Kevin Baker

Kevin Baker is an author and journalist whose work frequently covers American history, culture, and sports. His three-part, “City of Fire” historical fiction trilogy—Paradise Alley, Dreamland, and Strivers Row—covers New York from the mid-19th to the mid-20th century, and his latest novel, The Big Crowd, is set in the city just after World War II. He is also the author of the history, America, The Story of Us. Residing in New York City, Baker is a contributing editor at Harper’s Magazine, and writes frequently for The New York Times and other periodicals. He is a member of the board of the Society of American Historians.

Articles by this Author

America’s Revolutionary Party, November/December 2006 | Vol. 57, No. 6

It’s always been the Republicans.

The Quietest War, October 2006 | Vol. 57, No. 5

We’ve kept Fallujah, but have we lost our souls?

The Second-term Blues, August/September 2006 | Vol. 57, No. 4

Why have our presidents almost always stumbled after the first four years?

Cruel and Usual, June/July 2006 | Vol. 57, No. 3

Why prisoners shouldn’t pay their way

New Orleans in the Wake of Katrina, April/May 2006 | Vol. 57, No. 2

Can the disasters that befell other cities help save this one?

Our Malcolm, February/March 2006 | Vol. 57, No. 1

A novelist's meditation on discovering what a particular time in Harlem says about the whole nation

When Labor Walks, November/December 2005 | Vol. 56, No. 6

What history says about the new split in the AFl-CIO

An Age of Security?, October 2005 | Vol. 56, No. 5

What do all these baby boomers really have in common?

Historical Museum, October 2005 | Vol. 56, No. 5

Looking Back and Forward, August/September 2005 | Vol. 56, No. 4

Are we learning from the past? And are we honoring it?

A Matter of State, April/May 2005 | Vol. 56, No. 2

Defending a recent victim of presidential politics

The Winds of Political Change, February/March 2005 | Vol. 56, No. 1

And why you almost never feel them coming

Essential Books on the Immigrant Experience, November/December 2004 | Vol. 55, No. 6

President, October 2004 | Vol. 55, No. 5

A Helluva Town for a Political Convention, August/September 2004 | Vol. 55, No. 4

Why do they usually avoid holding conventions in New York?

Copywrong: A Short History of Literary Piracy, June/July 2004 | Vol. 55, No. 3

There is much talk today about online piracy, but 19th century authors like Melville, Dickens, and Poe struggled financially because of the lack of international copyright law.

The Shriek Heard Round the World, April/May 2004 | Vol. 55, No. 2

When does a single gaffe sink a campaign?

“Your Brave and Early-Fallen Child…”, February/March 2004 | Vol. 55, No. 1

How should a president honor the war dead?

Photograph, October 2003 | Vol. 54, No. 5

America’s Mixed Legacy in the Philippines, August/September 2003 | Vol. 54, No. 4

The United States waged a brutal, racist war in the Philippines, but then became devoted to greatly improving the lives of people in America's only colony.

The Case for the Draft, June/July 2003 | Vol. 54, No. 3

Historically, conscription has had real virtues.

What Trent Lott Really Meant, April/May 2003 | Vol. 54, No. 2

…And the real secret in Strom Thurmond’s past

The Race Riots in Manhattan in 1863, March 2003 | Vol. 54, No. 1

A five-day uprising by Irish immigrants in New York was ostensibly against the draft, but was in fact a chance for Irish mobs to attack and murder as many black people as possible.

The Rosenbergs and the Shoe Bomber, October 2002 | Vol. 53, No. 5

What happens when the constitution is set aside in the name of "national security"?

The Problem with Glorifying World War II-Era America, August/September 2002 | Vol. 53, No. 4

Did Americans have it better back in the 40s?

Fighting for the Other Side in the Mexican War, June/July 2002 | Vol. 53, No. 3

John Walker Lindh was hardly the first American turncoat.

American Military Tribunals Can't Be Justified, April/May 2002 | Vol. 53, No. 2

The trouble with military trials

The Shores of Tripoli, February/March 2002 | Vol. 53, No. 1

America's first fight against international terrorists

New York City's Sundry Catastrophes, November/December 2001 | Vol. 52, No. 8

WE’VE SEEN IT (ALMOST) ALL BEFORE.

You Have to Give a Sense of What People were Looking for in Life, November/December 2001 | Vol. 52, No. 8

Martin Scorsese has drawn on his own youth and his feelings about the past, and has rebuilt 1860s New York, to make a movie about the fight for American democracy. Here, he tells why it is both so hard and so necessary to get history on film.

"WEB ONLY STORIES" BY THIS CONTRIBUTOR

The Winds of Political Change

… And Why You Almost Never Feel Them Coming The Democratic candidate was crushed. An urban, ethnic liberal from the Northeast, he had been caught flatfooted by the waves of vitriolic attacks that smeared his background, his years of dedicated public service, the character of his beloved wife, as…

Helluva Town

Why do they usually avoid holding conventions in New York? This summer marks a sea change in the traditions of American party politics. For the first time the Democratic National Convention will be held in Boston, and the Republican National Convention will be held in that great Babylon, that hole…

Copy Wrong

Internet Piracy and Dickens and Melville “Yes, I read the illegal translation,” a Czech Internet correspondent known as “Hustey” wrote last summer, when the next, eagerly awaited book in J. K. Rowling’s “Harry Potter” series—Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix—first appeared in bookstores.…

The Shriek Heard Around The World

When does a single gaffe ruin a campaign? Probably every American with access to a television, a radio, or a computer has heard the notorious howl with which Howard Dean ended his concession speech after the Democratic caucuses in Iowa. Dr. Dean’s weird outburst was immediately labeled a gaffe,…

"Your Brave and Early Fallen Child..."

How should a President honor war dead? Since the beginning of the war in Iraq last year a small tempest has arisen in the media over whether or not George W. Bush should attend the funerals of American servicemen and women killed in the line of duty. As of this writing, Mr. Bush has not done so, a…

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