David A. Bell

Historian, writer, teacher, author of Men on Horseback: The Power of Charisma in the Age of Revolution.

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

With Twitter quite possible sinking, I've decided to start a Substack to let anyone who is interested follow my work. It is entirely free, and I promise not to flood your Inbox with random musings and hate posts. Please consider subscribing!
https://t.co/TfkzHoLJo1

[mkazin @mkazin]

@sreddi_515 Still correct after all these years

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@mkazin @DouthatNYT When, in the course of human events, it becomes necessary for a senile, amoral narcissist to do yet another stupid, senseless thing, and to receive, among the powers of the earth, the anathema that by the laws of nature and nature’s god he so richly deserves…

[Brad Lander @bradlander]

We’re both proud Jewish New Yorkers. But there are sharp & clear differences between us on Israel/Palestine.

For example, Dan Goldman marched alongside war criminal Bezalel Smotrich yesterday, who called it “just & moral” to starve Gaza. I did not.

[Claire Potter 🇺🇸 @TenuredRadical]

There's a reason Nancy Mace chose the first day of Pride Month for this post. Be ready for homophobia to play a huge role in the 2026 campaign, and the run-up to 2028.

[Claire Potter 🇺🇸 @TenuredRadical]

@AHAhistorians elections begin today and close July 15: please vote! I will be choosing my candidates from the slate provided by the Nominating Committee, and reading statements to ensure that the people I vote for uphold the priorities of the organization.
https://t.co/YeRAZZdiKY

[mkazin @mkazin]

Yes indeed! Condemn the destruction of Gaza and the occupation of Palestinian lands. But the AHA's mission must be to rescue a profession in crisis in the USA. Fighting over Israeli policy will do nothing to advance that

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@DAMendelsohnNYC Five favorite American authors

Walt Whitman
Herman Melville
Henry James
Edith Wharton
Saul Bellow

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@samhaselby @MichaelSocolow No. But will do so! Thanks!

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@samhaselby @MichaelSocolow You still can’t get a good southern biscuit in NYC.

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

“No Kings,” 1830 version

[MeidasTouch @MeidasTouch]

Here’s what Trump did today instead of attending his son’s wedding:

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@eric_weinberger Unbelievable reactionary crap.

[Ada Ferrer @Adita_Ferrer]

https://t.co/aix5YM0Htd

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

All the quarrels here about Odyssey translations prompted me to go back to my favorite translation of all, Dryden’s version of the Aeneid. I have no idea how faithful it is to Virgil, but it is fantastically beautiful English poetry.

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

Brilliant, moving review/memoir on what it takes to make a revolution, why Weatherman failed, and what the left should learn from the failure. (By my cousin).

[mkazin @mkazin]

When the "revolution" goes astray My review of a fine memoir by the son of a Weatherman couple https://t.co/tI7lLmYZeQ

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

I finished my dissertation 35 years ago. And just had a dream about not being able to finish it…

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

“Stanley said in a phone interview that… he executed his departure to send a deliberate political message to the world that the United States is in severe crisis.”

[Eric Weinberger @eric_weinberger]

The inevitable one-year-later retrospective: Stanley, Shore and Snyder of Toronto
https://t.co/4roue6Cwpo

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@handm57 Good question...

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

Two of the silliest feuds going on here right now are the ones involving the casting of Nolan's Odyssey and the Guardians's 100 Best Novels. No film is ever going to recreate exactly how early audiences imagined the story. No list of "best" novels is ever going to be definitive.

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@CathyYoung63 2026 list not much better in this regard: 79/100.

[David A. Bell @DavidAvromBell]

@CathyYoung63 Interesting that on the 2003 list, 82 out of 100 were written in English.