Melville House Books

The current issue of Newsweek magazine, in addition to a story describing several more reports of copies of the Koran being thrown into toilets and latrines by American soliders, boasts a cover story that consists of an excerpt fileted from David McCullough‘s new and already-bestselling 1776. But in a recent essay for Slate, David Greenberg notes that, as “the latest in a series of heavily hyped history blockbusters,” the book “will also drive many academic historians up the wall.” Those academics will “raise legitimate objections to the approach of a book like this — the surfeit of scene — setting and personality, the meager analysis and argument, the lack of a compelling rationale for writing about a topic already amply covered.” However, says Greenberg, ” Instead of grumbling over the public’s middlebrow book buying tastes, the best thing academic historians can do is to try to offer them something better.” And, he says, “Thankfully, historians now seem to be recognizing all this as a problem. At one point, many academics seemed to consider popularity a first step into the Hades of commercialization and dumbing down. But today, most of my peers, myself included, seem eager to publish with trade presses, to write op-ed pieces about our research, or to appear on NPR and Charlie Rose — not just because we want the ego boost (though who wouldn’t?), but because we enjoy discovering new audiences who respond intelligently to our ideas.”

Dennis Johnson is the founder of MobyLives, and the co-founder and co-publisher of Melville House.