Yale University Press

In ancient Athens, frustrations and disillusionment with the political system may have helped fuel the rise of ostracism—a system that allowed citizens to exile powerful figures seen as threats to the political order. Through the story of Themistocles, this essay explores how early democracy responded to public dissatisfaction and asks whether modern systems can adapt in simi...

K. L. H. Wells—

This year marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. This semiquincentennial of the establishment of the United States of America is being celebrated throughout the country by a slew of exhibitions, reenactments, documentaries and publications that focus on the Revolutionary War as well as many other chapters of Am...

The following is adapted from the the chapter “An Eloquent Essayist” in Nicholas Fox Weber’s biography Anni Albers: A Life.

Almost immediately after arriving at Black Mountain, Anni began to write. Her essays, some of them specific to wea...

This timeline, taken from George Goodwin’s book, Propaganda Wars of the American Revolution, details events in Congress in Philadelphia as it moves towards approving the Declaration of Independence on 4th ...

Michael O’Hanlon, author of To Dare Mighty Things, argues that the United States became a global military power much earlier than commonly believed—starting in the late 19th century, not after Pearl Harbor. As the U.S. industrialized and expanded its naval capabilities in the 1880s–1900s, it deliberately pursued great-power status through shipbuilding, military strat...