Historians In Trouble: Plagiarism, Fraud, And Politics In The Ivory Tower

A noted investigative journalist examines the various history scandals of the last few years, focusing on well-publicized cases including the Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin cases, in which the noted historians were accused of plagiarism.

Historians have been in the news recently, and the news has not been good-accusations of plagiarism, research fraud, and classroom misconduct have made headlines, brought protracted investigations, and, in some cases, landed big names in the courtroom. In Historians in Trouble, investigative journalist and historian Jon Wiener examines the various history scandals of the last few years, arguing that media spectacles end careers only when powerful groups outside the profession demand punishment-and that such campaigns typically come from the right rather than the left. Focusing on a dozen key controversies ranging across the political spectrum and representing a wide variety of charges, Wiener looks at the well-publicized cases of Michael Bellesiles, the historian of gun culture accused of research fraud; accused plagiarists Stephen Ambrose and Doris Kearns Goodwin; Joseph Ellis, who lied in his classroom at Mount Holyoke about having fought in Vietnam; and the allegations of misconduct by Harvard's Stephan Thernstrom and Emory's Elizabeth Fox-Genovese, who nevertheless were appointed to the National Council on the Humanities by George W. Bush.