Oliver Stone's History Lesson

ABOUT a week ago, I spent some time with Oliver Stone, and his co-writer, the historian Peter Kuznick, talking about their new "Untold History of the United States." The 10-part program, which goes up on Showtime starting tonight, is in a Howard Zinn/Noam Chomsky line in looking at international and domestic issues, starting with World War II.

Perhaps the key theme of the series is the idea of American exceptionalism, which the two see as quite dangerous, and tied to a Manichean worldview that dates back to the Puritans.

Of course, people on both sides of the aisle have reasons to be wary of Stone's view of history, American and otherwise. Check out my story, here, and let me know if you are persuaded.

The Elegant Espionage of Alan Furst

THE spy novels of alan furst are elegant, melancholy glimpses of history and the period right before world war II in central and eastern europe. does any working novelist sketch atmosphere as well as alan furst?

because 2008's "the spies of warsaw" was just released in paperback, i'm posting my interview with furst from last year. the book looks at a de gaulle-like aristocrat caught up in movements in poland. not sure it's the best furst yet, but the plot carries through quite well -- no mean feat in a novel whose conclusion is easy to predict. (that is, they are never going to end with hitler saying, "you know, this is going to conclude poorly -- forget i ever said anything.")

in person, furst -- whose characters are noble and sexual, often with an existential glamour -- was refreshingly down to earth, almost awkward in his enthusiasm. i asked him if he might try writing about, say, 18th c. china or something outside his familiar time and place and he said it was like having a favorite pie. why have banana when you love chocolate?

oddly, furst went to elementary school on the upper west side with my dad for a few years. furst's memory was such that he could even sketch the seating chart of the class and remember that my dad's father was in vaudeville. awesome recall probably a good skill for a historical novelist.