Karabell, Zachary

PERSONAL: Male. Education: Received degrees from Columbia University and Oxford University; Harvard University, Ph.D, 1996.

ADDRESSES: Home—New York, NY. Office—School of International and Public Affairs, 420 West 118 St., New York, NY 10027. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Taught American history and international relations at Harvard University, University of Massachusetts at Boston, and Dartmouth College; affiliated with Miller Center for Public Affairs, University of Virginia, and Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs.

AWARDS, HONORS: Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize, 2000, for The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election.

WRITINGS:

What's College For?: The Struggle to Define American Higher Education, Basic Books (New York, NY), 1998.

Architects of Intervention: The United States, the Third World, and the Cold War, 1946-1962, Louisiana State University Press (Baton Rouge, LA), 1999.

The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election, Knopf (New York, NY), 2000.

A Visionary Nation: Four Centuries of the American Dream and What Lies Ahead, HarperCollins (New York, NY), 2001.

Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal, Knopf (New York, NY), 2003.

(With David C. King) The Generation of Trust, AEI Press (Washington, DC), 2003.

(With Jonathan Rosenberg) Kennedy, Johnson, and the Quest for Justice: The Civil Rights Tapes, Norton (New York, NY), 2003.

Chester Alan Arthur, Times Books (New York, NY), 2004.

Contributor to periodicals, including New York Times, Salon, Los Angeles Times, and Newsweek.

SIDELIGHTS: Zachary Karabell is an historian whose books cover a wide range of subjects, from the history and significance of the Suez Canal to the changing nature of American political campaigns. His first publication, What's College For?: The Struggle to Define American Higher Education, provides an analysis of the state of higher education in the United States. The author conducted extensive interviews with students and faculty at institutes of higher learning across the United States, and then identified what he saw as the most serious flaws within the educational system. These included an elitist attitude on the part of professors, who have withdrawn from the world and their students, and a declining standard of education that has left millions of students in need of more teaching support than faculties can provide. Discussing What's College For? in the American Journal of Education, Steven Brint called Karabell "brave" because of his willingness to write candidly about the American educational system. Yet, Brint continued, "although the book makes some refreshingly honest points, it also has notable weaknesses." Brint found the work one-sided and its author "much too willing to accept the common complaint that professors are not interested in teaching." Library Journal reviewer Scott R. Johnson allowed that Karabell's book is "hardly the last word on the subject," but nevertheless recommended it as "a solid survey of education today."

Karabell's next book, Architects of Intervention: The United States, the Third World, and the Cold War, 1946-1962, looks at the important roles played by seemingly insignificant countries in global power games. Case studies are presented on seven American military interventions, each intended to stop the spread of Communism: in Greece, Italy, Iran, Guatemala, Lebanon, Cuba, and Laos. In his book, Karabell maintains that although the C.I.A. is often accused of stirring up problems in countries to justify U.S. intervention, in fact it is often the local governments who manipulate events.

In The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election Karabell defines the 1948 presidential campaign as a turning point in American history. His belief is that after that election, television altered the nature of politics immensely by degrading it into a form of entertainment. Harry S Truman, the incumbent, was considered a sure loser. He had taken office upon the death of Franklin D. Roosevelt and had never been a popular leader. He was determined to triumph, however, and assembled a powerful team of aides who helped him communicate with the American electorate and ultimately win the election.

Karabell's account "recaptures the mood of the time, and the drama of a campaign the likes of which we are unlikely to see again," stated Michael Kenney in the Boston Globe. Steven M. Gillon praised Karabell's writing in Chicago's Tribune Books, saying that he "captures much of the excitement of the campaign, painting vivid and memorable portraits of the leading figures." Gillon believed that Karabell overstates the notion that national political conventions became largely meaningless after the 1948 election, but added that while "His analysis may be frayed at the edges, … Karabell is a talented historian and a gifted storyteller who brings to life this moment in the nation's political history. It is impossible to read this engaging book and not share his nostalgia for the good old days when presidential candidates seemed more authentic, and political debate more meaningful."

Karabell looked to the future in his 2001 publication, A Visionary Nation: Four Centuries of the American Dream and What Lies Ahead. In it, he identifies a six-stage cycle that moves history along, in which mankind swings back and forth from a self-interested vision to a view that is more focused on societal good. Each stage begins with enthusiasm, but eventually collapses under the weight of unrealistic expectations. The constant, according to Karabell, is that people remain convinced that a better society is possible, even if their vision how to achieve it is constantly in flux. Library Journal contributor Robert Flatley recommended A Visionary Nation for its "enjoyable, narrative style," but found that in the end "it offers little that is new or surprising."

Karabell examines the history of one of the marvels of modern engineering in Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal. Begun in 1859 and completed ten years later, Egypt's Suez Canal greatly reduced the sea route between Europe and the East, and maintaining control of it became the key to sustaining the power of the British Empire. In fact, the definitive end of the British Empire is usually considered to marked by England's loss of authority over the canal in 1956, at which time control of the waterway passed to Egypt. In his book Karabell explains the ways in which Egypt hoped to gain power from the canal, but notes that this never came to pass because by the 1950s the canal's importance was declining rapidly. The trench was too shallow for modern supertankers, and economic considerations had changed; modern, faster ships could navigate the longer ocean route much more quickly, and the cost of additional fuel balanced out against the cost of paying to navigate the canal. Incorporating social and economic history into his narrative, Karabell "tells the story of a crucial development in the history of the modern world with economy and a lively grace," according to Los Angeles Times reviewer Anthony Day.

The author takes on a challenging subject in his 2004 biography, Chester Alan Arthur. Chester Arthur, the twenty-first president of the United States, is perhaps one of the most little-understood men ever to hold the office. Born in Vermont, he served as a high-ranking officer in the U.S. Civil War, then moved on to a comfortable political career in New York City. He had no great political ambitions, but when asked to serve as vice president to James Garfield, he agreed. When Garfield was assassinated just a few months after taking office, Arthur found himself thrust into power. There was no doubt that he had strong connections with many corrupt politicians of the day, but Arthur himself seems to have been personally honest. He served his term dutifully and did not seek office a second time, due to health concerns.

In Chester Alan Arthur Karabell summarizes Arthur's little-known accomplishments, including a much-needed reform of the civil-service system that brought professionalism to government and reduced favoritism. Although calling it "a dry life of a dry man," a Kirkus Reviews contributor nevertheless credited Karabell of providing "a few intriguing glimpses into the Gilded Age" in which Arthur lived.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

PERIODICALS

African Business, December, 2003, review of Parting the Desert: The Creation of the Suez Canal, p. 64.

American Enterprise, July-August, 2003, Eli Lehrer, review of The Generation of Trust: How the U.S. Military Has Regained the Public's Confidence since Vietnam, p. 58.

American Journal of Education, August, 1999, Steven Brint, review of What's College For?: The Struggle to Define American Higher Education, p. 339.

American Prospect, December 3, 2001, Richard D. Kahlenberg, review of A Visionary Nation: Four Centuries of the American Dream and What Lies Ahead, p. 41.

Black Issues in Higher Education, May 11, 2000, Patricia Reid-Merritt, review of What's College For?, p. 33.

Booklist, September 15, 1998, Mary Carroll, review of What's College For?, p. 176; April 15, 2000, Gilbert Taylor, review of The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election, p. 1506; July, 2001, Ray Olson, review of A Visionary Nation, p. 1974; June 1, 2003, Gilbert Taylor, review of Parting the Desert, p. 1736; May 15, 2004, Ray Olson, review of Chester Alan Arthur, p. 1594.

Boston Globe, April 25, 2000, Michael Kenney, review of The Last Campaign, p. C5.

Contemporary Review, December, 2003, review of Parting the Desert, p. 381.

Economist, June 14, 2003, review of Parting the Desert, p. 82.

Historian, Frederick Marks, review of Architects of Intervention: The United States, the Third World, and the Cold War, 1946-1962, p. 206.

Kirkus Reviews, March 15, 2003, review of Parting the Desert, p. 443; June 1, 2003, James Thorsen, review of Parting the Desert, p. 141; April 15, 2004, review of Chester Alan Arthur, p. 376.

Library Journal, September 15, 1998, Scott R. Johnson, review of What's College For?, p. 90; May 1, 2000, Karl Helicher, review of The Last Campaign, p. 135; July, 2001, Robert Flatley, review of A Visionary Nation, p. 107; July, 2003, review of Kennedy, Johnson, and the Quest for Justice: The Civil Rights Tapes, p. 102.

Los Angeles Times, May 30, 2003, Anthony Day, review of Parting the Desert, p. E22.

Los Angeles Times Book Review, September 2, 2001, James Ceaser, review of A Visionary Nation, p. 1.

New Leader, March, 2000, David M. Oshinsky, review of The Last Campaign, p. 31.

New York Times Book Review, April 9, 2000, Gil Troy, review of The Last Campaign: How Harry Truman Won the 1948 Election, p. 20; December 7, 2003, Roy Reed, review of Kennedy, Johnson, and the Quest for Justice, p. 63.

Perspectives on Social Science, winter, 2001, Stephen F. Knott, review of The Last Campaign, p. 46.

Publishers Weekly, April 3, 2000, review of The Last Campaign, p. 75; July 2, 2001, p. 67; July 23, 2001, review of A Visionary Nation, p. 68; June 9, 2003, review of Kennedy, Johnson, and the Quest for Justice, p. 42.

Reason, December, 1999, Nick Gillespie, review of What's College For?, p. 54.

Tikkun, July, 2000, Michael Tomasky, review of The Last Campaign, p. 66.

Tribune Books (Chicago, IL), August 20, 2000, Steven M. Gillon, review of The Last Campaign, p. 1; August 19, 2001, Marc Spiegler, review of Visionary Nation, p. 3.

Wall Street Journal, July 10, 2003, Niall Ferguson, review of Parting the Desert, p. D8.

Washington Monthly, July, 2000, Paul Duke, review of The Last Campaign, p. 53.

Washington Post Book World, April 16, 2000, Jonathan Yardley, review of The Last Campaign, p. X2; September 12, 2004, Mark Lewis, review of Chester Alan Arthur, p. T5.