The hottest Historiography Substack posts right now

The revolutionary mindset relies on the need for enemies to keep progressing.
Revolutionary politics create contrived moral emergencies to wield power.
The French Revolution displayed early instances of ideological politics and a politics based on 'lay eschatology.'

Napoleon was a brilliant general, winning 47 out of 60 battles he fought, showing his outstanding strategic and tactical skills.
The French during Napoleon's time were more open-minded towards sexual indiscretions, contrasting with the stricter norms of later Victorian eras.
Andrew Roberts is working on a book about Napoleon and his marshals, exploring the dynamics between them during the Napoleonic Wars.

Replication and reproducibility crises exist in science and history, leading to widespread inaccuracies.
Historical myths and inaccuracies can persist for years, even when proven wrong.
There is a need for historians to improve transparency by making archival sources more accessible to reduce errors and biases.

Stories can impact how we understand reality, filtering out information and emphasizing certain aspects.
Historical narratives can sometimes be based on sensational stories rather than solid evidence.
It is important to be skeptical of stories and narratives, especially in academic and scientific contexts.

Frank Dikötter's works have faced lukewarm feedback from academic peers in Chinese history.
Despite popular success, Dikötter's writing style tends to rely on shocking anecdotes rather than thorough analysis.
Scholarly reviewers have criticized Dikötter for bias, lack of rigor, and ignoring contrary evidence.

Get a weekly roundup of the best Substack posts, by hacker news affinity:

The dominant view of the British empire as evil is being challenged by a new book that examines historical facts and moral judgments.
Nigel Biggar's book explores accusations against the empire like greed, slavery, racism, violence, and exploitation in a measured and informed way.
The rise and fall of the British empire over 300 years was diverse and nuanced, with the book dispelling the myth of a brutal genocidal dictatorship and questioning the political and academic traction of a distorted interpretation of history.