Jim Downs is in the Department of History at Columbia University. He is co-editor of Taking Back the Academy!History of Activism, History as Activism (Routledge 2004).

• Introduction: When and Why We Enter JIM DOWNSSection I Why I Write: Personal ReflectionsChapter 1. Why I Write JOHN D'EMILIOChapter 2. Why I Write CATHERINE CLINTONChapter 3. Why I Write TIMOTHY PATRICK MCCARTHYChapter 4. Why I Write JENNIFER MORGANSection II The Process of WritingChapter 5. Disoriented in the Orient:A U.S. Historian Goes TransnationalJUNG H. PAKChapter 6. Narratives of Sexual Conquest:A Historical Perspective on Date Rape JENNIFER FRONCChapter 7. Her Heart, My Hands:Writing an Intimate Life CAITLIN LOVE CROWELLChapter 8. Writing for History:Journalism, History, and theRevival of Narrative JILL LEPOREChapter 9. We Should Grow Too Fond of It'Why We Love the Civil War DREW GILPIN FAUSTSection III The Politics of WritingChapter 10. Our Silences Will Hurt Us: JournalisticWriting in a Women's Prison ELEANOR M. NOVEK AND REBECCA SANFORDChapter 11. To Keep My Body Clean, To Breathe,To Give My Mind Rest SASHA KAMINI PARMASADChapter 12. Diary of a Mad Law Student JODI BROMBERGChapter 13. A Drawbridge to the Ivory Tower: Brokeringthe Politics of Environmental Studies DANIEL J. SHERMANChapter 14. Why I Don't Write ERME C. MAULANotes Contributors Index