Pure Invention: How Japan’s Pop Culture Conquered the World. Matt Alt. New York: Crown, 2020. ISBN: 9781984826695. Reviewed by Rustin B. Gates, Bradley University Edited by Jeanne Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Beneath the Backbone of the World: Blackfoot People and the North American Borderlands, 1720-1877. Ryan Hall. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781469655154. Reviewed by Jacob Jurss, Adjunct Professor of History, Metropolitan State University and University of St. Thomas Edited by Sarah Pesola and Jeanne Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission
Read more
Peace on our Terms: The Global Battle for Women’s Rights after the First World War. Mona L. Siegel. New York: Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231195102. Reviewed by Susan Smith, Maple Grove High School, Maple Grove, Minnesota Ms. Smith is one of the original co-founding members of the MWWHA and teaches World History and AP Government at Maple Grove High school
Read more
Click to download pdf of Call for Submissions CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Crisis and Recovery in World History” For a Special Issue of The Middle Ground Journal: World History and Global Studies Deadline for submissions: November 30, 2021 The Middle Ground Journal invites submissions of articles for a special issue of the journal on “Crisis and Recovery in World History,” the theme for
Read more
Tatar Empire: Kazan’s Muslims and the Making of Imperial Russia. Danielle Ross. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780253045706. Reviewed by Mark A. Soderstrom, Aurora University Edited by Jeanne E. Grant (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Out of Our Minds: What We Think and How We Came to Think It. Felipe Fernández-Armesto. Berkeley: University of California Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780520331075. Reviewed by David C. Fisher, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Idolatry and the Construction of the Spanish Empire. Mina García Soormally. Colorado: University of Colorado Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781607328001. Reviewed by Lydia A. Perez, Master’s student, University of Central Oklahoma Edited by Birgit Schneider and Justin Quinn Olmstead (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
The Phantom Image: Seeing the Dead in Ancient Rome. Patrick R. Crowley. Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780226648293. Reviewed by Joseph M. Snyder, Assistant Professor, Southeast Missouri State University Edited by Julie Tanaka (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Eat the Buddha: Life and Death in a Tibetan Town. Barbara Demick. New York: Penguin Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780812998764. Reviewed by Annima Bahukhandi, Assistant Professor, Indraprastha College for Women, University of Delhi Edited by Julie Tanaka (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Atlantic Studies: Prospects and Challenges. William Boelhower. University of Louisiana Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780807171639. Reviewed by Len von Morzé, University of Massachusetts Boston Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 21, Spring 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Historicizing Fear: Ignorance, Vilification, and Othering. Travis D. Boyce and Winsome M. Chunnu, eds. Louisville: University Press of Colorado, 2019. ISBN: 9781646420018 Reviewed by Jamie Stoops, Lone Star College Edited by Jeanne E. Grant (c) 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 20, Fall 2020. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Faithful Fighters: Identity and Power in the British Indian Army. Kate Imy. Stanford: Stanford University Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781503610026 Reviewed by Victor Curiel, Idaho State UniversityEdited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (c) 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 20, Fall 2020. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Diaspora’s Homeland: Modern China in the Age of Global Migration. Shelly Chan. Durham: Duke University Press, 2018. ISBN: 9780822370543 Reviewed by Lei Zhang, University of MinnesotaEdited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 20, Fall 2020. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
By Patrick H. Salkeld, Independent Scholar Abstract The twenty-first century has seen health crises related to SARS, Swine Flu, Ebola, Zika, and COVID-19. Nations cooperated with supranational groups when deciding what to do with football operations in these crises except during the COVID-19 pandemic when the “Ostrich Alliance” viewed it as interference with their sovereignty. Key words: pandemics, football (soccer),
Read more
By Roberto Padilla, The University of Toledo History Abstract During the Sino-Japanese War the Japanese army medical bureau employed medical protocols based largely on their ideological import. The result was a failed system of testing that prevented the early identification of a cholera epidemic that swept through the warzone. Near the end of the conflict the epidemic also spread to
Read more
By Kevin Mitchell Mercer, M.A., Adjunct Professor of History, University of Central Florida Abstract A history adjunct professor’s assignment allows students to understand that historic moments can be can be both extremely personal and globally shared and makes global connections for educators. Key words: Pandemic, COVID-19, history teaching, historical artifacts, social media. Edited by Birgit Schneider and Justin Quinn Olmstead.
Read more
By Sumiko Otsubo, Metropolitan State University Abstract During the Siberian Intervention, the Japanese Army decided not to adopt hospital ships (病院船) but to rely on patient ships (患者船) when transporting 13,800 troops back to Japan and when the fall wave of the 1918 Influenza Pandemic was at its worst. Is it a valuable lesson for the current hospital ship legislative debate
Read more
By Maura Chhun, Metropolitan State University Abstract The 1918 Influenza Pandemic killed over twelve million Indians while a concurrent famine drove up the cost of basic necessities. The British government framed the pandemic as a complicating factor in their otherwise successful management of the famine, but more accurately the famine was a contributing factor to the pandemic’s death toll. Key words:
Read more
By Sarah Pesola, Chief Intern, undergraduate at Metropolitan State University Edited by Birgit Schneider and Jeanne E. Grant This is a special summer issue of the journal called, Pandemics in Historical Perspective. Every Friday, or nearly every Friday, through mid-June another article will be published. The articles, as they are published, will be open to moderated comments. We invite readers
Read more
From Sadat to Saddam: The Decline of American Diplomacy in the Middle East. David J. Dunford. Lincoln: Potomac Books, 2019. ISBN: 2370000713155 OlmsteadSadatReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Justin Quinn Olmstead, University of Central Oklahoma Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the
Read more
The Order of Genocide: Race, Power, and War in Rwanda. Scott Straus. Ithaca, New York: Cornell University Press, 2006. ISBN: 10:080144489 KoderoRwandaReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Cliff Ubba Kodero, Florida International University Edited by Martin Pflug (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Shaping the Vernacular Landscape of San Francisco’s Chinatown San Francisco’s Chinatown neighborhood is a notable landmark in San Francisco as its architecture, culture, and customs are distinct from the rest of the city. San Francisco’s Chinatown is significant as it the largest Chinatown in the world outside of Asia. What is notable about Chinatown is the neighborhood has retained its
Read more
Colonial Food in Interwar Paris: The Taste of Empire. Lauren Janes. New York: Bloomsbury Academic, 2016. ISBN: 9781472592828 WilliamsColonialReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Nicholas Williams, University of Minnesota Edited by Ann Waltner (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Chop Suey, USA: The Story of Chinese Food in America. Yong Chen. New York: Columbia University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780231168922 McElroyChopReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by James McElroy, University of Minnesota Edited by Ann Waltner (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Maiden Voyage: The Senzaimaru and the Creation of Modern Sino-Japanese Relations. Joshua A., Fogel. Oakland: University of California Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780520283305 ChanMaidenReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Ying-kit Chan, Princeton University (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
East Asia Beyond the History War: Confronting the Ghosts of Violence. Tessa Morris-Suzuki, Morris Low, Leonid Petrov and Timothy Y. Tsu. Abingdon: Routledge, 2013. ISBN: 9781138851863 OvermeireEastReviews20292020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Ben Van Overmeire, St. Olaf College Edited by Karen Rosenflanz (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s
Read more
Fighting Over Fidel: The New York Intellectuals and the Cuban Revolution. Rafael Rojas. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780691169514 For Full Article: ChavanaFightingReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Adrian Chavana, University of Minnesota Edited by Ann Waltner (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Out of the Woods: Essays in Environmental History. Char Miller and Hal Rothman, eds. Pittsburgh, PA: University of Pittsburgh Press, 1997. ISBN:0822956314 RuthOutReviews20192020TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Christian Ruth, University at Albany SUNY Edited by Ashley Dressel (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
The Origins of the Modern World: A Global and Environmental Narrative from the Fifteenth to the Twenty-first Century. Third Edition. Robert B. Marks. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2015. ISBN: 9781442212404 StearOriginsReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Ezekiel Stear, Pasadena City College Edited by Ashley Dressel (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines
Read more
Japan and the Shackles of the Past. R. Taggart Murphy. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014. ISBN: 9780190619589 DresnerJapanReviews20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Jonathan Dresner, Pittsburg State University, Kansas Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Agents of Terror: Ordinary Men and Extraordinary Violence in Stalin’s Secret Police. Vatlin, Alexander. Translated by Seth Bernstein. Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780299310806 vanTineReviewsTerror20192020theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Shalon van Tine, Ohio University (c) 2019 and 2020 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 19, 2019-2020 school year. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
The Cuban Connection: Drug Trafficking, Smuggling, and Gambling in Cuba from the 1920s to the Revolution. Eduardo Sáenz Rovner. Translated by Russ Davidson. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2008. ISBN: 9781469632100 For Full Article: KadowMiCubReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Michael Kadow, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission
Read more
Korea’s Occupied Cinema, 1893–1948: The Untold History of the Film Industry. Brian Yecies and Ae-Gyung Shim. New York: Routledge, 2011 (Routledge Advances in Film Studies). ISBN: 9780415740487 For Full Article: ParkYSKoReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Young Sun Park, University of Southern California Edited by Martin Pflug (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for
Read more
The Global Transformation of Time: 1870–1950. Vanessa Ogle. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 2015. ISBN: 0674286146 For Full Article: AndersonTJTiReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Thomas J. Anderson, Merrimack College Edited by Karen Rosenflanz (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
The News of Empire: Telegraphy, Journalism, and the Politics of Reporting in Colonial India c. 1830-1900. Amelia Bonea. New Delhi: Oxford University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780199467129 For Full Article: BethkeASNeReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Andrew Schumacher Bethke, University of Minnesota – Twin Cities Edited by Karen Rosenflanz (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page
Read more
Genocide: A World History. Norman M. Naimark. New York: Oxford University Press, 2017. ISBN: 9780199765263 For Full Article: SchiesslCGenReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by: Christoph Schiessl, Pierre Laclede Honors College, University of Missouri – St. Louis Edited by: Ashley Dressel (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
The World and All the Things upon It: Native Hawaiian Geographies of Exploration. David A. Chang. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780816699421 For Full Article: KesslerLWoReviewsSpring2019TheMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Lawrence H. Kessler, Consortium for History of Science, Technology and Medicine Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page
Read more
Global Environmental History: An Introductory Reader. J.R. McNeill, and Alan Roe, eds. London/ New York: Routledge, 2013. ISBN: 978041552053 For Full Article: KalbMReviewsSpring2019theMiddleGroundJournal.org Reviewed by Martin Kalb, Bridgewater College Edited by Birgit Schneider (c) 2019 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 18, Spring, 2019. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Ongoing Forum: Book Reviews and the Teaching of World History, 2018 Cohorts HIST3029 Transnational History: A New Perspective on the Past The University of Hong Kong Semester 1, 2017-18 Dr Birgit Schneider After teaching HIST3029, my favorite course here at HKU, for the third time, I am left amazed about how much of a difference a cohort can make. The
Read more
The Ottoman Scramble for Africa: Empire and Diplomacy in the Sahara and the Hijaz. Mostafa Minawi. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780804799270 For Full Article: ConeDaReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Daniel Cone, Ph.D. student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit
Read more
The Sino-Soviet Alliance: An International History. Austin Jersild. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2014. ISBN: 9781469629834 For Full Article: LaFavorLReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Lydia LaFavor, Ph.D. student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Review Essay – Capitalism by Any Other Name: Towards a synthesis of competing visions Abstract: The concept of capitalism is bound up not only with how and why Europe came to dominate the globe, but also with bitter contemporary debates on modernity and global inequality. This article examines competing conceptions of capitalism as formulated by conservative social theorists and world
Read more
India China: Rethinking Borders and Security. L. H. M. Ling, Adriana Erthal Abdenur, Payal Banerjee, Nimmi Kurian, Mahendra P. Lama, and Li Bo. Configurations: Critical Studies of World Politics, ed. Patrick Thaddeus Jackson. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780472130061 For Full Article: JonesBReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Budd Jones, Ph.D. student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c)
Read more
Histoire Globale in France: The Rise of the French Connection For Full Article: SchoutedenOArticlesFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org By Olivier Schouteden Edited by Mariona Lloret Roda and Ruben Carrillo (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
The Dutch Moment: War, Trade, and Settlement in the Seventeenth-Century Atlantic World. Wim Klooster. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780801450457 For Full Article: HumphreyMReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Neil Humphrey, MA Student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
The British Empire and World History: Some Connective Thoughts For Full Article: ZielinskiBArticlesFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org By Bart Zielinski, Menzies Centre for Australian Studies, King’s College London Edited by Mariona Lloret Roda and Ruben Carrillo (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Shaping The New World: African Slavery in the Americas, 1500-1888. Eric Nellis. Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 2013. ISBN: 9781442605558 For Full Article: BakerAReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Andrew Harrison Baker, Ph.D. Student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
World History in Germany: New Wine in Old Bottles For Full Article: ŠimkováPArticlesFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org By Pavla Šimková Edited by Mariona Lloret Roda and Ruben Carrillo (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Captives: How Stolen People Changed the World. Catherine M. Cameron. Lincoln & London: University of Nebraska Press, 2016. ISBN: 0803293992 For Full Article: MegelshMReviewsFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org Reviewed by Michael J. Megelsh, Ph.D. Student, Auburn University Edited by Sarah R. Hamilton (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more
Making the Geographic Turn: Researching and Teaching Early-Modern British and World History For Full Article: ZukasAM2ArticlesFall2018themiddlegroundjournal.org By Alex Zukas, Professor of History, National University Edited by Mariona Lloret Roda and Ruben Carrillo (c) 2018 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 17, Fall, 2018. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read more