History Reconsidered

On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the lead up to World War I.

At the end of the Cold War the United States stood alone as the world's preeminent superpower. Following 9/11, most U.S. military engagements were with substate actors and counterinsurgents. However, with the rise of China and increasingly militancy of powers like Russia are we entering a period of renewed great power conflict?

Maitra and Stepman talk about how events spun out of control in the early 20th century, leading to the greatest wars in human history, the collapse of empires, and a total reshaping of the world's political map.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the legacy of historian and statesman Henry Kissinger.

By his own words, Kissenger wanted to be thought of in that order--historian first, statesman second.

Maitra and Stepman talk about Kissinger's governmental and intellectual legacy. Few 20th century statesmen have been so vilified. Was this fair to Kissinger? Maitra and Stepman discuss how Kissinger played a key role in containing the threat of communism and creating the "American century."

Be sure to read Maitra's piece on Kissinger in The American Conservative, "‘Historian, More Than a Statesman."

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the fall of Napoleon in the final part of this three part series.

Perhaps most great stories in history come with a dramatic rise and fall, of persons or empires. Napoleon somehow managed an improbable rise to become master of France and Europe, to a dramatic fall borne of hubris, to emerge again with one last dramatic return ending at Waterloo.

While Napoleon was ultimately exiled a second time for good, he left an immense mark on the history of the world.

Maitra and Stepman talk about Napoleon's legacy as well as some alternative history. Could Napoleon really have gone to America to become a scientist?

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss "Great Man Theory" in the second episode of a three part series on the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.

The so-called Great Man Theory of history, most famously described by historian Thomas Carlyle in the 19th century, has fallen out of favor in the academy. More frequently, history is thought to be shaped by vast unseen social forces rather than individuals. But is that true? Does the life of Napoleon prove that Great Man Theory still has merit or was he merely the product of the time in which he lived?

Maitra and Stepman talk about Napoleon in his prime when he not only proved to be one of the great geniuses of military history, but an able statesman, lawgiver, and diplomat too.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss the French Revolution in the first episode of a three part series on the rise and fall of Napoleon Bonaparte.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken posted on Twitter for Bastille Day that the American and French revolutions were based on the same things. "The War of Independence and the French Revolution were fueled by the same aspirations for freedom, democracy, and human rights," he wrote. But is that true?

Maitra and Stepman talk about the origins of the French Revolution and its relation to the American Revolution. They also discuss the Revolution's role in fueling the rise of Napoleon, one of the great men of history who undeniably shaped the 19th century and the modern world.

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On this week's episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss why they think about the Roman Empire and why you probably do too even if you don't know it.

Men thinking about the Roman Empire became quite a social media meme, but as Maitra and Stepman explain, the trend suggests that there's a deep longing in modern societies to consider our ancient origins.

"Thinking about the Roman Empire" could represent a desire in Western man for greatness and achievement or maybe it's because of a creeping notion that the West is in decline and may collapse as the Roman Empire did. Or perhaps, like great Roman historian Livy, we find solace in the chaos and confusion of our own time by studying the past.

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On the introductory episode of History Reconsidered, Sumantra Maitra and Jarrett Stepman discuss why they launched this podcast. They explain why history is too important to be left to modern academia.

Modern academic history is wholly unsuited to public interest in the discipline. In the ivory tower there's increasingly an emphasis on micro social studies or, more perniciously, on rebuking historical figures for their sins against modernity. The media and entertainment environment isn't much better as a combination of ignorance and ideology leads them to cloud and warp the realities of the past.

History Reconsidered is aimed at changing these trends and delivering a deeper and more meaningful understanding of history, which is needed now more than ever.

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