HOLY SH*T, CONT’D: Just checked the stats on the Lindgren Bellesiles piece, which has now been downloaded an amazing 40,351 times. Unfortunately, I can’t break down referrers to figure out where the people who are downloading that particular item are coming from, but I’m sure that this link must have spread to various chatboards, etc.

In light of these figures, it’s probably silly for me to plug the piece any more. But the last 16 pages of the review provide a catalog of errors in the book–with the book’s claims juxtaposed with the evidence Bellesiles cited for those claims. For those who want to decide for themselves whether the errors in Arming America are likely to be the result of simple carelessness, it’s good to have the actual text of relevant portions of the original sources reprinted to compare them with the passages in Arming America discussing those sources.

Since Emory should be announcing what it plans to do about Bellesiles any day now, this may be of particular interest at the moment.

UPDATE: I think I’ve mentioned this before, but photocopies of many of the original sources can be found here and here. Oh, and I should mention that these were put together by Clayton Cramer, not Lindgren. Cramer was one of the first to notice and publicize the problems with Bellesiles’ work, and was treated rather disrespectfully by some academic historians since he has only a Master’s degree. I believe, however, that he is getting a bit more respect now.