http://dir.salon.com/topics/history/?source=rss&aim=history en-us Copyright 2007 Salon.com. Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT King Kaufman Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/sports/daily/feature/2008/09/17/england/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/sports/daily/feature/2008/09/17/england/index.html?source=rss News item: 1755 diary mentions baseball in England. That's nice, but we already had a 1744 reference. Not to mention David Wells. By Louis Bayard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/09/05/trachtenberg/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/09/05/trachtenberg/index.html?source=rss Peter Trachtenberg took a tour around the world in his quest to understand why some people are crushed by suffering and others are transformed by it. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/08/28/knowledge/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/08/28/knowledge/index.html?source=rss How do we know what we know? A new book takes a long view of knowledge, from ancient oral traditions to the rise of universities and the Internet. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/08/25/bruno/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/08/25/bruno/index.html?source=rss Giordano Bruno has been called a martyr to science and an occultist, but a new book argues that the brilliant philosopher's unconventional behavior did him in. By Louis Bayard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/08/14/forgery/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/08/14/forgery/index.html?source=rss Can great art spring from a lie? Two new books about forgers raise provocative questions about the links between authenticity and genius. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/24/matthew_kneale/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/07/24/matthew_kneale/index.html?source=rss The 9-year-old narrator of the heartbreaking "When We Were Romans" flees family chaos through literature. By James Hannaham Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/int/2008/07/21/jokes/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/int/2008/07/21/jokes/index.html?source=rss Who invented jokes, and why do we laugh at them? Jim Holt discusses the history of funny. By Cary Tennis Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2008/07/07/art_history/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/mwt/col/tenn/2008/07/07/art_history/index.html?source=rss I hit the wall in my dead-end job, I'm sleeping on a friend's floor, but I have a dream! By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/13/rushdie/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/13/rushdie/index.html?source=rss In Salman Rushdie's satisfying fairy tale "The Enchantress of Florence," magic and history entwine -- and so do a middle-aged emperor and a sexy princess. By Louis Bayard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/12/eskridge/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/06/12/eskridge/index.html?source=rss For years America has desperately tried to outlaw sodomy and other sex acts like fellatio and cunnilingus. What are we so scared of? By Andrew Leonard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/19/loving_china/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/19/loving_china/index.html?source=rss Eccentric scholar Joseph Needham devoted his life to documenting the brilliant innovations of Chinese civilization -- and the mystery of why the West eclipsed it. By Louis Bayard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/09/horwitz/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/05/09/horwitz/index.html?source=rss Forget the Pilgrims. America's roots are older and more twisted, what Tony Horwitz calls a "primordial slime of false starts and mutations." By Louis Bayard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/28/old_glory/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/28/old_glory/index.html?source=rss An infamous 1976 photo captured a violent encounter between white Bostonians and a black lawyer during an anti-busing rally. A new book explains why this image continues to haunt and define us. By Gary Kamiya Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/09/sixties/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/04/09/sixties/index.html?source=rss A new book argues that the '60s counterculture achieved nothing of lasting importance. So why does the era continue to fascinate us? Andrew Leonard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/03/17/a_1930s_history_lesson/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2008/03/17/a_1930s_history_lesson/index.html?source=rss Protectionism on the rise, bickering about exchange rates, the debilitating costs of war -- where have we heard this story before? By Douglas Wolk Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/02/21/shanower/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/02/21/shanower/index.html?source=rss "Age of Bronze," a masterly graphic novel series about the Trojan War, is fit for the gods. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/02/15/susan_jacoby/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/02/15/susan_jacoby/index.html?source=rss Our country is barely smarter than a fifth grader -- no wonder it's drowning in religious fundamentalism and political ideologues on both sides, argues Susan Jacoby. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/01/28/secret_societies/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/01/28/secret_societies/index.html?source=rss Step right up, folks, and read the one true guide to Western and Eastern esoteric societies from the Freemasons to the Rosicrucians. Relics, totems and secret handshakes revealed! By Scott Rosenberg Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/01/24/nicholas_carr/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/01/24/nicholas_carr/index.html?source=rss Like electricity, the Web is everywhere and changes everything, says Nicholas Carr. But the one thing it can't deliver is freedom. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/01/15/wagners/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2008/01/15/wagners/index.html?source=rss In Germany, Wagner is worshiped like a god. His scheming, squabbling descendants are another story. By Sarah Hepola Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2007/12/21/absinthe/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/mwt/food/eat_drink/2007/12/21/absinthe/index.html?source=rss Banned for a century for inspiring madness and murder, absinthe is legal again. So pour yourself a glass and get to know the real Green Fairy. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/review/2007/12/19/transcendentalism/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/review/2007/12/19/transcendentalism/index.html?source=rss Did Emerson and the American transcendentalists transform society or merely sow the seeds of American individualism? Andrew Leonard Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/12/14/history_of_world_trade/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/tech/htww/2007/12/14/history_of_world_trade/index.html?source=rss A history of world trade over the last millennium in one sentence. By Laura Miller Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/books/awards/2007/12/12/best_books/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/books/awards/2007/12/12/best_books/index.html?source=rss From an imaginary history of Alaskan Jews to a compelling glimpse of the CIA, we pick the 10 most pleasurable reading experiences of the year. By Katharine Mieszkowski Wed, 17 Sep 2008 12:09:00 PDT http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/11/30/dirt_on_clean/index.html?source=rss http://www.salon.com/mwt/feature/2007/11/30/dirt_on_clean/index.html?source=rss The messy history of cleanliness, and why our obsession with dirt may be making us sick.