In 2012, she was named a Harvard College Professor, in recognition of distinction in undergraduate teaching. She is also a staff writer at The New Yorker. She received her Ph.D. in American Studies from Yale in 1995. Her 1998 book, “The Name of War,” won the Bancroft Prize; her 2005 book, “New York Burning,” was a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize in history. Her other books include “The Whites of Their Eyes,” (2010) and two collections of essays, “The Mansion of Happiness" (2012) and “The Story of America” (2012).