This American election seems so crazy that maybe we should just politely avert our eyes until the fit passes. But here are two American historians trying to put the whole thing into different historical contexts. Edmund Morris, who does Teddy Roosevelt, thinks
2010 is a lot like 1910 (I confess he loses me amid his Buffs and Blues), and Jill Lepore, who does the 18th century, tells the history blog
Religion in American History about discussing with Tea Party enthusiasts how
the original American revolution compares to the one they aspire to.
[R]ather than these meetings being a foreign experience, it was familiar. I never tried to persuade people; I always wanted them to persuade me. People called me “Jane Goodall” because I took notes furiously and furrowed my brow. It’s not a move that a lot of scholars would make, to go and just listen.
It's not?
