Americans are increasingly hearing federal government and administration officials lie, reach unfounded conclusions, and discount evidence after killings and other crimes of federal agents. While many people recognize these statements as obvious falsehoods, a minority believes what these officials say. What can writers do to persuade the misled?

Arguments based on facts offer little hope of changing people with irrational beliefs. But popular-history writers have access to another technique that will work better: the approach used by Scheherazade in One Thousand and One Nights to rid the sultan of his murderous impulses. She told enticing and irresistible stories, full of cliffhangers, that entranced the powerful man while introducing humane and admirable characters. A story-driven way of explaining the world, an approach that popular-history writers excel at, can achieve what an argumentative approach can’t.

Popular-history writers: go ahead and tell stories of the courage and journeys of principled people. Readers: read those stories, absorb them, and spread them. In time, this kind of storytelling can move the hearts of some of the most irrational believers of lies.

In Damn History you'll find, as usual, recommendations on good and popularly accessible historical reading, with tips on writing and updates on my own work.

 — Jack El-Hai

Follow me on X at @Jack_ElHai, on Bluesky at @jackelhai.bsky.social, and on Threads at @jackelhai1.

Contact me by email at [email protected]

Personal Notes

If you are interested in reading the Nuremberg screenplay by James Vanderbilt, adapted from my book The Nazi and the Psychiatrist, here’s your chance.

An interviewer threw me questions that I don’t often get asked.

For my recommendations of popular-history books, search X, Bluesky, or Threads for #popularhistory.

Recent Popular History from All Over

You may find some of these articles behind a paywall if you’ve exceeded the publisher’s allowance of free views.

History tells us there are no pure cultures.

Nobody knows what will happen when the guardian of a 50-year trove of climate data dies.

For 70 years, corporations have blamed litter on consumers.

A couple embarked upon the maddest of around-the-world voyages.

Forgotten photos capture the lost everyday life of Iraq’s Yazidis.

U.S. sanctions targeted an International Criminal Court judge.

An infamous burning town is reborn.

Here’s a roundup of the ten best and ten worst U.S. foreign policy moves.

Is the color ochre red fundamental to humanity?

A champion of Florida’s tropical birds was murdered.

Pioneer cemeteries hold the key to preserving the prairie.

Resources

A journalist adroitly handled juicy new information just before filing a popular-history article.

Writers offer ideas on capturing the first drafts of history.

You can build the skill of deep reading.

People in the book business suspect readers are getting tired of nonfiction.

“I know this soil, I know these trees, I know the stars, I know what the wind means.” – Brea Baker

Housekeeping

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More next month, and thanks for looking. And you are welcome to forward Damn History in its entirety to anyone.

About me: I'm a history and science writer. I've contributed hundreds of articles to such publications as Smithsonian, The Atlantic, The Washington Post Magazine, Wired, Scientific American, Discover, GQ, Longreads and many others. My books include The Lost Brothers: A Family’s Decades-Long Search, The Lobotomist: A Maverick Medical Genius and His Tragic Quest to Rid the World of Mental Illness, Non-Stop: A Turbulent History of Northwest Airlines, and The Nazi and the Psychiatrist: Hermann Goering, Dr. Douglas M. Kelley, and a Fatal Meeting of Minds at the End of WW2.

I frequently give talks and lead workshops on the topics of my books as well as on the craft of nonfiction writing. To book me for your event, please contact Jayme Boucher, Hachette Speakers Bureau, at [email protected].

Please feel free to get in touch.