Historians In Trouble: Plagarism, Fraud, and Politics in 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 the political spectrum, Wiener seeks to understand why some cases make the headlines and end careers while others do not. He looks at the case of Michael Bellesiles, the 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 contributing editor to The Nation and a professor of history at the University of California at Irvine, where he specializes in recent American history.

"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