The Walter Karp Library

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Below is a complete bibliography of published writing by Walter Karp (1934-1989) with links to essays currently available online. Books are available for purchase from Harper’s magazine, which has kept his three political books in print as well as Buried Alive, his posthumously published book of essays.

Books

The Smithsonian Institution: An Establishment for the Increase & Diffusion of Knowledge Among Men. New York: The Smithsonian Institution in association with American Heritage, 1965.
Charles Darwin and the Origin of Species. New York: Harper & Row, 1968.
Indispensable Enemies: The Politics of Misrule in America. New York: Saturday Review Press, 1973. (Reprinted in paper by Penguin Books in 1974 and by Franklin Square Press in 1993.) Purchase from Harper’s magazine
The Politics of War: The story of two wars which altered forever the political life of the American Republic. New York: Harper & Row, 1979. (Printed in paperback by Harper Colophon Books in 1979.)
The Center: A History and Guide to Rockefellar Center. New York: American Heritage Publishing Company, 1982.
Liberty Under Siege: American Politics, 1976-1988. New York: Henry Holt, 1989 (paperback reprint, Franklin Square Press, 1993.
Buried Alive: Essays on Our Endangered Republic. New York: Franklin Square Press, 1992.

Published Articles

Job’s Problem and Ours, Reconstructionist, Jan. 9, 1959.
Social Scientists in Industry, Commentary, May 1961.
Below Midtown with the Mole Men, New York Herald Tribune, Aug. 16, 1964.
Searching for Science, Columbia University Forum, Spring, 1965.
Seeking a Koestlerian Revolution, Washington Post Book World, Feb. 25, 196?. (A Review of The Ghost in the Machine by Arthur Koestler.)
R.S.V.P., G.O.P.–or R.I.P., Washington Post Book World, Mar. 17, 1968. (Review of Come to the Party by Hugh Scott.)
In Defense of Stale Cigars, Washington Post Book World, May 19, 1968. (Review of The Life of Politics by Henry Fairlie.)
Gallery of Left-Handed Compliments, Washington Post Book World, June 9, 1968. (Review of The Passionate People by Roger Kahn.)
What’s Wrong with the World, Interplay, March 1969.
Learned Bureaucrats in China, Horizon, Spring 1969.
The American Land–As it Was; Paintings by George Harvey, American Heritage, Dec. 1969.
Vox Populi, Vox Diaboli, Washington Post Book World, July 5, 1970
Solari: Designer in the Desert, Horizon, Autumn 1970.
Free Schools and Free Men, Cultural Affairs, September 1970.
The Feminine Utopia: What’s Wrong with the Women’s Movement, Horizon, Spring 1971.
The Real Degradation of America, or The Smile on the Face of the Tiger, The London Times, Apr. 29, 1971. (Review of The Greening of America by Charles A. Reich.)
April in China (A.D. 1120), Horizon, Spring 1972.
The Good Life, Horizon, Autumn 1973.
Wounded Knee Between the Wars, American Heritage, Dec. 1973.
The Future Isn’t What it Used to Be, Horizon, Summer 1974.
Reflections (After Watergate) on History, Horizon, Winter 1974.
Lost Train From Camelot, West Side Literary Review, June 1974.
A Connoisseur Who Sleepwalked into History, Horizon, Autumn 1974.
Who Was Peter Abelard?, Horizon, Autumn 1974.
How Republics Die, Horizon, Spring 1975.
The Golden Age of Edinburgh, Horizon, Autumn 1975.
Nixon’s Real Motive was Tyranny, The Village Voice, Dec. 22, 1975.
Is Civilization Dangerous to Your Health?, Horizon, Spring 1976.
Montaigne’s Monstrous Plan, Horizon, Winter 1975.
Dracula Returns, or Vampirism as an Antidote to the Blues, Horizon, Autumn 1976.
The Only Campaign Issue: A Rebuke or a Mandate, New York Magazine, Oct. 25, 1976.
Standing Boss Tweed on His Head, New York Magazine, Nov. 1976.
How to Think About Politicians, Horizon, Jan. 1977.
A Preface to Human Rights, Politicks, Nov. 8, 1977.
“The Presidency” series for Politicks:
- Confidence and Other Pursuits, Politicks, Oct. 25, 1977.
- Behind Closed Doors, Politicks, Nov. 22, 1977.
- The Democratic Party Zings the democratic President, Politicks, Dec. 6, 1977.
- Well-Meant SALT Deceit Weaves tangled Web, Politicks, Jan. 17, 1978.
- Why Carter Must Choose the Party or the People, Politicks, Jan. 31, 1978.
- Crisis of Confidence for Carter and Commonweal, Politicks, Feb. 14, 1978.
- Press Roundups Shroud Capitol in Veil of Words, Politicks, Feb. 28, 1978.
- The Marston Mess—Carter Bows to Hacks Drops Axe, Politicks, Mar. 14, 1978.
- Dishing up the Cold War with a Grain of SALT, Politicks, May 9, 1978.
- Carter ‘Reforms’ Restore Secrecy Surveillance System, Politicks, April 11, 1978.
Russians Take Our Old Line, We Grope for a New Hook, Politicks, Mar. 28, 1978.
Coal Strike: They Own the Mines, But Thank God They Don’t Own the Men, Politicks, April 25, 1978.
RFK Enshrined, Harper’s. Sept. 1978.
Curacao, Travel & Leisure, Feb. 1979.
Halberstam’s Media Kingdom, Esquire, May 8, 1979.
Gouldner on the New Class in America, Esquire, June 1979.
Republican Virtues, Harper’s, July 1979.
The Constructs of a Conservative, Harper’s, November 1979.
Making a Killing: Norman Mailer and Gary Gilmore, Esquire, December 1979. (Book Review)
When Bunkers Last in the Backyard Bloom-d: The Fallout Shelter Craze of 1961, American Heritage, February/March 1980.
Review of The President Who Failed by Haynes Johnson and In the Absence of Power by Clark Mollenhoff, The New Republic, April 5, 1980.
Textbook America: Why Johnny Hates History, Harper’s, May 1980.
The Sick Woodrow, Inquiry, 1980. (Review of Woodrow Wilson: A Medical and Psychological Biography by Edwin Weinstein.)
Is the Party Turning Pro Again?, The Esquirer, Aug. 12, 1980.
Forecast for Today: Cloudy and Critical, The Esquirer, August 12, 1980.
The Hit of the Party, The Esquirer, August 13, 1980.
They Set a Trap and in Stepped Jim, The Esquirer, Aug. 14, 1980.
Greenfield Village, American Heritage, Dec. 1980.
The Patriotism of Frank Capra, Esquire, Feb. 1981.
The Two Thousand Years War, Harper’s, Mar. 1981.
The Central Park, American Heritage, Apr./May 1981.
My Gawd, They’ve Sold the Town, American Heritage, Aug./Sep. 1981.
Coolidge Redux, Harper’s, Oct. 1981.
Big Business and the Little Minister, Channels, Oct./Nov. 1981.
New Cloaks for the C.I.A., The Village Voice, Nov. 11-17, 1981.
Why the New Right is All Wrong About Prime Time, Channels, Sep./Oct. 1982.
Electra Webb and Her Past, American Heritage, Apr./May 1982.
The Networks from Left to Right, Channels, Apr./May 1982.
Putting Worms Back in Apples, American Heritage, Aug. 1982.
Sitting on the Hinge of Fate, Wilderness, Fall 1982.
Henry Francis DuPont and the Invention of Winterthur, American Heritage, Apr. 1983.
The Essex Disaster, American Heritage, Apr./May 1983.
The Myth of T.V.’s Political Power, Channels, May/June 1983.
Where the Do-Gooders Went Wrong, Channels, Mar./Apr. 1984.
What Do Women Want?, Channels, Mar./Apr. 1984.
Truman vs. MacArthur, American Heritage, Apr./May 1984.
Only the Fearful Know Television, Channels, May/June 1984.
The Hour of the Founders, American Heritage, June/July 1984.
Playing Politics, Harper’s, July 1984.
- Studs Terkel Interview, June 24, 1985 (recording not yet available)
Warrior Liberals, New York Times Book Review, Sep. 9, 1984.
Forum: Can the press Tell the Truth: On the Varieties of Acceptable Reality, Harper’s, Jan. 1985
What the CBS Trial Really Exposed, Channels, Mar./Apr. 1985.
Why Johnny Can’t Think: The Politics of Bad Schooling, Harper’s, June 1985.
The Soaps du Jour, Channels, July/Aug. 1985.
Public Scrutiny Suffers a Setback, New York Times, Oct. 26, 1985.
Liberty Under Siege: The Reagan Administration’s Taste for Autocracy, Harper’s, Nov. 1985.
Forum: How Not to Fix the Schools: Grading the Education Reformers, Harper’s, Feb. 1986.
Morality: Missing in Action, New York Times Book Review, Aug. 17, 1986.
A Fascination with the Commonplace. American Heritage, Aug./Sep. 1986.
Tiptoeing Through the Halls of Power, Channels, Mar./Apr. 1986.
Forum: Hearing Nothing, Saying Nothing: The Iran Contra Hearing that Never Was, Harper’s, Feb. 1988.
Where the media Critics Went Wrong.” American Heritage, Mar. 1988.
In Defense of Politics: Against Theorists, Cynics, and the New Historians, American Heritage, Mar. 1988.
The Conservative Word, New York Times Book Review, 1988. (Review of Column Right: Conservative Journalists in the Service of Nationalism by David Burner and Thomas West.)
Only the Fearful Know Television, Channels, May/June 1989.
The Quiz-Show Scandal.” American Heritage, May/June 1989.
All the Congressmen’s Men: How Capitol hill Controls the Press.” Harper’s, July 1989.
Thomas Gilgrease and his Western Museum. American Heritage, Feb. 1990.
The Powder Maker’s Garden, American Heritage, Aug. 1990.

Chapters in Books

“Exploding the Myth of Black Anti-Semitism” in Black Anti-Semitism and Jewish Racism, edited by Nat Hentoff. New York: Richard Baron, 1969
“Sir Isaac Newton” in Perspectives in Western Civilization, Volume II, edited by William Langer. New York: Harper & Row, 1972.
“Isaac Newton” in Horizon’s Book of Makers of Modern Thought edited by Bruce Mazlish. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1972.
“Sunken Treasure” in Mysteries of the Deep, edited by Joseph Thorndike, Jr. New York: American Heritage Publishing Co., 1980.
“Henry Hord’s Village” in A Sense of History: The Best Writing from the Pages of American Heritage. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Co., 1985.
“People of the Divine Wind” in Time-Life’s Library of Nations: Japan. Amsterdam: Time-Life Books, 1985.
Where the Do-Gooders Went Wrong” in Television: The Critical View, edited by Horace Newcomb. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987.
“Forward” to Liberty Denied: The Current Rise of Censorship in America, by Donna Demak. New York: Pen American Center, 1988.
“The Central Park” in The Great Metropolis, edited by Kenneth T. Jackson. New York: American Heritage, 1993.

Interviews

Studs Terkel, Interview of Walter Karp about “Playing Politics”, WFMT Radio – Chicago, June 27, 1984. (recording not yet available)
Studs Terkel, Interview of Walter Karp about “All the Congressmen’s Men”, WFMB Radio – Chicago, June 29, 1989. (full recording available)
Patricia Marx, Interview of Walter Karp about The Public Life, WNYC Radio – New York City, date unknown, circa 1969.