Historians In Trouble: Plagiarism, Fraud and the Ivory Tower

Description

A revealing look at headline-grabbing controversies revolving around charges of plagiarism and fraud in the profession of history. Focusing on 12 key controversies on both sides of teh political spectrum, Wiener seeks to understand why some cases make the healdines and end carers while others do not. He looks at the case of Michael Bellesiles, teh historian of gun culture accused of research fraud; accused plagiarists and celebrity historians Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin; and Pulitzer Prize winner Joseph J Ellis.

Jon Wiener is a professor of history at the University of California at Irvine and a contributing editor to The Nation. The author of several books, including Gimme Some Truth, Come Together, and Professors, Politics, and Pop, he lives in Los Angeles.

"Wiener covers the modern university as if it were a police beat." -John Leonard, Harper's "[Wiener's] argument . . . is persuasively mounted." -Financial Times "Make[s] the case clearly and forcefully that historians' violations of common standards of ethics are not to be taken lightly." -Los Angeles Times "As readable as any political thriller." -Library Journal "Intrigues and educates . . . Wiener has a journalist's knack for boiling complex cases into digestible bits." -The Seattle Times