A Life in History

by David Kaiser

Overview

"His sober and totally candid memoir is absorbing reading that clearly and personally illuminates the ever more tragic collapse of authentic higher education in America."

Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations, The University of Pennsylvania

"A Life in History, captures a rare quality these days--the ability to stand for what you believe and base those beliefs on facts, not trendy opinions."

Morley Winograd, Senior Fellow, Annenberg USC Center for Communications & Leadership Policy

". . . a probing, sometimes searing, look at the professional life of an intellectual during the past half century. . . . In these reflections, Kaiser offers a personal answer to how to sustain the life of the mind and to ensure a public presence for bold thinking."

Anne Rose, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies, Penn State University

"insightful and entertaining, and it forces readers to think."

Jeremi Suri, Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

"This absorbing tale is a window into the inner workings of academia at our nation's premier institutions"

James Goldgeier, Professor of International Relations, American University

David Kaiser David Kaiser taught history at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, the Naval War College and Williams College from 1976 through 2012. His nine books include American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War, and Politics and War: European Conflict from Philip II to Hitler. He lives in Watertown, Massachusetts, and writes the blog historyunfolding.com.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781732874503
Publisher:	Mount Greylock Books LLC
Publication date:	03/01/2019
Pages:	408
Product dimensions:	6.14(w) x 9.21(h) x 0.91(d)

About the Author

David Kaiser, an historian, earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees from Harvard University, and taught for 37 years at Harvard, Carnegie Mellon, the Naval War College, and Williams College. He is the author of 8 other books, including Politics and War: European Conflict from Philip II to Hitler; American Tragedy: Kennedy, Johnson, and the Origins of the Vietnam War; The Road to Dallas, the Assassination of John F. Kennedy; and No End Save Victory: How FDR Led the Nation into War. He lives in Watertown, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

CONTENTS

Introduction ix

I. Beginnings 1

II. Harvard College, 1965–69 17

III. The Making of an Historian 1971–76 57

IV. Heaven and Hell 1976–80 89

V. At Carnegie Mellon 1980–86 147

VI. The Fork in the Road 1987–91 189

VII. At the War College 1991–99 225

VIII. In a New Century 2000–2006 269

IX. Back at Home 2006–7 305

X. Winding up 2008–13 333

XI. The Crisis in History 371

Index 389

Editorial Reviews

Praise for A Life in History

“What is the true state of the once honorable vocation of research and teaching in History? David Kaiser is without question one of the leading scholars of his generation. His sober and totally candid memoir is absorbing reading that clearly and personally illuminates the ever more tragic collapse of authentic higher education in America.”

—Arthur Waldron, Lauder Professor of International Relations, The University of Pennsylvania

“David Kaiser’s intriguing autobiography, A Life in History, captures a rare quality these days—the ability to stand for what you believe and base those beliefs on facts, not trendy opinions. If you want to learn how to live your own life, read this book and be inspired to be an upstanding rock in the stream of history.”

—Morley Winograd, Senior Fellow, Annenberg USC Center for Communications & Leadership Policy.

“David Kaiser’s memoir, A Life in History, is a probing, sometimes searing, look at the professional life of an intellectual during the past half century. In the decades after he entered Harvard in 1965, Kaiser aspired to think, teach, and write in the best way possible, drawing on the assets and fielding the challenges of the American academy. He faced an uncertain job market, campus politics, and shifting intellectual fashions—at the same time producing a steady and provocative series of books on European and American diplomacy and politics. In these reflections, Kaiser offers a personal answer to how to sustain the life of the mind and to ensure a public presence for bold thinking.”

—Anne Rose, Distinguished Professor of History and Religious Studies, Penn State University

“David Kaiser is one of the few scholars to leave a lasting impact on the writing of both modern American and European history. His memoir offers a provocative account of how the historical profession and higher education have transformed in the last half-century. He powerfully elucidates how serious research can change the understanding of our world, and he critically examines the personal and political factors that too often get in the way. Kaiser’s iconoclasm is insightful and entertaining, and it forces readers to think. This memoir will interest those who care about the writing of history. It also offers important ideas for the historical renaissance our society needs in an age of democratic crises.”

—Jeremi Suri, Professor, Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs

“Reading this engrossing book took me back to my undergraduate days four decades ago, when Professor David Kaiser’s brilliance in the classroom captivated me and completely changed my career trajectory. Kaiser’s passion for the teaching and scholarship that energized him over and over again throughout his career makes this in part a beautiful love story. But he also pulls no punches in describing the changes in the historical profession that made it impossible for him to find a permanent home in a leading college or university and that have left little room for the teaching of international diplomatic history in the United States. This absorbing tale is a window into the inner workings of academia at our nation’s premier institutions.”

—James Goldgeier, Professor of International Relations, American University

From the Publisher

2019-11-06
A historian recounts an accomplished university career that spans more than three decades and reflects on the deterioration of the discipline.

Born in 1947, Kaiser (Baseball Greatness, 2018, etc.) seemed destined to become a historian. At the precocious age of 10, he wrote a history—albeit brief—of the United States. A naturally gifted student, he sought "refuge" in his studies from an "emotionally chaotic" family environment. His father was a diplomat, and, as a result, the author traveled peripatetically with his family, spending swaths of his childhood in Washington, D.C.; New York; London; and Senegal, hungrily absorbing the culture of each environment and always hunting for new knowledge in books. Unsurprisingly, he embarked on a noteworthy academic career as a historian that started at Harvard University, where he earned his doctorate, and included appointments at multiple institutions, including Carnegie Mellon and the Naval War College, where he found it "surprisingly easy to fit in" and felt most at home. Kaiser chronicles in astoundingly granular detail his remarkable ambition to "establish myself in the first rank of my profession." He did precisely that, writing important books that covered such diverse topics as the Vietnam War—which he calls the "the key event of my own life as of the early 1990s"—and American baseball. At the heart of the remembrance is a profound lament on the descent of the scholarly practice of history in particular and the quality of university education in general: "No one, in any university or any liberal arts college that I know of, was focused on providing high-quality teaching. While some high-quality teachers remained, they had gotten where they were by accident and could not replicate themselves."

Kaiser's career is an undeniably impressive one, and his contributions to the profession are genuinely important. Such a candid peek into the life and work of a preeminent historian should prove captivating to readers interested in the field, whether or not they're familiar with the author's work. Unfortunately, his painstakingly microscopic recounting of his professional life— including not only his intellectual evolution, but also departmental squabbles and rivalries—will likely grow tedious. In addition, the memoir is interspersed with brief recollections by past students—all adoring—a gratuitous addition to the book. Nevertheless, Kaiser furnishes an exceedingly thoughtful exploration of his craft, including the significance of reviewing primary sources and the need for scholars to expand their research into the history that precedes their points of investigative focus. Moreover, the author's critique of contemporary historical scholarship and its connection to today's political turmoil is intellectually gripping: "The collapse of the historical profession which I witnessed firsthand is, I am convinced, quite connected to the broader decline of public life in the United States, and the threatened collapse of American society." This is a notably wise book, with its insights drawn from a deep wellspring of personal and professional experience.

An astute meditation on a successful academic life coupled with a searching discussion of the history field's decline.

Kirkus Reviews