David Luhrssen lectured at UW-Milwaukee and the Milwaukee Institute of Art and Design. He is author of The Vietnam War on Film, The Encyclopedia of Classic Rock, Secret Societies in American History, Mamoulian: Life on Stage and Screen and Hammer of the Gods: Thule Society and the Birth of Nazism. He contributed essays to the American National Biography Online, the Grove Dictionary of American Music and 100 People Who Changed 20th-Century America.
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David Luhrssen
'Retreat from Moscow: A New History of Germany’s Winter Campaign, 1941-1942' (Farrar, Straus and Giroux), by David Stahel
Military historian David Stahel studies what happened after Germany’s failure to take Moscow in December 1941. Read more
Silent Serial Sensations
Film scholar Barbara Tepa Lupack investigates two forgotten pioneers of early cinema. Read more
Photo courtesy of Transmission Films
Home Movies/Now Streaming: Feb. 20, 2020
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: The Nightingale, 16 Bars, I Got You Babe: The Best of Sonny & Cher. Read more
Illustration credit: Tess Brzycki
It's Always a Good Time for a Fish Fry in Milwaukee
Each year, we let our readers choose the best local fish fry. For the 2019 Shepherd Express Best of Milwaukee, they turned the “Best Fish Fry” category into a hotly contested one, indeed. Read more
Jeff Clark
'South American Journals' (University of Minnesota Press), by Allen Ginsberg, Edited by Michael Schumacher
Kenosha author Michael Schumacher transcribed the journals of poet Allen Ginsberg as he traveled alone in South America. Read more
Photo courtesy of Boswell Book Company
Author Discusses 'Fathers in the Age of Unwed Parenthood'
Rather than assigning blame to young fathers, UWM professor Paul Florsheim provides a more nuanced perspective on the state of many young families in America. Read more
A Scheme of Heaven: The History of Astrology and the Search for Our Destiny in Data (W.W. Norton), by Alexander Boxer
Data scientist Alexander Boxer has written an enjoyably lucid account of astrology’s ancient origins as astronomy’s fraternal twin. Read more
The Art of War (W.W. Norton), by Sun Tzu
A new translation by Chinese history professor Michael Nylan of the ancient classic is clear and perceptive. Read more
Photo courtesy of UWM
Many Languages at Festival of Films in French
This year, UWM’s Festival of Films in French celebrates the culture and history of many countries with French influences, including Haiti, Quebec, Morocco and Senegal. Read more
Courtesy of Dark Sky Films
Home Movies/Now Streaming: Feb. 13, 2020
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: "Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: In Concert," The Siren, Invasion Planet Earth. Read more
Courtesy of Preset Music
A Musical 'Present' for Valentine's Day
Present Music’s Valentine’s Day concert, ‘The Avant-Garden of Love,’ will feature numerous, short, multimedia pieces looking at romantic love from various perspectives. Read more
Photo credit: Jean-Gabriel Fernandez
Pita Palace for Near-eastern Delight
Pita Palace serves warm and lightly toasted pitas, perfect for scooping up some creamy hummus or baba ghanoush. Read more
The ‘Wow’ of Parasite on Oscar Night
'Joker' and 'Judy' won as expected, but 'Parasite' earned unprecedented honors for a foreign language film. Read more
Life as a ‘Parasite’
Will South Korea's Bong Joon-ho take the big prizes at this year's Oscars? Read more
Lars Von Trier’s House of Horror
'The House That Jack Built' is hard to watch but harder to forget. Read more
Home Movies/Now Streaming: Feb. 6, 2020
Recently released on Blu-ray and DVD: Moving Parts, Anthropocene: The Human Epoch, The Price of Everything, Black Angel. Read more
Getting Grimm with ‘Gretel & Hansel’
Oz Perkins' movie is not a fairy tale for the fainthearted, but neither is 'Hansel and Gretel' when read closely. Read more
'The Crowd & the Cosmos: Adventures in the Zooniverse' (Oxford University Press), by Chris Lintott
Oxford University astrophysicist Chris Lintott writes about the crowdsourcing of science to categorize the universe. Read more
'Harvest the Vote: How Democrats Can Win Again in Rural America' (Ecco), by Jane Kleeb
Jane Kleeb, chair of Nebraska’s Democratic Party, shares a hopeful message about helping rural Americans rather than rebuking them for supporting harmful GOP policies. Read more
Delfeayo Marsalis & Uptown Jazz Orchestra, 'Jazz Party' (Troubadour Jass Records)
New Orleans trombonist Delfeayo Marsalis capture the flavor of his shows, with echoes of Latin America, classic R&B and blues. Read more
