it a history appetizer to whet your appetite for learning about the pacific war in WW2. Sgt Bastione, PFC Doss, General MacArthur,  J. Robert Oppenheimer and the development of the A Bomb and much more are all mentioned. 

That being said I did have several issues with this book. I wasnt going to gripe about facts since im not very knowledgeable about WW2 history. However, I do have one gripe about the facts in the book. On page 242 the author says "A thousand Soviet Tiger tanks and Sherman tanks "on loan" from the Americans face absolutely no armor on the Japanese side." To my knowledge the Soviets didn't have a tank called Tiger and did not operate captured German Tigers in large numbers. I don't know if this is a typo, a misquote or simply an awkward sentence.  This is a minor point but I do have four, what I call, "Red Flags" popped out at me.

1. I don't trust Nonfiction books that actually say this is the "true story." As a nonfiction it should be implied that what the author is saying is at least the authors interpretation of true facts and events. The fact that the author has to explicitly say this is true makes me suspicious. "What Martin Dugard and I are about to tell you is true and stark." pg2. 

2. The second red flag is when I constantly say to myself how does he know that? Not that I doubt the history presented but when the author says "Sachs chooses his reply carefully (pg 3)." Or "The morning heat is so unbearable that Corporal Lewis Kenneth Bausell, USMC, has trouble breathing (pg7)." How do we know that was what he was thinking or feeling? Was there a photograph, a film was this person interviewed? If so let me know how we know, otherwise I'm concerned that the author is so focused on building the drama of the scene that they drift from historical fact. If you don't know say so or leave it out.

3.This book doesn't have a bibliography. A bibliography is not necessary as long as you site the sources used in your book. Killing the Rising Sun does have a source page. My gripe may just be a personal preference. I believe Histories should have bibliographies or at least extensive chapter notes to give the reader a chance to evaluate where is the author getting his information and how old is his information. 

4. My final issue is the way history is used. I don't doubt the facts of atrocities committed by the Japanese army at Nanking or that PFC Desmond Doss, Medal of Honor recipient, was a hero, but when these two stories are juxtaposed with each other to illustrate evil of one versus the virtue of the other, I have to question the motives. 

Like I said I dont doubt the facts but the usage of the narrative makes me doubt the truthfulness of the narrative. 

I did enjoy reading this book, it reminded me of my favorite questions about history. "What is history? and Why do people study it?" However if someone asked me for a book recommendation about the Pacific war, it would not be this one. 

A Limited Book Review Part II: A Concise History of Japan

 

Walker, Brett L. A Concise History of Japan. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2015.

This is the second book review that I have posted on this blog, so it is only appropriate I call it “A Limited Book Review Part II,” for obvious reasons. If you are interested in my first Weaving Chronicle Book Review here is the link https://theweavingchronicle.blogspot.com/2017/01/a-limited-book-review-last-founding.html. Shameless self-promotion finished, here is my limited book review.

A Concise History of Japan is a fairly easy read, Brett Walker moves the narrative along at a good clip. If you are looking for an easy history to pad your book count. The pagination is only 304 pages and 15 chapters so it is a really easy read (chapter lengths average only about 20 pages per chapter).

The following quote sums up the philosophy of the book. Focusing on the big picture of history or as the French say Longue Duree (literally Long duration). This term Longue Duree is also a historical term coined in the 1960s to describe the long view of history, attempting to see all the complexities of history. The perspective has gained favor again in the 21^st century especially in the context of environmental history.

"...context of the historical longue duree, one lesson of environmental history is that the physical stage on which our past unfolds is unstable and dynamic, just like the human societies it supports and sustains. But climate change threatens to amplify that transformative process several fold.

That being said, this book is not an environmental history per say. Rather, this book is what I imagine history should look like in the twenty-first century, as ice sheets and glaciers melt and sea levels and storm intensities rise." - Brett L. Walker, A Concise History of Japan (xvii)

It's “not an environmental history”, but you can tell that is what he wanted to write. My biggest complaint of the book is with its organization of the book. The author will be going through the Empire and Imperial Democracy, 1905-1931 (Chapter 12) and then BAM! He gives three whole paragraphs on the "legacy" of over fishing and whale hunting into the 21^st century (227-229). Call me old fashioned but if the chapter title says “1905-1931” than you should focus on “1905-1931.” This bit would have been better suited later in the book or maybe a complete reorganization to incorporate more environmental history themes.  As the book reads now, it is as if the author copied and pasted some last minute additions into the original manuscript. There are other instances where the organization goes askew but this was by far the most noticeable.

There are some redundancies and I wish the author had given more definitions, even if it was only in the glossary. I suppose defining everything would have made it less concise and more introductory. These are my only gripes about the book, I found it interesting and helpful. I was looking for a quick history to bolster my understanding of Japanese history and this was a good choice.

Adventures in Herodotus

My goal was to read a list of classic and famous historians in chronological order. I called this list my practice grad-school (I’ll have to write a blog post about). What better historian to start with, than the Father of History himself, Herodotus!  I love history and have really enjoyed reading Herodotus’ The Histories but I didn’t know what I was getting myself into.  I did not have any background in Greek history, and Herodotus can be a little disorienting, so here is a post of what I did to help get through one of the greatest works in history.

First off, Herodotus doesn't write like we write today so get ready! Herodotus will frequently interrupt himself with background narrative or geographical/ethnographical info, all of it is super interesting but a bit jarring. Classicists call these interruptions “digressions.” In Book IV, Herodotus describes Dareios’ campaign against the Scythians from paragraph 1-4 then Herodotus interrupts himself and from paragraphs 5-82 he talks of Scythian culture. Then in paragraph 83 he starts talking of Dareios preparing his campaign again. There are more jarring examples but this is the longest if you don’t count book II.

He also gives a lot of names, people, people's fathers, places, places fathers. Here is what I mean...

“Moreover of the Persians there fell here, besides many others of note, especially two sons of Dareios, Abrocomes and Hyperanthes, born to Dareios of Phratagune the daughter in marriage to Dareios gave also with her all his substance, because she was his only child. 7.224b”

Now if you can read that sentence once and get what the heck he is talking about, you’re a whole lot smarter than I. Granted it was written 2400 years ago and then translated into English. Perhaps I shouldn’t criticize too harshly.

Chronology can also be hard to keep track of if you are not familiar with ancient Greece. Herodotus seems unworried about providing regular dates, of course he didn't know that Christ would be born some 400 years in the future so BC wouldn’t have made any sense to him.  Nor did he realize that he wasn’t living in the “common era,” so “Before the Common Era (BCE)” wouldn’t have occurred to him.  His timelines are all over the place and kind of vague, most coffee table tomes would help keep the chronology strait.  I used "Empires that Shook the World" by Andrew Taylor, it is a typical coffee table book. It has sections on the Athenian Empire (or Delian league) and the Achaimenid Empire (or the Persian Empire), it isn’t a spectacular work but it does have plenty of pictures, timelines, graphs and maps to help guide you through ancient Greece.

I also took advantage of two audio resources, the Open Yale Courses (https://oyc.yale.edu/) they can be found wherever you get your podcasts as well as from the website provided. I listened to Professor Donald Kagan’s Ancient Greece class. I highly recommend it for general knowledge of Greek history. Here is a full bio provided by Yale (https://history.yale.edu/people/donald-kagan).  I also took advantage of my public libraries resources which included The Great Courses’ presentation on “Herodotus.” It is taught by Professor Elizabeth Vandiver. Here is a full bio provided by The Great Courses (https://www.thegreatcourses.com/professors/elizabeth-vandiver/). This has been a great resource for more specific context for The Histories itself.

I hope you enjoy your journey through The Histories.  And when you know your Perses from your Persians, you can go to your friend’s party and when they start praising that 300 movie! You can pull out book VII and say “well Herodotus actually said…,” that may be only my fantasy.

P.S.

If you are interested, my next book on my list is Thucydides! Go figure.

Herodotus. Herodotus: The Histories. New York: Barnes & Nobles Books, 2004.

Taylor, Andrew. Empires That Shook the World. New York: Metro Books, 2008.