Review of An Open Secret by Natalie L. Kimball
“as a resource for researching secondary literature or the structuring of an undergraduate research seminar, this work certainly possesses great value.”
Read moreMiddle Ground Journal
Review of Hiding in Plain Sight by Christian P. Potholm
“as a resource for researching secondary literature or the structuring of an undergraduate research seminar, this work certainly possesses great value.”
Read moreReview of Outcaste Bombay by Juned Shaikh
“Outcaste Bombay is successful in broadening the scope of histories from below by expanding its enquiry into the worlds of the lumpen-proletariat, the petty bourgeois shop keepers, and the sex workers. It offers a glimpse of Bombay as it is lived, reshaped, and appro¬priated by its Dalit inhabitants, and makes a great contribution to the bourgeoning scholarship on Dalit labor and Bombay city.”
Read moreReview Essay of Two Books on Burma and Military History
The 1945 Burma Campaign and the Transformation of the British Indian Army. Raymond A. Callahan and Daniel Marston. Kansas University Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780700630417. A War of Empires: Japan, India, Burma & Britain, 1941-45. Robert Lyman. Oxford: Osprey, 2021. ISBN: 9781472847140. Reviewed by George Wilton, independent scholar, Member of British Commission for Military History, Managing Editor of British Journal for
Read moreReview of Colonial Transactions by Florence Bernault
“Colonial Transactions expands our knowledge and refines our understanding of the two themes that stand at its center – witchcraft and colonialism. The book historicizes witchcraft, arguing that history can enhance our understanding of the obsessions and modes of power of modern witchcraft in Africa. It brings closer the allegedly contradictory ideas of the European colonizers and the colonized Africans and discusses them in the same realm.”
Read moreReview of Coming Home to a Foreign Country by Ong Soon Keong
“As an hourglass funnels sand from the top, through its waist, to the bottom, and when turned over shifts that same sand back, Ong Soon Keong portrays the coastal Chinese city of Xiamen as a middle ground funneling people from Fujian to Southeast Asia and back again.”
Read moreReview of The Library: A Fragile History by Andrew Pettegree and Arthur der Weduwen
“The Library: A Fragile History maintains a quick pace throughout, a fact which is necessitated by the sheer breadth of history which it encompasses.”
Read moreReview of Mapping Water in Dominica: Enslavement and Environment under Colonialism by Mark W. Hauser
“Hauser provides a nuanced and an enriched environmentally informed history of how that oppression took place and by what means.”
Read moreReview of Argentina in the Global Middle East by Lilly Pearl Balloffet
“[Balloffet] masterfully navigates a wide range of literatures and perspectives including case studies of Middle Eastern migration, comparative studies of migration in the Americas, global studies of South-South migration, and studies of nation-building in Argentina.”
Read moreReview of The Souls of Womenfolk by Alexis Wells-Oghoghomeh
“Wells-Oghoghomeh offers crucial insights, close analysis, and some surprising findings along the way.”
Read moreOn Teaching Column: A (Fort) Ancient Commonwealth: Local History in a Premodern World History Survey
“While this module was designed to address the premodern history of Kentucky specifically, in its rough parameters it could be revised for other regions in North America.”
Read moreReview of Climate Change and the Art of Devotion: Geoaesthetics in the Land of Krishna, 1550-1850 by Sugata Ray
“…this elegantly composed and organized book…”
Read moreReview of Queen, Mother, and Stateswoman: Mariana of Austria and the Government of Spain by Silvia Z. Mitchell
“…Silvia Mitchell’s book uses a microhistorical approach to comprehend larger questions, such as the political and diplomatic situation of the Spanish Monarchy during the second half of the seventeenth century…”
Read moreReview of Consuming Ivory: Mercantile Legacies of East Africa and New England by Alexandra Celia Kelly
“…an interdisciplinary and multifaceted study that spans more than two hundred years and three continents…”
Read moreReview of Defying Hitler: The Germans Who Resisted Nazi Rule by Gordon Thomas and Greg Lewis
“…Thomas and Lewis resurrect the words of dissent the Nazis tried so hard to silence. In nearly every story they tell, the authors find the final words of the resistors who were executed, showing the courage these people possessed.”
Read moreReview of Rotten Bodies: Class and Contagion in Eighteenth-Century Britain by Kevin Siena
“As plague swept the globe at the dawn of the early eighteenth century, ideas about poverty and disease justified new medical geographies and biopolitical schemes for dispossessing poor people. “
Read moreReview Essay of Three Books on Central Asia
“…those of us who teach Central Asian history can now rejoice—not one, but two accessible and well-written narrative histories of Central Asia in the modern age have been published within a year of each other, accompanied by a sourcebook about the same period.”
Read moreReview of Guns, Guerillas, and the Great Leader: North Korea and the Third World by Benjamin R. Young
“…This rich and complex story of North Korea’s Third World policies is based upon the author’s extensive archival research, including government documents and newspapers from the West, the East, and the Third World….”
Read moreReview of Abolishing Boundaries: Global Utopias in the Formation of Modern Chinese Political Thought, 1880-1940 by Peter Zarrow
“…The goals of Abolishing Boundaries are set against our present skepticism about sweeping transformations.”
Read moreReview of Coffeeland: One Man’s Dark Empire and the Making of Our Favorite Drug by Augustine Sedgewick
“…Sedgewick’s twenty-six brisk chapters introduce the reader to the global history of coffee from a peculiar vantage point, the Las Tres Puertas coffee plantation at the foot of the Santa Ana volcano in El Salvador…”
Read moreReview of The Imperial Russian Army in Peace, War, and Revolution, 1856-1917 by Roger R. Reese
“Reese’s work is an extensive treatment of the Russian Army during its last six decades. He places major emphasis on a new view of the final collapse of the army from long term causes…”
Read moreReview of The Last Good Neighbor: Mexico in the Global Sixties by Eric Zolov
“…this book is an unprecedently clear account of the ways in which Mexico was both uniquely free and at the same time meaningfully limited in its diplomatic relations with the rest of the world…”
Read moreReview of Global Development: A Cold War History by Sara Lorenzini
In this smart, concise survey of twentieth-century development ideology and practice, Sara Lorenzini deconstructs what she calls the “global myth of development”…
Read moreReview of Colonialism in Global Perspective by Kris Manjapra
Colonialism in Global Perspective. Kris Manjapra. Cambridge University Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9781108441360. Reviewed by Joseph Snyder, Southeast Missouri State University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2022 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 23, Spring 2022. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of Between Fitness and Death: Disability and Slavery in the Caribbean by Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy
Between Fitness and Death: Disability and Slavery in the Caribbean. Stefanie Hunt-Kennedy. University of Illinois Press, 2020. ISBN-13: 9780252085062. Reviewed by Zach Sell, Drexel University (now Brown University) Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2022 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 23, Spring 2022. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of Imperial Peripheries in the Neo-Assyrian Period edited by Craig W. Tyson and Virginia R. Hermann
Imperial Peripheries in the Neo-Assyrian Period. Edited by Craig W. Tyson and Virginia R. Hermann. University Press of Colorado, 2019. ISBN: 9781607328223. Reviewed by Alexander Johannes Edmonds, University of Tübingen Edited by Julie Tanaka and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access
Read moreReview of Lisbon: A Biography by Magda Pinheiro
Lisbon: A Biography. Magda Pinheiro. Translated by Mario Pereira. Dartmouth, MA: Tagus Press, 2019. ISBN: 9781933227757. Reviewed by Ernst Pijning, Minot State University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of Seeds of Control: Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea by David Fedman
Seeds of Control: Japan’s Empire of Forestry in Colonial Korea. David Fedman. University of Washington Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780295747453. Reviewed by Steven Ivings, Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of Soldiers, Saints, and Shamans: Indigenous Communities and the Revolutionary State in Mexico’s Gran Nayar, 1910-1940 by Nathaniel Morris
Soldiers, Saints, and Shamans: Indigenous Communities and the Revolutionary State in Mexico’s Gran Nayar, 1910-1940. Nathanial Morris. University of Arizona Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780816541027. Reviewed by Joshua Simon, Columbia University Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational
Read moreReview of The Crown and the Capitalists: The Ethnic Chinese and the Founding of the Thai Nation by Wasana Wongsurawat
The Crown and the Capitalists: The Ethnic Chinese and the Founding of the Thai Nation. Wasana Wongsurawat. University of Washington Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780295746241. Reviewed by Fabrizio Martino, Chulalongkorn University-Bangkok Edited by Birgit Schneider and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access
Read moreReview Essay of Two Holocaust Memoirs
I Want You to Know We’re Still Here: A Post-Holocaust Memoir. Esther Safran Foer. Random House, 2020. ISBN: 9780525575986. Inge’s War: A German Woman’s Story of Family, Secrets, and Survival under Hitler. Svenja O’Donnell. Viking, 2020. ISBN: 9781984880215. Reviewed by Laura J. Hilton, Muskingum University Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal
Read moreReview of Gendered Power: Educated Women of the Meiji Empress’ Court by Mamiko C. Suzuki
Gendered Power: Educated Women of the Meiji Empress’ Court. Mamiko C. Suzuki. University of Michigan Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780807174302. Reviewed by Daniel Barish, Baylor University Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey by Anne Mendelson
Chow Chop Suey: Food and the Chinese American Journey. Anne Mendelson. Columbia University Press, 2016. ISBN: 9780231541299. Reviewed by Elizabeth Fuhan Mason, M.A. student, San Francisco State University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of Sweet Land of Liberty: America in the Mind of the French Left, 1848-1871 by Tom Sancton
Sweet Land of Liberty: America in the Mind of the French Left, 1848-1871. Tom Sancton. Louisiana State University Press, 2021. ISBN: 9780807174302. Reviewed by Michael Clinton, Gwynedd Mercy University Edited by Julie Tanaka © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of In a Sea of Empires: Networks and Crossings in the Revolutionary Caribbean by Jeppe Mulich
In a Sea of Empires: Networks and Crossings in the Revolutionary Caribbean. Jeppe Mulich. Cambridge University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781108489720. Reviewed by Christopher Marshall, University of Wisconsin-Stout Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (c) 2021 The Middle Ground Journal, Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions by Jeffrey D. Sachs
The Ages of Globalization: Geography, Technology, and Institutions. Jeffrey D. Sachs. Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231193740. Reviewed by J. Justin Castro, Arkansas State University Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of The Global Bourgeoisie: The Rise of the Middle Class in the Age of Empire by Christof Dejung, David Motadel, and Jürgen Osterhammel, eds.
The Global Bourgeoisie: The Rise of the Middle Class in the Age of Empire. Christof Dejung, David Motadel, and Jürgen Osterhammel, eds. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780691195834. Reviewed by Steven Ivings, Graduate School of Economics, Kyoto University Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead and Sarah Pesola © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See
Read moreReview of Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887-1912 by Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz
Asian Place, Filipino Nation: A Global Intellectual History of the Philippine Revolution, 1887-1912. Nicole CuUnjieng Aboitiz. Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231192156. Reviewed by Tristan Miguel Osteria, University of Santo Tomas Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreReview of Russia’s Entangled Embrace: The Tsarist Empire and the Armenians, 1801-1914 by Stephen Badalyan Riegg
Russia’s Entangled Embrace: The Tsarist Empire and the Armenians, 1801-1914. Stephen Badalyan Riegg. Cornell University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9781501750113. Reviewed by Krista Sigler, University of Cincinnati Blue Ash College Edited by Birgit Schneider © 2021 The Middle Ground Journal (ISSN: 2155-1103) Number 22, Fall 2021. http://TheMiddleGroundJournal.org See Submission Guidelines page for the journal’s not-for-profit educational open-access policy.
Read moreOn Teaching Column: Ku Klux Klan Documents in Noblesville, Indiana: Race, History, and Archives
“Ku Klux Klan Documents in Noblesville, Indiana: Race, History, and Archives” By Sumiko Otsubo, Ph.D., Metropolitan State University Abstract: Discussions of an unusually intriguing case about access to archival documents brought together historians, archivists, history undergraduates, and interested parties. This essay informs readers that despite the continuing resistance in favor of withholding the identities of Klan members, the restriction was
Read moreCall for Submissions: “Teaching the World: An Invitation to K-12 Educators” 2021-2022
Click to download pdf of Call for Submissions, perhaps to share with others. CALL FOR SUBMISSIONS: “Teaching the World: An Invitation to K-12 Educators” For any future issue of the The Middle Ground Journal: World History and Global Studies The Middle Ground Journal: World History and Global Studies invites proposals and submissions from K-12 teachers who want to share their ideas for
Read moreReview of Teaching World History Thematically: Essential Questions and Document-Based Lessons to Connect Past and Present by Rosalie Metro
Teaching World History Thematically: Essential Questions and Document-Based Lessons to Connect Past and Present.Rosalie Metro. New York: Teachers College Press, 2020. ISBN 9780807764466. Reviewed by Stephen Jackson, University of Sioux Falls Edited by Birgit Schneider and Sarah Pesola (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 moreReview of State Formation in the Liberal Era: Capitalisms and claims of Citizenship in Mexico and Peru Edited by Ben Fallaw and David Nugent
State Formation in the Liberal Era: Capitalisms and claims of Citizenship in Mexico and Peru. Edited by Ben Fallaw and David Nugent. University of Arizona Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780816540389. Reviewed by Andrea K. Moerer, Saint Paul Academy and Metropolitan State University Andrea K. Moerer holds a Ph.D. in History from the University of Minnesota with focus on twentieth-century environmental and
Read moreReview of A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa by M’Hamed Oualdi
A Slave Between Empires: A Transimperial History of North Africa. M’hamed Oualdi. Columbia University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780231191869. Reviewed by Jennifer M. Morris, Ph.D., Mount St. Joseph University, Cincinnati, Ohio Edited by Jeanne E. Grant and Sarah Pesola (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 moreReview of On the Sultan’s Service: Halid Ziya Usakligil’s Memoir of the Ottoman Palace, 1909-1912 by Douglas Scott Brookes
On the Sultan’s Service: Halid Ziya Usakligil’s Memoir of the Ottoman Palace, 1909-1912. Translated and Edited by Douglas Scott Brookes. University of Indiana Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780253045515. Reviewed by James N. Tallon, Lewis University Edited by Julie Tanaka and Sarah Pesola (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
Read moreReview of People’s Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam by Mark Opper
People’s Wars in China, Malaya, and Vietnam. Mark Opper. University of Michigan Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780472131846. Reviewed by David Fitzgerald, University College Cork, Ireland Edited by Julie K. Tanaka and Sarah Pesola (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 moreReview of In Camps: Vietnamese Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Repatriates by Jana K. Lipman
In Camps: Vietnamese Refugees, Asylum Seekers, and Repatriates. Jana K. Lipman. University of California Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780226665788. Reviewed by Peter Gatrell, University of Manchester Edited by Birgit Schneider and Sarah Pesola (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 moreReview of Partitioning Palestine: British Policymaking at the End of Empire by Penny Sinanoglou
Partitioning Palestine: British Policymaking at the End of Empire. Penny Sinanoglou. University of Chicago Press, 2019. ISBN: 9780226665788. Reviewed by Frank Zator, M.A., University of Chicago 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 moreReview of Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires and the Conflict that Made the Modern World by Andrew Lambert
Seapower States: Maritime Culture, Continental Empires and the Conflict that Made the Modern World. Andrew Lambert. Yale University Press, 2020. ISBN: 9780300251487. Reviewed by Francisco M. Ortiz Delgado, Ph.D., Autonomous Metropolitan University, Mexico Edited by Justin Quinn Olmstead and 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
Read moreReview of Opening the Gates to Asia: A Transpacific History of How America Repealed Asian Exclusion by Grace H. Hong
Opening the Gates to Asia: A Transpacific History of How America Repealed Asian Exclusion. Grace H. Hong. Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 2019. ISBN 9781469653365. Reviewed by Lei Zhang, Department of American Studies, University of Minnesota 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
Read more
The Middle Ground Journal 
You must be logged in to post a comment.