The only rule I can discover as a determinant-and it is a rule riddled with exceptions-is that, on the whole, articles or reports which have a “hard,” that is to say factual, subject matter or a personally observed story to tell are more readable today than “think” pieces intended as satire or advocacy, or written from the political passions of the moment. IT IS SURPRISING TO FIND, on reviewing one’s past work, which are the pieces that seem to stand up and which are those that have wilted. The Assimilationist Dilemma: Ambassador Morgenthau’s StoryĬoalition in Vietnam-Not Worth One More Life Israel: Land of Unlimited Impossibilities Problems in Writing the Biography of General Stilwell

Titleįrontispiece: Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch (© Rijksmuseum)Ĭover painting: Rembrandt van Rijn, The Night Watch (© Rijksmuseum) History, Modern-20th century-Addresses, essays, lectures. Historiography-Addresses, essays, lectures. Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Knopf, an imprint of the Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, a division of Random House LLC, in 1981.Īll but two of the essays in this book have been previously published. Originally published in hardcover by Alfred A.

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Barbara tuchman practicing history