At the risk of opening up a can of mansplaining, is there a particular period in history that I should read about that is particularly relevant to now?
Comments
Log in with your Bluesky account to leave a comment
The early 1900s, especially from WW1 through the McCarthy era in the US. The red & lavender “scares” in the US & Jim Crow are worth knowing about too. Highly recommend Jason Stanley’s “How Fascism Works” as a very readable framework for understanding how fascist politics differs from conservatism.
If you’re particularly interested in the rise of transphobia and the “specter” of “gender ideology” then Judith Butler’s “Who’s Afraid of Gender” is worth the struggle it takes to read.
I’m sure a lot of people are going to mention earlier 20th century works.
I would recommend “Journey for our Time” by Marquis de Custine.
It covers his work as a French Spy, (Non-Fiction) during the early 19th century in Russia.
I find it relevant to today, due to the similarities between —
— early 19th century Russian serfs, and modern Americans. It is these similarities which would account for the current state of affairs facing the u.s.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire might feel less relevant than The Decline and Fall of the Third Reich, but I think both are equally and the former is a way longer ride.
Depends on perspective, but I think the 1900-1940 Germany is probably pretty close. Eloquent, charismatic leaders rallying populations behind them for nefarious means.
I find the French Revolution pertinent. The aristocracy (read the wealthy) did not pay any tax. The clergy likewise and did bad stuff (reminiscent of our raping clerics) and the peasant class (us) had no political voice and were heavily taxed.
I've seen comparisons to the Spanish Civil War and rise of Hitler, but I also think The Emergency in India and the democratic return to power of Indira Gandhi only a few years after being a dictator (and then being assassinated by her own bodyguards) is relevant.
I'd love to mansplain but I can't make any sense out of this period with Russia replaying WW1, some conflicts playing MadMax, climate playing Bladerunner 2049 and a White House playing Gremlins4 soon. So pick whatever period of history you think explaining that to you. And then please tell me.
Skimmed replies before responding so I'll just echo the folks mentioning reconstruction. I'm starting a reread of Black Reconstruction by Du Bois as my starting point.
'The Deluge' by Stephen Markley is a novel, but kind of reads like a history of the next years to get a sense of what may be coming. Prepare to be depressed.
Robert Harris' Cicero Trilogy is not only about Cicero becoming one of Rome's great orators, but about his agonizing attempts to save the Republic from dictatorship. It's too late for us now, but still relevant.
I just found an older book of letters and first person accounts of the American Revolution that I found inspiring. I’ve also had my eyes opened a lot by reading about the lived experiences of Chinese immigrants in the 19th century
The Reconstruction period after the US Civil War. We were taught in school that Lincoln freed the slaves and we lived happily ever after. Not so much...
A slightly different angle might be Christopher Isherwood’s novel “Goodbye to Berlin” (1939). It captures the sort of deteriorating material conditions that allowed fascism to become normalized, but he tracks it through everyday life in a set of interrelated short stories/character sketches.
Good one. Julia Boyd’s Travellers in the Third Reich might be one to read alongside. It covers accounts of foreigners who visited Germany in the 1930s and saw the gradual rise/normalising of fascism.
And there’s a lot in there too about shifts in sexuality & gender amidst all the fluctuations in Weimar. Historians often turn to that novel too: so it’s not just me!
The Theodore Roosevelt presidency and his battle to end monopolies and trusts. The period after World War I and the conditions that gave rise to Hitler. "The Lords of Finance: the Bankers Who Broke the World" and "Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft and the Golden Age of Journalism" are good.
Wizard of the Kremlin by Giuliano Da Empoli is a thinly veiled fictionalised account of Vladislav Surkov’s partnership with Putin about how they manipulated the media and culture in Russia to assume and maintain power. Also touched on by Adam Curtis in his doc Hypernormalization. It’s a playbook.
I’m both a historian and a man, so apologies in advance 😂. But I think about WW1/1920s a lot these days (global crisis, inflation, immigration panics). Maybe try Adam Hochschild’s AMERICAN MIDNIGHT for a lively book that draws parallels but doesn’t hit you over the head with them.
This is the one I’m reading and the period I’ve been telling folks to pay attention to (in addition to Reconstruction) - the 1920s feel very “now” all of the sudden.
I second the 1920s vote! I teach in a bus school and find myself constantly highlighting how much today looks like the years before the great depression. Also, the 80s ruined everything - cause we went back to 1920s policy
I think 100 years ago (1925-1930). Huge political scandal with Teapot Dome, growing international isolationism, wall street speculation inflating stock prices (similar to crypto bro Ponzi schemes today) , tariff program in 1930 and climate issues (dust bowl) paving way for great depression.
Broad category, but the American labor movement’s history is likely to be relevant assuming that some of those old fights might need to get re-fought. Post civil war into the gilded age particularly
Absolutely, because through the great depression and coming out of WWII. We've had fascists, the red scare, all that right here in America. The shit is coming around again and George Santayana "Those who do not remember the past are condemned to repeat it" rings through my head.
We literally had the Munich Beer Hall Putsch re-enactment, although rather than being imprisoned and writing a book called "My Struggle" Donnie just got away with it and started selling bibles instead.
Sumerian. The first civilization. It’s relevant today because it’s nearly the same as today. This is what they mean when they say history repeats itself.
Yes, French Revolution and Robespierre would just about sum it up, or 100 years later in the US about robber barons. Same shit, different centuries. Does not end well for the oligarchs. Ever.
Given the current SCOTUS situation, the ramifications of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments are crucial to understanding today’s legal climate. Foner’s text is very readable, even though the issues are very complex.
i'm seeing claims that "postmodern neo-marxist" academics are pushing "gender ideology" about 15 years after a major push for trans acceptance
the nazis instead called it "jewish bolshevism" while they burned the first studies on trans people, banned them from sports, and revoked their amended IDs
I don't have the answer but I find @sarahkendzior.bsky.social the best at explaining where we are now and she likely gets it right because she also knows all of that history which she also writes about.
There’s a couple of historians hawking their just-released “Oathbreakers” which apparently is a middle ages saga about two brothers that were allowed to get away with bad things so things for worse. I put it in my reading list. That and a book about the Barry Goldwater campaign
If you don’t follow and read Heather Cox Richardson - do so. There is something to learn from pretty much any period of American (and world) history… (long way of saying no perfect parallels but as a nation we’re definitely making the same mistakes twice - or more)
This might be a little narrow but "Bring the War Home: The White Power Movement and Paramilitary America" by Kathleen Belew, which mostly looks at the 70s-90s is prescient, all things considered. If you're looking for the dismantling of state apparatuses I might look to post-Soviet states in the 90s
R Perlstein’s “Nixonland” is a dark mirror but also a reminder presidential mendacity isn’t new.
R Gerwarth’s “November 1918: the German revolution” is about a moment of paths not taken, with fateful results. (Hitler wasn’t destiny IOW). Great read!
Kind of shocked I haven't seen a lot of talk about the U.S. in the Great Depression to WWII. I live in Michigan, they machine gunned workers at the Flint GM plant who were striking. In Washing DC they Army rousted out WWI vets who were looking for pay they were promised during WWI. Basically the
entire period from the end of the Civil War probably through the Term of Bush Sr. need to be studied to see how we got to where we are. I specifically believe that when Carter put on his sweater and said that we need to find an alternative form of energy the Oil Industry went full in on the
Republicans. I'm not a big fan of Religion but how they idealize Reagan and the 🍊🐷 and talk about Carter the way they do is a clear demonstration to me that Christianity has no connection to what they claim the message of their supposed Prophet. Fascism has never died and so many people have allowed
the historical message to be turned into fairy tales. People saying that the South was fighting for States Rights and the NAZIS were socialist, this is just completely separated from the truth. We have to ensure that when the history is written in the future that there is no mistake. I want Elon
Musk, Peter Theil, Mitch McConnel, John Fetterman, the New York Times, The Washington Post, and all the Network News Channels complicity in what happened recorded so when the history of what is happening now is written no one will say in 150 years it was about "State's Rights" or "they were
Comments
I would recommend “Journey for our Time” by Marquis de Custine.
It covers his work as a French Spy, (Non-Fiction) during the early 19th century in Russia.
I find it relevant to today, due to the similarities between —
I also recommend recommend reading about the Know Nothing Party and the 1850s nativist movement in the US. It was literally MAGA before MAGA.
Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World - Nina Kraus
and collecting here:
https://etherpad.wikimedia.org/p/antifascistQUestionnaire
Read about it in the book of Isaiah. It will give you faith.
not a historian nor do i play one on tv - personal opinion only
Also, Babylon 5...
Yes, I'm serious!
Their history, is our now, read up on how bad things will get!
My dad, born 1920 in Oklahoma. He raised liberal Democrats!
Human evolution is fascinating as well
1920s - 1930s
the nazis instead called it "jewish bolshevism" while they burned the first studies on trans people, banned them from sports, and revoked their amended IDs
I often feel like we are reliving Nero’s period in Rome. “Bread and circuses” is a real thing now.
Tuchman’s “A Distant Mirror.” The beginning of the Renaissance was as turbulent as now.
R Gerwarth’s “November 1918: the German revolution” is about a moment of paths not taken, with fateful results. (Hitler wasn’t destiny IOW). Great read!
It describes the coming to power of the Nazis.