In early March 1906, the United States Army and the Filipino Constabulary attacked a insurgent outpost of Moros on the island of Jolo. Over 1,000 men, women, and children were killed in the battle, and less than two dozen Americans lost their lives. It was deemed an atrocity by all observers, even the soldiers that took part. Professor Kim Wagner recalls this violent episode in his latest book.

Essential Reading:

Kim Wagner, Massacre in the Clouds: An American Atrocity and the Erasure of History (2024).

Recommended Reading:

Paul A. Kramer, The Blood of Government: Race, Empire, the United States, and the Philippines (2006).

Stuart Creighton Miller, Benevolent Assimilation: The American Conquest of the Philippines, 1899-1903 (1982).

Matthew Frye Jacobson, Barbarian Virtues: The United States Encounters Foreign Peoples at Home and Abroad, 1876-1917 (2000).

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During the nineteenth century, the Zouave was everywhere. The uniform characterized by an open, collarless jacket, baggy trousers, and a fez, originated in French Algeria, but became common amongst military men in France, the United States, and the Papal States, taking on a life of its own. Historians Carol E. Harrison and Thomas J. Brown join us to explain the often-misunderstood outfit and its connection to colonialism, race, gender, fashion, and military tactics, and dress.

Essential Reading:

Carol E. Harrison and Thomas J. Brown, Zouave Theaters: Transnational Military Fashion and Performance (2024).

Recommended Reading:

Jennifer Pitts, A Turn to Empire: The Rise of Imperial Liberalism in Britain and France (2006).

John Bierman, Napoleon III and His Carnival Empire (1988).

Lorien Foote, The Gentlemen and the Roughs: Violence, Honor, and Manhood in the Union Army (2010).

Charles A. Coulombe, The Pope’s Legion: The Multinational Fighting Force that Defended the Vatican (2008).

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Red Dead Redemption 2 is one of the best-selling video games of all time, but what is the history behind the game? Dr. Tore C. Olsson joins us to talk about the game itself, how video games are teaching American history, and what historians can learn from engaging with popular culture.

Essential Reading:

Tore Olsson, Red Dead's History: A Video Game, an Obsession, and America's Violent Past (2024).

Recommended Reading:

Patricia Nelson Limerick, The Legacy of Conquest: The Unbroken Past of the American West (1987).

Ari Kelman, A Misplaced Massacre: Struggling over the Memory of Sand Creek (2013).

Richard White, Railroaded: The Transcontinentals and the Making of Modern America (2011).

William Cronon, Nature’s Metropolis: Chicago and the Great West (1991).

S. Paul O’Hara, Inventing the Pinkertons, or Spires, Sleuths, Mercenaries, and Thugs: Being Story of the Nation’s Most Famous (and Infamous) Detective Agency (2016).

William Link, Southern Crucible: The Making of an American Region (2015).

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