SchlagerBlog

The newest issue of Curriculum Connections, which is published as a supplement to School Library Journal, has an interesting interview with the historian Howard Zinn. Many of you will know him as the author of A People’s History of the United States, which has become a standard history textbook (or textbook alternative) in much of the country. Famous for his left-leaning politics and his work to popularize the stories of minorities, women, the powerless, etc., Zinn is a lightning rod for criticism. His Wikipedia page offers a useful window into his life, his work, and the controversy that surrounds him. Although I won’t venture any comment here about Zinn’s work, I like what Douglas Brinkley said about him on the Book TV “In Depth” program that I recently blogged about (and I paraphrase): If you only read his book and no others, you would be left with an unbalanced view of American history. But he is a terrific writer and historian who knows how to craft engaging, compelling narratives.

On another topic, I have been enthusiastically watching the PBS series “Spain…On the Road Again.” Part travelogue and part cooking show, it features Mario Batali and Gwyneth Paltrow (along with the New York Times writer Mark Bittman and the Spanish actress Claudia Bassols) as they travel around the country, sampling regional Spanish cuisine, seeing the sights, and having fun. The show is heaven for a hispanophile like myself, and you won’t be surprised to learn that I just ordered the companion book.  Who knew that Gwyneth Paltrow was fluent in Spanish? She speaks the language beautifully. Mario Batali is likewise fluent, although his accent leaves something to be desired. (For the record: I speak Spanish horribly.) It all makes me long to visit the country again, if not to live there again (as I did for a while in college).

Back to American history for a moment: Over at the Milestone Documents blog, we’ve launched a new category called “Spotlight.” From time to time we’ll focus on famous historial persons and tell you where to find information about them–and their primary sources–on the Web. It should provide an entertaining snapshot of some of the content that will find its way into our forthcoming Milestone Documents of American Leaders. Our first Spotlight post is on Andrew Jackson.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, October 14th, 2008 at 3:31 pm and is filed under History news, Libraries, Schlager News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.