Historians in Trouble: Plagiarism, Fraud, and Politics in the Ivory Tower

Who says historians are boring? This is a look at controversies involving American historians and why some who get in trouble are excoriated and others escape. There are the familiar cases of Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin and the issue of plagiarism and Joseph Ellis and his lying to his students about his Vietnam War exploits. There is the not so well known tales of historian Edward Pearson and a new theory on the Denmark Vesey Uprising and David Abraham whose thesis challenged powerful professors and as a result his career was finished. Author Jon Weiner posits that historian Michael Bellesiles was sanctioned not so much for his questionable research methods as much as for his devising a theory that went against the NRA's vision of an American gun culture. Legendary historian Elizabeth Fox-Genovese was sued for sexual harassment and discrimination(the case was settled out of court for a rumored cool one million) and because of her ideological views was given a humanities award by President George W. Bush. The author cites diverse stories of historians in trouble and the situations are often completely different although his ultimate conclusion is that in a hand full of cases, particularly that of Bellesines, the role of right wing advocacy groups was decisive in getting strict penalties on the accused academic. Weiner is often quite harsh(and rightly so) on the media and the AHA (American Historical Association) for not being more consistent,balanced and inquiring when it comes to investigating stories of historical inappropriateness. Why are some historians punished and others given government honors? This is a great read that will make you think.

Wiener's book does not attempt to settle the scholarly controversies which it describes. It was written to inform us of actions taken against historians who incur the wrath of the political Right. He concedes the work of these historians was flawed: but the point is that the tactics used against them, so as to discredit their work, or even drive them from the profession, smack of totalitarianism. For contrast, he shows us rightist historians who violated fundamental rules of careful scholarship and got a slap on the wrist, followed by a reward from the White House. A very disturbing book. Prospective historians will read it and perhaps chose a less hazardous discipline---to everyone's loss.

I am not an academician or an historian, so I cannot address the accuracy of this book. It provides an insider's view of some things happening within the American vocation of "historian." As a sort of intellectual voyeurism, this book is readable, engrossing, and even fun for one outside this ivory tower. But what does it mean? What is implied about the condition of the American academy, the news business? For me, the book indicates that the Bush administration is correct--they do create their own reality. The American public is the target of the biggest propaganda machine since Joe Stalin. I hope somebody will review this book and tear it apart the way Michael P. Johnson rendered "Designs Against Charleston: The Trial Record of the Denmark Vesey Slave Conspiracy of 1822." (See chapter 7 of "Historians in Trouble") If not, then I am afraid, very afraid.

Disclaimer: Jon is a colleague of mine at The Nation magazine. The book is a great read, period. Jon has taken a collection of potentially stultifying subjects (mudfights among academics) and turned into a crackling, amusing and ultimately readable piece of first rate journalism. The disparate treatment handed out to different cheating or flawed historians will raise your eyebrows.. and your blood pressure. I particularly liked his account of the scandal around Doris Kearns Goodwin and the way she bought and spun her way back to legitmacy. In all, genuinely fine book on the juicy subject of academic corruption and fecklessness.

Jon Wiener has done an enormous amount of detective work and provides us with rich research and dazzling conclusions. This tour-de-force challenges us to rethink our comfortable assumptions about what does and does not go on in the historical profession--- For everyone entering an archive, contemplating publication, facing a classroom, or scratching heads in disbelief--this book should be required reading. For anyone trying to figure out recent meltdowns and fireworks within the historical profession, Wiener's book is compelling, compact, and don't be afraid to dive into the endnotes.