Dr. Henning's Book is Now Available

Dr. Lori Henning, new to our history department, has a new book.  Harnessing the Airplane is published by the University of Oklahoma Press.  Her research is timely and important.

From the description from the University of Oklahoma Press:  At its dawn in the early twentieth century the new technology of aviation posed a crucial question to American and British cavalry:  what do we do with the airplane?  Lacking the hindsight of historical perspective, cavalry planners based their decisions on incomplete information.  Harnessing the Airplane compares how the American and British armies dealt with this unique challenge.  A multilayered look at a critical aspect of modern industrial warfare, this book examines the ramifications of technological innovation and its role in the fraught relationship that developed between traditional ground units and emerging air forces.

"Lori Henning demonstrates that not all who oppose new developments are opposed to the technology that drives them.  Harnessing the Airplane is an intriguing work that will appeal to anyone interested in the history of air power, the cavalry, and science and technology."  Brian D. Laslie, author of Architect of Air Power:  General Laurence S. Kuter and the Birth of the US Air Force.

US Entered WW I today

Today is the anniversary of the United States joining World War I.  If you are interested in it, especially a local perspective check out Dr. Schaeper's book Somewhere in France: The World War I Letters and Journal of Private Frederick A. Kittleman.

Dr. Schaeper Publishes New Book

Dr. Thomas J. Shaeper, professor of history, recently published a new book, titled "Somewhere in France: The World War I Letters and Journal of Private Frederick A. Kittleman." In 1983, a man cleaning out his attic in Olean came across a stack of papers that had previously gone unnoticed. After glancing through them, he discovered they were letters dealing with World War I and brought them to nearby St. Bonaventure to donate to the library. The library alerted Schaeper and what resulted was a decades-long project. The letters were those of Priv. Frederick A. Kittleman, a small-town man who regularly wrote to his family after being drafted in 1918 and sent to France. The letters are contrasted with Kittleman's journal, which recounts the gritty details of battle that he shielded from his family in their correspondence. "Somewhere in France" will be available Feb. 1. 

Read the full story about his book on the SBU web page here.

Exciting News from Dr. Robbins!

Hi everyone,

I'm extremely excited this week, because a book that I have been working on for many years has finally been published! If you haven't seen it in the History Department hall display, check it out on Amazon.com! It's titled James McHenry, Forgotten Federalist and the University of Georgia Press (a very good academic publishing house) has done a wonderful job. If you would like to know more about what the book is about, here is the text from the press. Enjoy!

Karen E. Robbins, James McHenry, Forgotten Federalist (Studies in the Legal History of the South; University of Georgia Press)

A long overdue chapter in the history of America’s Founders

"Karen E. Robbins’s James McHenry, Forgotten Federalist is a welcome addition to the literature on the Revolution and early American republic, rescuing a misunderstood patriot from undeserved obscurity. Her fresh and fair-minded account of McHenry’s career as John Adams’s secretary of war is a particularly notable contribution to our understanding of these critically important years."—Peter S. Onuf, author of Jefferson’s Empire: The Language of American Nationhood

A Scots-Irish immigrant, James McHenry determined to make something of his life. Trained as a physician, he joined the American Revolution when war broke out. He then switched to a more military role, serving on the staffs of George Washington and Lafayette. He entered government after the war and served in the Maryland Senate and in the Continental Congress. As Maryland’s representative at the Constitutional Convention, McHenry helped to add the ex post facto clause to the Constitution and worked to increase free trade among the states.

Balancing Teaching, Research, and Writing (Dr. Karen Robbins)

Hi everyone. Professor Marinari has asked me to contribute to this blog, telling you about my recent experiences professionally. As many of you know, it is one of our goals as your professors to help our disciplines further themselves, and that is generally translated as doing publishing of articles and books in reputable presses. Our department is very active in this area, and I am currently trying to publish a book I’ve been working on for a long time, as well as start a new book length project. Unless one is an established, well-published scholar, it can take time to find a good press to accept one’s work.

Recently, my publishing life seems to be on the upswing. The University of Georgia Press is considering my book. A good press sends one’s manuscript to anonymous, scholarly readers, which they have done. One reader suggested changes, most of which I have made, and the press has now sent it back to her/him for their reaction. Keep your fingers crossed for me. I am turning blue from holding my breath. It does happen that publishers reject a book and then the author needs to try another press.